If I had to pick three attributes that would describe the kind of ideal leader I would want in charge of our country during a time of war, they would be the following: decisiveness, cunning, and compassion. A good leader must be decisive - able to make quick decisions and be proactive in their deeds. He must also be cunning - smart, intelligent and able to strategize, planning two steps ahead of everyone else. Finally, a leader must be compassionate - he must be fair and sympathetic in his dealings with others, being able to see when kindness should be applied in the right context. The characters of Hamlet, Othello, and King Henry the Fifth exhibit some of these vital attributes, and lack in others, showing just how effective (or ineffective) they are as leaders.
The character of Hamlet can be said to be extremely cunning - in fact, one of his most brilliant strategies is to feign insanity in order to lull Claudius, his target, into a false sense of security. "How strange or odd soe'er I bear myself, / As I perchance hereafter shall think meet / To put an antic disposition on" (I.v.58). However, he can also be seen as compassionate, as his father's death affects him greatly - "O, that this too solid flesh would melt / Thaw and resolve itself into a dew!" (I.ii.6). However, Hamlet's greatest weakness is that he is not decisive - throughout the play, he has many occasions to kill Claudius but does not. He even compares his indecision to the skillful acting by one of the traveling players - "What's Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba, / That he should weep for her? What would he do, / Had he the motive and the cue for passion / That I have?" (II.ii.58).
Othello, unlike Hamlet, is incredibly decisive - he is very proactive and strong, quickly taking action and operating on what information he has at his disposal; once the war starts, he says " I do agnise / A natural and prompt alacrity / I find in hardness, and do undertake / These present wars against the Ottomites." (I.iii.5). On the other hand, Othello prides himself on his professionalism and lack of compassion; he states that love will not interfere with war. "when light-wing'd toys / Of feather'd Cupid seal with wanton dullness / My speculative and officed instruments, / That my disports corrupt and taint my business, / Let housewives make a skillet of my helm, / And all indign and base adversities / Make head against my estimation! " (I.iii.7). Othello's biggest weakness is a lack of cunning; Iago manages to trick him sufficiently into believing that his wife, Desdemona, has betrayed him; he even suggests, "Do it not with poison, strangle her in her bed, even / the bed she hath contaminated." (IV.i.38).
Henry the Fifth's greatest virtue, it could be said, it compassion; during his great speech at the siege of Harfleur, he asks his men to go "once more unto the breach, dear friends" (III.i.1). Henry is also incredibly decisive; he is constantly barking orders, never really questioning his own strategies - he is so sure of himself that he believes God is on his side; "Follow your spirit, and upon this charge / Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!" (III.i.1). What's more, he is somewhat cunning; he threatens the governor of Harfleur with the utter destruction and pillaging of his people. "If I begin the battery once again, / I will not leave the half-achieved Harfleur / Till in her ashes she lie buried." (III.iii.1). It seems that, out of all of these three leaders, Henry the Fifth has the most effective leadership skills, at least where warfare is concerned.
In conclusion, I would say that Henry the Fifth would be the greatest leader of the three. He has both decisiveness and cunning in his military strategy, and he is incredibly compassionate towards his men (though perhaps not to his enemies). Hamlet, on the other hand, is very compassionate and cunning, but is incredibly indecisive. While he can make plans just fine, he has a big problem with going through with them. Othello is the typical meatheaded, headstrong warrior, who favors war about love. In this way, he is not terribly compassionate, nor is he cunning due to his easily manipulated mind. However, he is a decisive warrior, and that is to his credit. As for measuring our current leader, President Obama, under these same criteria, I would say he makes a fairly effective leader. Given his open and gracious stances regarding foreign policy, he could be described as compassionate; he is also very cunning, as his handling of his many political controversies has shown. However, he may or may not be as decisive as he should be, committing to closing Guantanamo and holding to more of his campaign promises. Despite that, he is still a fairly effective wartime leader.
Works Cited
Shakespeare, William. Hamlet.
Shakespeare, William. Henry V.
Shakespeare, William. Othello.
