Shakespeare’s Henry V
The history, the play,
performance in
Shakespeare’s day
Henry V of England and France
• Reigned 1413-1422
• Shakespeare’s play: 1599
• Lancastrian branch of Plantagenet
dynasty; Wars of the Roses over
English succession - Lancaster v. York
• Most successful late Plantagenet king
• Foreign policy: 100 Years’ War uniting
thrones of England and France
• Shakespeare’s monarch: Elizabeth I,
house of Tudor (since Henry VII, 1485)
Henry V
Henry’s claim to throne of France
• Edward II (1307-27) m. Isabella of France
• Their son, Edward III (1327-77) is Henry’s
grandfather; initiated 100 Yrs War; his son Edward
(1330-76), Black Prince of Wales, led many
campaigns
• Isabella’s 3 brothers were dead by 1328; lords of
France invoke “Salic law” to bar her claim
• Treaty of Brétigny, 1360, ceded Calais area to
England; used as commercial center
• Henry II m. Eleanor of Aquitaine, succeeded to
dukedom
• William the Conqueror ruled Normandy
• Birthright to land and title is taken very seriously in
Medieval Europe; today appears imperialist
Act I of play
• Shakespeare’s source is Hollinshed’s
Chronicles, 1587; not wholly reliable
• Chorus gives us backstory
• Archbishop presents Henry his right to
French throne; argues against Salic law
• Church had self interest in funding war.
Actually this refers to parliamentary bill from
time of Henry IV, proposing to strip church of
land, give to crown. Medieval church is at
height of own imperialist abuses and divided
by Papal schism.
• Dauphin Louis taunts Henry V with case of
tennis balls (apocryphal)
• Henry sees weight of decision I:2 l. 15, l. 225
Play’s Structure
• Chorus: fill in between incidents of episodic plot (5
yrs between acts 4&5). Speaks directly to audience,
calls on imagination, refers to Shakespeare’s stage
• Act 2: Southampton (Channel coast) Plot against
Henry’s life foiled. Low comedy (King’s youthful
companions) prepare for war; Sir John Falstaff is ill;
Pistol and Mistress Quickly are married. Falstaff dies.
France: her Dauphin thinks Henry is weak, based on
youth.
• Act 3: Harfleur in France. Henry lays siege; battles.
Low comedy won’t fight; boy is critical of their
unethical behavior. Beginning of focus on ordinary
men in battle: Erpingham, Fluellen (Welsh) and
Jamy, MacMorris (Scot). Harfleur yields and Henry
calls for mercy for French and plans retreat to Calais
• Act 3 (cont’d):. Katherine learns English from Alice;
Charles VI responds to English military threat; sends
Herald. Pistol turns in Bardolph for robbing a church;
the King wants all such disobedience punished.
Montjoy brings the French challenge; the English are
sick, tired, forces depleted. The night before battle, the
French expect to win easily.
• Act 4: English camp the night before Agincourt. Henry
borrows Erpingham’s cloak for a disguise, goes alone
among men: Pistol, Fluellen,then Bates, Court and
Williams with whom he debates the responsibility of
the individual and the king in times of war. Henry feels
weight of responsibility for lives, prays for men
(IV:1:210). French are overconfident at dawn; English
see they are outnumbered at least 5:1. Henry’s
famous St. Crispin’s Day speech. Pistols takes
Frenchman for ransom. French ranks are broken; York
• Act 4 (cont’d) French kill the boys in the camp;
English respond killing POWs. English win the day;
the miraculous numbers roll in: 25 English dead vs.
10,000 French. Henry ascribes victory to God,
sends the English to church.
• Act 5: Five years later. Fluellen makes Pistol eat
his leeks; Pistol (whose wife died) plans to return to
England and turn thief. A peace agreement,
brokered by Burgundy, at French palace, Charles
VI, Isabel and Henry’s uncle Exeter and brothers
work out details. Harry courts Katherine, seals it
with a kiss. Charles hopes for a lasting peace
• Climax: English win battle of Agincourt. Serious
issues like a tragedy -- the hero king -- ethical,
responsible, clever, decisive, accessible to
common men, pious, honest, merciful. Poetic
justice in outcome of battle.
• Dénouement: Marriage symbolizes
peace between England and France,
typical of comic endings. English
audiences know it won’t last.
Elizabethan stage
• Shakespeare’s Globe moved to Southwark at
time of Henry V in 1599; style based on
innyards and animal bating. 100’ diameter
polygon; 33’ high. Burned 1613; rebuilt,
dismantled 1644 by Puritans.
• Burbages owned 50% of Lord Chamberlain’s
Men, including Globe; 50% jointly by
Shakespeare, Heminges, Kemp, Phillips, Pope.
• Theatre illegal within city’s walls; actors
punished by Act for the punishment of rogues
and vagabonds, 1583.
1593 Sketch before Globe
Artist’s Sketch
Johannes DeWitt’s period
sketch of Swan
Stage and Audience
• Thrust stage, 5 feet high.
• Heavens, grave trap, inner below and above, balcony,
musicians. Painted w/ trompe l’oeil.
• Props, furniture but no scenery. Costumes
contemporary with a few exceptions, including
“medieval” and “classical.” Live music
• All but royalty attended public theatre; held 3000.
• Groundlings or penny stinkers; 2-3 p for seat in
gallery, 14 p. for nobles above stage to be seen.
• Refer to Actor reading - historical section
New Shakespeare’s Globe
• Opened 1997; 30 years in preparation
• Made with all original materials, original
methods (except some fire safety)
• Located 1 block from original
• Summer season of mostly Shakespeare
and his contemporaries, in a variety of
production styles
• Tours, historical museum
• http://www.shakespeares-globe.org/