Henry V Speech Analysis

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Henry V persuasion speech analysis.

Once more unto the breach dear friends once more.

This speech given by Henry 5th is set at the siege of the French town Harfleur, where Henry's miners have blown a breach in the outer wall and his soldiers are reluctant to enter the castle as they know that it means almost certain death. Henry is trying to persuade them to rush into the breach. Shakespeare's speech for Henry is decasyllabic, ( each line has 10 syllables) showing that Henry is a noble man.

"dear friends"

In the first line of the speech Henry addresses his soldiers personally, this creates a feeling of comradeship and allows him to gain their trust, with the intention of increasing their loyalty to him as they feel that they are respected and held in high esteem.

"Or close the wall up with our English dead"

Henry does not lie to his soldiers; he is honest and tells them that it is better for them to die fighting like heroes than cowards that will end up filling up the breach with their dead bodies. This reinforces the soldiers trust in Henry as