(24) Henry V

Henry V is a play about Henry V. Not just about him, but of him, all of him. More so that any of the other history plays, this one is all about the title character. There is a laser-like focus on the guy and nearly all the plot, character, theme, and space tie back to him. It’s interesting to note that Shakespeare kills off Falstaff, even after promising he will return at the end of the proceeding play (Henry IV, Part II). The corpulent rogue is only briefly mentioned as having died and is eulogized by his friends, but not for long. It’s almost as if Shakespeare was worried about losing focus on Henry if Falstaff were around. The guy (Falstaff) does tend to cast a long shadow. But anyway, this play is all about Henry, but that’s not surprising, right? It’s the title after all.

There are some remarkable speeches by Henry in this one, big fat famous speeches, speeches that really make this a five star affair. There are two speeches that rise to the top, the speech before the gates of Harfleur, and the St. Crispin’s Day speech. The St. Crispin’s day speech is particularly good. In the context of the play, it can get you a little misty-eyed in fact, in a Saving Private Ryan sort of way. Powerful stuff, as great and timeless as anything I have yet read.

This is a play about war. The central action of this play is the invasion of France by Henry in 1415, culminating in the Battle of Agincourt, a hugely lopsided English victory (10,000 French nobles dead versus a few hundred English). Reading up on this battle, I found it fascinating, and there is quite a bit of discussion and dissection around what actually happened. It was a battle in which the English longbow played a part (but how big of a part?), as did the terrain, tactics, and technology of the day. I love that kind of thing, and this battle has it all. Check it out. It must have been a really terrible thing, fighting as a French knight on that field that day, and Shakespeare paints it perfectly, although with wide strokes, avoiding the details. In this way, he honors the battle; he honors both sides, describing in the most eloquent way possible the reality of that event, the glory and the honor along with the horror and the sin. This was the best part of the play, and it is what I will remember.