Formerly the "madcap" Prince Hal (see Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part One and Two), Henry V is king of England and the title character of the play which deals with Henry's efforts to reclaim France as part of his kingdom—a topic well-known to Elizabethan audiences.
Throughout the play, the Chorus and many of Henry's subjects treat him as an epic hero. (An epic presents a character of legendary stature involved in a series of heroic adventures across nations and continents and often occurring over long stretches of time. The Iliad and The Odyssey by the...
Source: Shakespeare for Students, ©2013 Gale Cengage. All Rights Reserved. Full copyright.
(The entire page is 949 words.)
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