Title: Henry V

By William Shakespeare

Genre: - Drama

Sub-genre: -History Play

Nationality: -Britain

Time Period: -17th Century

First and Last Read by Dr. Rearick -High School / Fall 2005

Rated: -A+ What did you expect?

Use: Introduction to Literature: ENG2013

Location: - Dr. Rearick's Office, Dr. Rearick's Home: any library in the world! Online Text

Prof Rearick's comments: This play is very important in my discussion of "War and Chivalry" in literature within ENG2013 Introduction to Literature.  In the works I have studied the perspective of the common soldier so important in war narratives for what is called the Realistic Tradition does not surface until the middle of the 19^th century in America (the Civil War) and the end of the 19^th century and the beginning of the 20t^h century in Europe (World War I especially).  Eventually it will supersede but not entirely replace the Chivalric Tradition. Before the Chivalric Tradition is Heroic Tradition the realm of epic poetry especially. Follow this link to the entire lecture.  However, Henry V is the exception to this in that in Shakespeare's brilliance, he incorporates BOTH traditions in the work.

Chivalric Tradition

•     The Glory of War
  •         Chorus says "Oh for a Muse of Fire"
  •         The subject is so noble princes and kings should be used to             
  •         portray the action of the play.
•     God ordains the battle
  •         The Priests confirm the correctness of the cause
  •         An evil plot is exposed
  •         A miraculous victory in Agincourt
  •         A superior order is put into place
•      Fair Play is expected 
  •         The un-chivalric behavior of the Dauphin (The French Prince     
  •         and heir)
  •         The final warning of town of Harfleur
  •         Henry's rage when the defenseless pages and supplies are massacred
• When the battle is over mercy is shown
• Love is Embraced

Realistic Tradition 

• Base The politics of War
  • The church
  • The king
• The terrible cost of War
  • The king's own awareness
  • The speech of Michael Williams, John Bates, and  Alexander Court "But if the cause be not good, the king himself hath a heavy reckoning to make,"
• The Thieves of War for Plunder
  • Ancient Pistol - A commoner from London who serves in the war with Henry, and a friend of Nim and Bardolph. Pistol speaks with a blustery and melodramatic poetic diction; he is married to the hostess of the Boar’s Head Tavern in London.
  • Bardolph - A commoner from London who serves in the war with Henry, and a friend of Pistol and Nim. There are a lot of comments about his face.  He apparently has a skin condition probably caused by a life of excess, which makes him face rough and red.  Bardolph is a former friend of King Henry from his wild youth. A thief and a coward, Bardolph is hanged in France for looting from the conquered towns in violation of the king’s order.  In the film version shown in class there is a flashback scene to ACT 1, Scene 2: of Shakespeare's "Henry IV, Part 1", where Jack Falstaff proclaims "Do not thou, when thou art King, hang a thief." This flashback line is instead given to Bardolph, to make it more poignant when Henry hangs him.
  • Nim - A commoner from London who serves in the war with Henry, and a friend of Pistol and Bardolph. Like Bardolph, Nim is hanged in France for looting from the conquered towns.
  • Boy - Formerly in the service of Falstaff, the nameless boy leaves London after his master’s death and goes with Pistol, Nim, and Bardolph to the war in France. The boy is somewhat touchy and embarrassed that his companions are cowardly thieves.  In the film he dies when the French attack the luggage.
• The Futility and Waste of War
  • All of Harry's old friends are dead by the end of the play.
  • The Play ends with a reminder that for all of this great effort Henry dies young and his kingdom is lost through bad advise and civil war.

Follow this Link for a full lecture describing how Shakespeare in his genius manages to incorporate all three traditions--the heroic, the chivalric, and the realistic--in one work.

Favorite and /or Revealing Shakespearian Quotes from Henry the Fifth
  Many other Shakespearean links can be found on my Shakespeare page

Some historical information from

King of England in Shakespeare's Henry V, formerly Prince Hal in Henry  IV, Part 1 and Henry IV, Part 2. To many, Henry V is Shakespeare's ideal monarch: brave, eloquent, honourable, and efficient to the point of ruthlessness when necessary. Twice in the play Henry rallies his flagging army with a stirring, memorable speech: "Once more unto the breach . . ."  before the storming of the walls of Harfleur and, especially, his oration on the eve of St. Crispian's Day, with which he inspires the troops before the decisive Battle of Agincourt. Later he shows unexpected humility and tenderness with a passionate prose wooing of his beloved, Princess Katharine of France. Historically, Henry V was a successful and much-loved king, but his premature death from camp fever condemned England to a long, difficult minority rule by his son, Henry VI.

"Henry V" Britannica Online.
<http://www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin/g?DocF=micro/728/93.html>
[Accessed 05 May 1998].

Helpful Links

• Sparknotes on Henry the Fifth <http://www.sparknotes.com/shakespeare/henryv/>
• E-Notes on Henry the Fifth <http://www.allshakespeare.com/henryv/4326>
• The Internet Movie Database on Henry V <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097499/>
   

And about the play itself: Henry V is a. . .

Henry V is a chronicle play (or what some of us call a history play) in five acts by William Shakespeare.  It was first performed about 1599 and published in 1600 in a quarto edition. Henry V is the last in a sequence of four plays (the others being Richard II, Henry IV, Part 1, and Henry IV, Part 2) known collectively as the "second tetralogy," treating the early phases of the power struggle between the houses of Lancaster and York. The main source of the play is Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles, but Shakespeare may also have been influenced by earlier plays about King Henry V.

Jordan Coughtry as King Henry V in the Next Stage Ensemble production of HENRY V. Photo by Brian B. Crowe. 

In keeping with his father's advice (Henry IV, Part 2) to seek foreign quarrels, Henry V, formerly Prince Hal, resolves to subjugate France and retake the lands in France previously held by England. His political and military advisers conclude that he has a rightful claim to the French crown and encourage him to follow the military exploits of his royal ancestors.                   

The action of the play culminates in Henry's campaign in France with a ragtag army, but the depiction of the character of Henry dominates the play throughout, from his nervous watch before the Battle of Agincourt when he walks disguised among his fearful soldiers and prays for victory to his courtship of Princess Katharine, which is romantic and tender despite the marriage having been arranged by the duke of Burgundy.

Although almost all the fighting occurs offstage, the recruits, professional soldiers, dukes, and princes are shown preparing for defeat or victory.  There is also comic relief in the form of the Welsh captain, Fluellen, and some of Henry's former companions, notably Nym, Bardolph, and Pistol, who is now married to Mistress Quickly. Falstaff, however, dies offstage,  perhaps because Shakespeare felt his boisterous presence would detract from the more serious themes of the play.

Shakespeare hedges the patriotic fantasy of English greatness in Henry V with hesitations and qualifications about the validity of the myth of glorious nationhood offered by the Agincourt story. The king's speech to his troops before battle on St. Crispian's Day is particularly famous for its evocation of a brotherhood in arms, but Shakespeare has placed it in a context full of ironies and challenging contrasts. In the end the chorus reminds the audience that England was to be plunged into civil war during the reign of Henry V's son, Henry VI.

"Henry V" Britannica Online.
<http://www.eb.com:180/cgi-bin/g?DocF=micro/731/92.html>
[Accessed 05 May 1998].