Henry V

But if it be a sin to covet honor, I am the most offending soul alive. [Henry, in Henry V, 4.3.31-32] Honor is of the utmost importance to King Henry V in Shakespeare's Henry V. Henry views honor...

William Shakespeare's play, Henry V, is loosely based on actual historical events, but also includes invented material and compresses the actual time sequence of the events. The single most...

I think a major theme in the play is maturity. Throughout the play, Henry has to make choices that are difficult and at odds with who he was as Prince Hal in the Henry IV plays. The famous example...

If we examine the text carefully in Act IV scene 1, we can see that actually, although Henry borrows the cloak from Erpingham, it is Pistol who comes across Henry rather than the other way round....

William Shakespeare uses a variety of motifs and devices in Act 3, scenes 1 and 2 of his play Henry V. Among such features of these scenes are examples of repetition, similes, flattery, and the use...

In order to truly understand Shakespeare's attitude to war is, one must look at this play, Henry V in context. In the eight plays from Richard II-Richard III, Shakespeare explores war, from Henry...

Imagery is everywhere in Shakespeare: open your play at any page, and there'll be something interesting there which deepens or makes more complex the meaning of the passage. Once more unto the...

Some critics regard this excellent play as being a study of what makes a perfect King (or Queen). Let us not forget that this play is actually the last of three plays that chart the rise of the...

Shakespeare's Henry V sees war as an ugly means to a valuable end. On the surface, he's very concerned with justifying the war; he asks Canterbur, "may we with right and conscience make this...

Issues of gender are among a variety of issues raised in the Prologue to Act 3 of Shakespeare’s play Henry V. The prologue opens with a Chorus (a male actor presumably playing a male character)...

Another crucial theme is war as a source of human--or at least, in Shakespeare's telling, masculine--virtue. It is significant that Henry proves his worth as a leader through his military exploits....

Critics are divided about Henry V's attitudes, suggesting that Shakespeare may have intentionally left his character ambiguous and ill defined. One clue is Henry's conversation with Canterbury...

The main conflict in Henry V is, on the surface, the war between the English and French. Both want to govern France, and both kings claim that they have the right to do so so based on their...

The notion of dramatic representation is one that the character of the Chorus is devoted to, as his principal role seems to be to plead with the audience to overlook the various limitations of the...

The Globe Theatre, where the play was originally performed, was nicknamed "The Wooden O" on account of its shape and the material from which it was made. This gave it the appearance of a giant...

Well, there are plenty to choose from in this speech where the Chorus calls upon the audience to suspend their disbelief once again and use their imagination to call up the sights of the ships...

In Act 1, Scene 1, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Ely are discussing an old bill that has resurfaced in King Henry's court. Both the Archbishop and the Bishop are against this bill...

I think that overall, Shakespeare sees war as a glorious and patriotic endeavor in this play. After all, the climactic event in the play is the glorious and famous English victory over the French...

This is an interesting and valuable question, since it touches on the issue of the extent to which Shakespeare's plays represent or endorse the old feudal order, or rather, look forward into the...

I think, as with any Shakespeare play, there are a number of possible different readings that could be supported. It is interesting that the famous Lawrence Olivier version of the film is...

The allusion here, very relevantly to Henry V, is to an English bowman in battle. Obviously archers only had a limited supply of arrows (or "bolts"), and so a good, wise archer would carefully...

It is absolutely vital to remember that this play is as much about the makings of a perfect king as it is about anything else. Henry has a lot to prove. Remember how he was famed for his dissolute...

In many ways Henry V can be seen as Shakespeare's portrait of an ideal English king, very different from the many corrupt, murderous, and mad monarchs he depicts in other plays. The play, most...

Henry V's anonymous walk among his men is a tremendously important part of the play. Henry hopes to hear that his men follow him faithfully and believe the invasion of France is just. Williams,...

Henry V takes place against the backdrop of The Hundred Years' War, which, as the name suggests, was a long, drawn-out conflict—a particularly brutal one at that—between England and France. The...

The style of the prologue to Act 3 of Shakespeare’s play Henry V might be described in a number of ways, including the following: Unifying, as in the opening word “Thus,” which links Act 3 with the...

William Shakespeare’s play Henry V invites some comparison with various poems inspired by World War I, especially with Wilfred Owen’s poem titled “Futility” and with Rupert Brooke’s poem titled...

OK, here is what he is saying but I will summarize each sentence rather than take it line by line. A muse is inspiration, so the Chorus is calling for fiery inspiration where he could create for...

The theme of conflict in this rousing speech by the Chorus is mostly related to the way that the English army is depicted and how its might and bravery is contrasted with the French army in this...

Although Henry V of England and Charles VI of France are on opposite sides in this increasingly bloody, bitter conflict, they can still respect each other. Charles shows his respect for Henry and...

Falstaff is a character who never actually appears in this brilliant history play, though news of his death does reach the ears of the characters. We need to remember that Henry V is the third part...

I would use a sword. I like the flag idea, but that's taken. A sword is a symbol of power, but in this case is also a symbol of camaraderie. For the king to have a sword means he is also in the...

This is actually a very shrewd question. Let us remember that this play is about kingship, and in particular tries to show us the process by which Henry V becomes a "perfect" King, facing many...

Henry V, Act V Scene ii King Henry to Katharine: What! aspeaker is but a prater; a rhyme is but a ballad. Agood leg will fall; a straight back will stoop; ablack beard will turn white; a curled...

Henry V, as depicted in the play of the same name by William Shakespeare, is a complex man who must balance his authority and responsibilities as King with his personal demons, worries, and fears....

Henry V is a man who, upon ascending to the throne, has vowed to change from the feckless young man we saw in Henry IV, Parts 1 & 2. He is intent upon being "no tyrant, but a Christian king,"...

One of the brilliant things about Shakespeare’s plays, and one of the reasons they still continue to be performed century after century, is the fact that Shakespeare is not a moralist. His plays...

I have to admit that I find the St. Crispin day speech rather cynical and manipulating, which is of course one possible reading of the play, as Henry becomes more and more Machiavellian and learns...

The lines you quote are from the play Henry V. These lines are spoken in Act II, Scene 3. The lines are spoken by Mistress Quickly, who is the Hostess and Keeper of the Boar's Head Tavern in...

The lines you cite here are from the play Henry V. They are spoken in Act IV, Scene 1 of that play. The lines are spoken by the King himself. The context here is that Henry has just gotten...

Set in the early fifteenth century, Henry V is incredibly relevant to the time of its plot in that it not only reveals the victory of the English over the French at Agincourt but also vividly...

Problems in the performance, and not related to themes? The most immediate of these issues are practical. First, creating the disguises. You have in As You Like It Rosalind, a young woman who is...

This is a very complex question and, you're right, there are internal definitions at play that prescribe certain kinds of information for each. Let's see if we can sort it out. Let's start with...

If I'm reading it correctly, it appears that the question was for Act IV, scene 1, not Act I, Scene 1.Act IV, scene 1 takes place the night before the Battle of Agincourt. Henry is making his way...

In Henry IV, part 2, the dying king advises Prince Hal that the best way to avoid internal conflicts is to focus the country on foreigners. At the beginning of Henry V, the Archbishop of Canterbury...

The French characters are largely depicted as decadent and arrogant in Henry V. The Dauphin's sending Henry tennis balls is a great example of this: here, he is mocking Henry's youth and playboy...

If I'm understanding your question correctly, you are inquiring as to whether or not there is a diplomat or ambassador in the play Henry V. If that is correct, then yes, there are a couple of...

"If Shakespeare had presented the real Henry with all his aspects, including his limitations, his occasional craftiness and slightly nauseating sanctimony, he might have provoked the most notable...

Rupert Brooke’s sonnet titled “Peace” bears some resemblance to the speech in William Shakespeare’s play Henry V in which Henry prepares his men for their battle against the French at Agincourt....

A key function of the Chorus in this excellent play is to "fill in the blanks" as it were of what the staging is unable to achieve, and to ask the audience to use their imagination, helped by his...