We are presented with the ideal of kingship in Henry V. Piety, humility, learning, courage, leadership, restraint and mercy are all demonstrated in this ‘mirror of all Christian kings’ (Act II, Chorus). Perhaps Shakespeare intended Henry to be a flattering parallel for Queen Elizabeth. He was certainly aware of the need for unity and stability in his own time and would promote those qualities, which he thought would maintain the security of the state. Henry does not recklessly attack France. He secures England first by dealing with traitors at home and by making provision against a Scottish attack.
In the Chorus’s description of the preparation for invasion, at the beginning of Act II, we are given some idea of the excitement generated by the prospects of the glory and honour to be won in battle. Before Agincourt, Henry tells his troops that they will be respected and envied for the rest of their lives if they survive. Even if they die, their names will live forever. However, in addition to the rhetoric, and the glories of the English victory we are given indicators of the darker aspects of war. In the Chorus and in some of Henry’s speeches there are elements of rhetoric, repetition of words or phrases, the building up of lists or questions and the balancing of phrases, for example,
‘We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.’ (Act IV, Scene 3)
‘Show men dutiful?
Why, so didst thou. Seem they grave and learned?
Why, so didst thou. Came they of noble family?
Why, so didst thou. Seem they religious?
Why, so didst thou.’ (Act II, Scene 2)
We also see that it attracts criminals and parasites, like Pistol, Bardolph and Nym, who only go to steal. As Pistol says, ‘Let us to France, like horse-leeches, my boys, To suck, to suck, the very blood to suck!’ (Act II, Scene 3).
Henry’s speech to the Governor of Harfleur (Act III, Scene 3), gives some indication of the horrors involved in the sack of a town. Here Henry addresses the Governor of Harfleur. He tells him that this is his last chance to surrender and describes in vivid terms the destruction and murder which will follow if the English troops are let loose in the town. In his speech we are given a graphic description of the brutalities of warfare, ‘I will not leave the half-achievéd Harfleur, Till in her ashes she lie buried’, (Act III, Scene 3, lines 8/9) and ‘The blind and bloody soldier … your naked infants spitted upon pikes,’ (Act III, Scene 3, lines 34-37).
Act V, Scene 2, describes the devastation caused by the war in France and it is these negative views of war that add depth and credibility to the drama but do not significantly detract from its main thrust, which is towards a patriotic celebration of the English triumph.
The fierceness of the English soldiers is suggested by comparisons with wild animals, ‘they will eat like wolves and fight like devils’ (Act III, Scene 7), and hunting dogs, ‘I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, Straining upon the start’, (Act III, Scene 1). At Harfleur, Henry encourages them to imitate the action of the ‘tiger’ (Act III, Scene 1). Violence is also suggested by images of storms and other violent natural events such as whirlpools and earthquakes, for example,
‘His approaches makes as fierce
As waters to the sucking of a gulf.’ (Act II, Scene 4)
‘Therefore in fierce Tempest is he coming
In thunder and in earthquake, like a Jove,’ (Act II, Scene 4)
and
‘Let the brow o’erwhelm it
As fearfully as doth a galled rock
O’erhang and jutty his confounded base,
Swilled with the wild and wasteful ocean.’ (Act III, Scene 1).
Henry dominates the play and completely overshadows the other characters. His words comprise about a third of the text. Henry is seen as strong, brave, pious, persuasive, plain-spoken and charismatic. Taken at face value, it seems that Shakespeare has presented us with his view of the ideal monarch, ‘the mirror of all Christian kings’ (Act II, Chorus, pg.75).
Henry is a devoutly religious man. We hear from the clergy that he is ‘a true lover of the holy Church’ (Act I, Scene 1, pg.61). He seeks the approval and support of the Church before waging war, and is aware of the horror and destruction which it brings, ‘My learnéd lord, we pray you to proceed … not bar us in our claim’ (Act I, Scene 2, pg.65). Henry prays sincerely, entrusting his enterprise to God’s will and refusing to take credit for the victory at Agincourt, threatening with death any who boast of it and thus detract from God’s achievement. He has paid for prayers and the building of chapels to compensate for his father’s sins and after the battler he orders the singing of prayers and psalms in thanks to God. Unlike the French leaders, (Charles VI), he does not use idle oaths or take God’s name in vain.
Henry’s physical courage is never in doubt. We see him leading his men at the siege of Harfleur and hear that he has been in personal combat at Agincourt, ‘Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more,’ (Act III, Scene 1, pg.96). The Chorus tells us that the night before Agincourt he went around the English camp, inspiring his soldiers with confidence by his friendly words and cheerful manner. We can see that he takes his responsibilities seriously when he talks to Williams and the other common soldiers and later, in his only soliloquy, in which he talks of the heavy burden of kingship.
Henry has qualities which encourage us to believe in him as a human being, not just a paragon of kingly virtues. He has a sense of humour as demonstrated in the trick he plays on Fluellen and Williams. He is awkward and blunt when speaking to Katherine and is unable to court her with conventional flowery phrases and compliments. In his soliloquy in Act IV, Scene 1, he reveals his feelings about the responsibilities of kingship and the emptiness of ceremony and adulation. He questions the value of ceremony and the trappings of royalty and compares the uneasy responsibilities of power with the simple, irresponsible life of the slave who can sleep peacefully each night, ‘What infinite heart’s ease/Must kings neglect that private men enjoy!/And what have kings that privates have not too,’ (Act IV, Scene 1, pg.127).
Some critics have described Henry as a cynical, ruthless manipulator. His piety can be viewed as a front which masks his ambition. There are two interesting and quite different film versions of the play.
Laurence Olivier’s version (1945) was released in wartime and its patriotic message seemed very appropriate. It is set partly in a representation of Shakespeare’s theatre and partly on location. Olivier gives a very powerful performance in the role of Henry.
Kenneth Branagh’s production (1989) attempts greater realism in the battle scenes and focuses more on Henry’s inner conflicts. There is not as much emphasis on the patriotic elements of the play as in Olivier’s version. Branagh himself gives an excellent performance in the lead.
The Battle of Agincourt presented in Laurence Olivier’s production is very different from that shown in Kenneth Branagh’s filming. Olivier’s production is more artificial, where as Branagh’s production is more obviously realistic. Kenneth Branagh’s production of Henry V depicts the dirtiness and brutality of war more explicitly, his being more bloody and horrifying. Olivier’s production is very stylised, abandoning realism. Olivier strongly emphasizes the cowardice of the French leaders in comparison to the bravery of Henry and his soldiers, making it clear whose side God is on. Branagh used his film version to make a statement against the brutality and futility of war.
In Branagh’s production we see so many deaths and we learn about the kind of noises that were heard from the battlefield for hours and days afterwards from people dying very, very slowly in terrible face to face conditions; arrows raining down from every direction. Branagh shows Henry and his soldiers as frightened and anxious individuals afraid of death, faces strained while waiting for the French to approach. The field itself is muddy and the weather is wet, dramatic weather such as the dramatic way in which Shakespeare presents war. Branagh creates the illusion of a relatively realistic battlefield with a naturalistic appearance.
The O.U (Open University) cassette version of Henry V presents the attitudes to war using sound. Here, we hear all the usual sounds you would expect to hear throughout war, for example, the sound of gun shots, screaming and shouting, arrows etc. I feel this reflects the various attitudes to war, as it enables a person to actually hear the battlefield scene and visualise in their heads the battlefield and its effects.
A critical writing by Simon Elliot focuses on the war and death aspects within the play. He states that the subject matter of Henry V concerns war and the build-up to war, so it is hardly surprising that death and the threat of death feature strongly in the play. Two major conflicts are actually represented on stage (the siege of Harfleur, III.1-3; Agincourt:IV.1-8). In the latter, prodigious numbers of French are killed, ‘ This note doth tell me of ten thousand French/That in the field lie slain’ (Act IV, Scene 8, lines 79-80). The actuality of imminence of death permeates the whole play and affects many more than those that die at Agincourt. The English characters in the play die away from the major battles, their deaths being civil rather than military. Henry V contains only one scene that represents the battle of Agincourt, and that is a comic, featuring Pistol. Both the Olivier and Branagh productions, however, spend a lot of time on the battlefield and people could argue that such a pre-occupation unbalances their interpretations.
To conclude, I feel William Shakespeare gives considerable attention to war in the play. Many leading characters are warriors or kings who come to power or overturn the established powers. Shakespeare seems aware of the horror of war but he also likes to revel in the pageantry and glory of war. Shakespeare appears to hold view that peace makes a society soft and decadent (like the French court in Henry V) and that war is a useful thing at times because it makes a society tough and healthy. Weak elements are destroyed and the stronger elements are given room to grow and flourish. In Henry V, Shakespeare is concerned with the issue of a just war and the proper duties of a Christian King. Shakespeare suggests that Henry V also seeks war for personal ambition and goes to war on very spurious legal grounds. The play looks at war from various points of view and is about the political and moral burdens kingship and war brings. It is also about the need for a good king to play many roles and use many sorts of dictation. It is about the need for such a king to create an idealised self that has all the clarity and simplicity that he is bound to lack, and about the inevitable gulf between the appearance of that ideal self and reality.
Bibliography
To help me ensure a greater knowledge and understanding of ‘Henry V’ by William Shakespeare, I used the following resources:
Henry V by William Shakespeare (The New Penguin Shakespeare)
Edited by A.R.Humphreys, ISBN 0-14-070708-5
York Notes – Henry V
Notes by David Langston, ISBN 0-582-36829-4
BBC
http:/www.bbc.co.uk/history/state/monarchs_leaders/henry_v_01.shtml
Shakespeare – Studying Henry V by Simon Elliot
Shakespeare’s Henry V by Lily B
Critical Writings - Kenneth Branagh
Critical Writings - Laurence Olivier
Kimberley Palmer English Coursework Candidate Number: 6280
