Shakespeare's retelling of the Battle of Agincourt of 1415 is the final part in his second tetralogyA series of four. of history plays. Written in 1599, as England was at war in Ireland, Shakespeare turns to history to think about war and its myths. The series begins with Henry IV usurping Richard II's throne, and then follows his son Hal's transformation from a "wild" young man into the noble king we see in this play. Now that Henry V is ruling England, he decides to invade France and claim the crown there. The English army is outnumbered, but a rousing speech urges them on to achieve an extraordinary victory. First, however, Shakespeare offers a nuancedHaving or characterized by subtle and often appealingly complex qualities, aspects, or distinctions. discussion of the morality of warfare. Are the glory and honour worth the deaths of ordinary people? And is King Henry responsible for the lives lost in his pursuit of power?
Henry V
Shakespeare's retelling of the Battle of Agincourt of 1415 is the final part in his second tetralogyA series of four. of history plays. Written in 1599, as England was at war in Ireland, Shakespeare turns to history to think about war and its myths. The series begins with Henry IV usurping Richard II's throne, and then follows his son Hal's transformation from a "wild" young man into the noble king we see in this play. Now that Henry V is ruling England, he decides to invade France and claim the crown there. The English army is outnumbered, but a rousing speech urges them on to achieve an extraordinary victory. First, however, Shakespeare offers a nuancedHaving or characterized by subtle and often appealingly complex qualities, aspects, or distinctions. discussion of the morality of warfare. Are the glory and honour worth the deaths of ordinary people? And is King Henry responsible for the lives lost in his pursuit of power?
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It's hard to think of a more famous war story than Henry V. The play climaxes with the Battle of AgincourtA key battle in the Hundred Years' War between the English and the French. It was won by the English in 1415., one of the most celebrated military victories in English history. As you would expect, therefore, a lot of what the play's characters talk about is war. Shakespeare offers us a kaleidoscopic view of battle. We see it from the high perspective of King Henry, for whom the war is a point of personal honour. We see the different views of what makes a good soldier in a debate between captain Macmorris and Fluellen. We see the terrors of women and children at Harfleur, threatened by Henry, who there speaks of "impious war/ arrayed in flames like to the prince of fiends". We see war from the point of view of common soldiers, such as Michael Williams, who points out "there are few die well that die in a battle". We see people with no taste for war, like Nym, Pistol and Bardolph, fearful for their lives, and unconcerned with the noble martial values that their commanders talk about.
And we see war from the cynicalNot trusting in the goodness of others. point of view of the wealthy and powerful, who wonder what they can get out of it. Shakespeare pointedly opens the play with a discussion between two Bishops, who wish for the war to get out of a new bill that will raise taxes on the church. For Shakespeare, war is many things at the same time. It is both the reality of death and destruction, and the lies that people tell about it.
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The whole of the Henriad, the name for the four history plays (or tetralogy) which begin with Richard II and culminate in Henry V, has one overarching question: what makes a good king? From Henry IV to Henry V, Henry has grown up, and become a responsible and sober man. He is described as a "scholar", as well as a "soldier". He gives great speeches that rally the troops around him. But he is not really allowed to be himself. We see this when he dresses up as a common soldier in act IV and tries to sound out his men. He speaks of himself a little wistfully "I think the King is but a man as I am. The violet smells to him as it doth to me." But this is not how his subjects experience him. The responsibilities of a king means that he has to be all things to all people. At one point, he lapses into a self-pity that we might find hard to sympathise with. "What infinite heart's ease / Must kings neglect that private men enjoy," he says. The King has to be a symbol more than he has to be a man. And this is partly because it is not clear what else gives him the right to rule. While we see the Bishops point to a natural hierarchy, in which even the bees have a "king... of sorts", it is unclear what makes the King deserve the crown apart from his ability to convince people that he does. As the chorus puts it in the prologueA part that comes at the beginning of a play or story, often giving information about the events leading up to the start. , "'tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings".
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what the king has that other people don't is "ceremony". It's a word that we often use to mean a kind of pointless dressing up, making a big deal of something that is not a big deal. We say don't stand on ceremony, and treat it as a kind of pretence. A religious ceremony doesn't require belief, it requires that we go through the motions of a belief. And yet, such things continue to be very important to us. In the 17th Century, when England was riled up by religious debates between protestantsA group of Christians. Protestants separated from the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th Century. This took place at first in Germany. and CatholicsFollowers of the Catholic church, a Christian denomination with over a billion followers worldwide, led by the Pope. , people's attitudes towards ceremonies were very important. In the play, what is often most required of the king is that he play a specific role for other people. He pretends that he is going to kill all the women and children of Harfleur, for example. He pretends to be a common soldier. And we might say that he pretends to be the king in general. The first descriptions of Henry suggest that there is something uncanny about his ability to convince people; as the Bishop of Canterbury puts it: "Hear him debate of commonwealth affairs/ You would say it hath been all in all his study". To be king, is to fulfil a certain role for people.
And it is not just the king. Others in the play, from Fluellen, who wants war to be like ancient war, to Pistol, who wishes to be seen as tough, are trying to live up to certain roles. The cynicismBelieving that people are only motivated by self-interest and not a good intentions. that Henry shows about his pretending is magnified in Pistol, so that we are left wondering if being a good pretender is really enough.
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The key to Henry's success as a leader, to his ability to be convincing, is his command of the English language. This makes sense for a king, as one of the things that makes a nation a nation is a shared language. He is able to bring the country together in his speeches. He is able to seem knowledgeable about everything. Perhaps the most complicated depiction of his power of language, however, is the scene where he woos Katherine. While neither of them claims fluency in the other's language, they manage to come close to one another. During their conversation, Henry claims to be tongue-tied, incapable of the necessary rhetoricalRelating to the art of persuasive speaking. flourishes for love. "I have neither words nor measure", he says, before delivering a long speech about the perils of eloquenceFluent or persuasive speaking or writing.. It is possible to read this scene as him being honest, for once, able to talk about himself and how he behaves in other situations. He is tired of having to perform. Or, we could read it as yet another masterful demonstration of rhetorical skill. He knows how to pretend to be tongue-tied. As Katherine says to him, "Your Majeste 'ave fausse [has false] French enough to deceive de most sage demoiselle [wise lady] dat is en France." The gaps between how people present themselves with words and what people are really like is emphasised too in Pistol, who is given to parodying the grandiloquent speeches of nobles, pointing out that language is just a way of lying.
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The famous theatre director Trevor Nunn once described Henry V as "the national anthem in five acts". But how patriotic the play actually is remains an open question. There is a lot of poetry about the beauty of England and its peoples, but it is not really clear from watching the play if the "band of brothers" of England are as united as Henry wishes. In the end, Shakespeare suggests that together, war, and rhetoric are what help to make a nation. National identity was an important topic of debate when he wrote the play too. While the events are set in 1415, at a celebrated English victory, it doesn't just speak of England in the late medievalRelating to the Middle Ages. past, but also of what Englishness meant to Shakespeare and others in his time.
When the play was written, in 1599, there was no such thing as British identity, but England was on the verge of becoming an imperial power. Shakespeare's depiction of Englishmen, Welshmen, and others from outside the crown territory - such as the Scottish Jamy or Irish Macmorris - coming together in the battle speaks of this emerging sense of a diverse and imperial nation. With the accession of James VI of Scotland to the English throne, something more like Britain would emerge. There was an ongoing military campaign to suppress rebellion in Ireland, led by the earl of Essex England's first colony (if you exclude Wales), and the English were already considering the establishment of colonies in the Americas. Victory in Essex's campaign, however, did not come easily, and it ended in rebellion against Queen Elizabeth. There is a lot of talk of "stock" and "lines", of the descent of a people, but it is crucially talk, a way of gearing up support for the war, or of trying to bring people together to fight. At a moment when the reality of war was hitting home, the play shows how much nations, whether at war or in peacetime, need myths.
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Tetralogy - A series of four.
Nuanced - Having or characterized by subtle and often appealingly complex qualities, aspects, or distinctions.
Battle of Agincourt - A key battle in the Hundred Years' War between the English and the French. It was won by the English in 1415.
Cynical - Not trusting in the goodness of others.
Prologue - A part that comes at the beginning of a play or story, often giving information about the events leading up to the start.
Protestants - A group of Christians. Protestants separated from the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th Century. This took place at first in Germany.
Catholics - Followers of the Catholic church, a Christian denomination with over a billion followers worldwide, led by the Pope.
Cynicism - Believing that people are only motivated by self-interest and not a good intentions.
Rhetorical - Relating to the art of persuasive speaking.
Eloquence - Fluent or persuasive speaking or writing.
Medieval - Relating to the Middle Ages.
Henry V

Glossary
Tetralogy - A series of four.
Nuanced - Having or characterized by subtle and often appealingly complex qualities, aspects, or distinctions.
Battle of Agincourt - A key battle in the Hundred Years' War between the English and the French. It was won by the English in 1415.
Cynical - Not trusting in the goodness of others.
Prologue - A part that comes at the beginning of a play or story, often giving information about the events leading up to the start.
Protestants - A group of Christians. Protestants separated from the Roman Catholic Church in the 16th Century. This took place at first in Germany.
Catholics - Followers of the Catholic church, a Christian denomination with over a billion followers worldwide, led by the Pope.
Cynicism - Believing that people are only motivated by self-interest and not a good intentions.
Rhetorical - Relating to the art of persuasive speaking.
Eloquence - Fluent or persuasive speaking or writing.
Medieval - Relating to the Middle Ages.