Henry V (Vol. 30) - Structure
STRUCTURE
Edward I. Berry (essay date 1979)
SOURCE: '"True Things and Mock'ries': Epic and History in Henry V." The Journal of English and Germanic Philogy, Vol. LXXVIII, No. 1, January 1979, pp. 1-16.
[In the following essay, Berry contends that Henry V is an epic, noting the tension that results from the opposing notions of epic ideal and political reality in the play.]
Among the many points of disagreement in criticism of Henry V is its relation to epic. For some critics the play is a "true" Renaissance epic, a patriotic celebration of an ideal Christian king. For others it is an unrealized epic—a play written in the heroic mode but without conviction or a coherent perspective on its hero.
For still others the play verges on mock-heroic or satire, invoking epic conventions only to undermine them. Common to all these views, I think, is a tendency to oversimplify the play's connection to its given mode. As...
[The entire page is 16552 words long]
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