Henry V

“France being ours, we’ll bend it to our awe,

Or break it all to pieces.”

Henry establishes the stakes of his invasion. He plans to blend France to his will, or break it apart in the effort. For France, this will become an existentialist war. Henry does succeed in bending France to his awe, particularly by allowing Charles to remain as the King of France. He impresses his enemy with his forethought and his clemency, just as much as he impresses them on the battlefield.

“Friendship shall combine, and brotherhood.

I’ll live by Nym, and Nym shall live by me.”

Ancient Pistol employs similar language to that used by King Henry later in the play. He cynically promises “brotherhood” to Nym in exchange for a settling of their differences, rallying support from a fellow common man even though his word is less than reliable. The promise is hollow, a cynical means of defusing the situation, which contrasts with the inspirational speech delivered by Henry later in the play. The juxtaposition reveals the fundamental difference in sincerity between the common soldiers and the King.

“I will weep for thee;

For this revolt of thine, methinks, is like

Another fall of man.”

King Henry shows his empathy by admitting his sadness that his friends would betray him so readily. He compares their treason to the fall of man, the biblical story in which Adam and Eve are banished from the Garden of Eden and subjected to sin for the first time. The traitors have fallen from their own Garden of Eden, England, by betraying the loyalty of their own God, King Henry. In this recasting of the biblical tale, the King pities the people he condemns. He also obliquely refers to his divine right as king.

“Nay, sure, he’s not in hell.”

The play is split between the high-minded activities of nobles and the low-minded activities of the commoners. In the wake of Falstaff’s death, the commoners discuss the state of his immortal soul. The commoners are markedly sinners, to the point where two of them will be hanged for stealing later in the play. That they should be the only ones present to witness Falstaff’s death and reflect on his life is a damning fate for such a celebrated character and a celebrated knight. Even the most famous and most beloved characters may find themselves, the play suggests, with no one to mourn them but a group of common criminals. This scene is also a parody on the Catholic beliefs of medieval England for the enjoyment of the Protestant Renaissance audience.

“And he is bred out of that bloody strain that haunted us in our familiar paths.”

Talking to his son, King Charles of France reminds the Dauphin of Henry’s lineage. In the context of a dynastic rivalry for the throne of France, the idea of bloodlines is important. King Henry is descended from men who triumphed over France in the past, and these victories, Charles implies, are carried in his blood just as the right to rule is carried in their own blood. Henry’s talents as a leader and a warrior are ranked alongside his dynastical claim to the throne and framed in the same terms of inheritance.

“Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more,

Or close the wall up with our English dead.”

King Henry’s inspirational speech rallies his troops to take the town of Harfleur. In earlier scenes, the King distinguishes himself from the common people in many ways. He uses the royal “we,” a plural used by a single person to illustrate their status as the monarch of a state. In his speech, however, he calls out to the soldiers as his brothers and friends. In the heat of the battle, they are equals. They share in the glory and fortunes of war, raising the common soldiers up to a kingly status through the deeds and actions that he inspires.

“On, on, on, on, on! To the breach, to the breach!”

After King Henry’s famous inspirational rallying cry, the common soldiers take to the stage. Bardolph offers his own attempt at an inspirational speech but he lacks the eloquence and passion of Henry. All he has to offer is repetition of the King’s lines and a repetition of a single two-letter word. Bardolph does not survive the play and, in stark contrast to King Henry’s articulateness, he fails to demonstrate his worth on the battlefield.

“Use mercy to them all.”

King Henry is invading France and waging war to take the crown. His rhetoric is violent and he has issued many threats to the ruling class and the common people of France. Nevertheless, he shows his heroic side in the aftermath of his victory. He shows mercy to the prisoners, ordering his English troops to treat their prisoners of war with respect. Henry is not only showing mercy to his prisoners, but he is already thinking of them as his future subjects. His quiet confidence illustrates his competence as King and King-to-be.

“De nailes, de arm, de ilbow.”

Henry’s bloody battle is juxtaposed against the way in which his future wife is trying to prepare herself for a potential English victory. She begins to learn English, with her comic mispronunciations of the various parts of the body masking an underlying fear that her father may be defeated. Katherine feels a genuine need to learn English: She understands her duty and that she will very likely be given in marriage to Henry.

“Is not their climate foggy, raw, and dull?”

Even after Henry’s first victory, the French nobility refuses to give the upstart kingdom of England any credit. The English may have won a battle, the French nobility jokes, but their country is foggy and dull. The French portray the English as crude and boring, which makes the coming defeat of the French all the more pronounced.

“For when lenity and cruelty play for a kingdom, the gentler gamester is the soonest winner.”

Henry is able to conceive of a world beyond his military victory. His wisdom is evident in the way his treats his prisoners, to the point where he is willing to sanction the execution of a former acquaintance like Bardolph if it will show his potential new subjects that he is a fair and just ruler. The English soldiers should not loot or abuse the Frenchmen who will soon become Henry’s subjects.

“We shall have each a hundred Englishmen.”

In contrast to Henry’s measured mercy, the French nobility cannot hide their arrogance. They keenly predict an easy victory, even after losing at Harfleur. This arrogance speaks to their hubris, foreshadowing their defeat as inevitable. The French do not take Henry seriously as a King and the English seriously as soldiers. As a result, they are doomed to fail.

“I think the King is but a man, as I am.”

King Henry disguises himself as a regular soldier so as to survey the mood in his camp. His willingness to lower himself to the level of a common man suggests a humility that is far beyond the capacity of the French nobility. The humbleness shown by the King of England makes his victory over the hubristic French inevitable, while also burnishing his credentials as a ruler.

“That their hot blood may spin in English eyes,

And dout them with superfluous courage, ha!”

The Dauphin, the heir to the French throne, is among the most arrogant and hubristic of the French nobles. His dismissal of the English soldiers’ courage is telling on the eve of the battle, as he cannot imagine a world in which he and his army lose to Henry’s men. Whereas Henry wanders among his soldiers in disguise, attempting to raise morale and get a feel for the mood, the Dauphin and his fellow lords mock the enemy that is about to defeat them.

“We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.”

With the Battle of Agincourt awaiting, King Henry needs to rally his men once again. The English forces are heavily outnumbered but their King lifts their spirits by speaking to their common cause. They are not just soldiers on a field, they are a “band of brothers.” This petition of the soldiers’ fraternity binds them together in a glorious moment, promising them immortality by achieving an incredible victory against incredible odds. King Henry shows that he knows how to appeal to his subjects and inspire their loyalty, justifying his status not just as King, but as a lauded King.

“I did never know so full a voice issue from so empty a heart.”

Falstaff’s former page travels to France with Nym, Bardolph, and Pistol. There, he is horrified at the contrast between his former master and his current mentors. They are petty criminals, more concerned with enriching themselves than anything resembling chivalry. This contrast shows that, even though Henry might be an inspiring and respectable King, his men do not always share his morality.

“Disorder hath spoiled us.”

The French nobles realize that they have been defeated. Even with the battle still raging, their sense of shame is already palpable. Amid this chaos, they search for an explanation. They cannot blame themselves or their hubris, however, so they blame “disorder” and other abstract ideas that are beyond their control. With defeat staring them down, they remain unable to take responsibility for their actions.

“The French have reinforced their scatter’d men:

Then every soldier kill his prisoners.”

King Henry is portrayed as a heroic and noble man. In the midst of battle, however, he is capable of dark and violent deeds. He orders his men to execute every prisoner in their control, refusing to show mercy when the prospect of a French victory remains in the balance. This violent version of Henry stands in contrast with the magnanimous version of Henry that he becomes in the wake of his victory, when his triumph is already assured.

“There’s not a boy left alive.”

After Henry’s orders to kill the French prisoners, a more violent and destructive crime is perpetrated by the French. During the battle, noticing that they are losing, a detachment of French soldiers leaves the battlefield and goes to the English camp. There, they slaughter the boys who were too young to join the battle. Fluellen and Gower are horrified, as this act goes beyond the typical brutality of war. The unexpected, spiteful violence of the French army, the play suggests, justifies Henry’s own lack of mercy toward the French prisoners.

“The day is yours.”

Henry and the English have already won the Battle of Agincourt. The sheer number of French dead is evidence of their victory. When the messenger Mountjoy approaches, however, Henry needs to hear him concede defeat. He wants the French representative to acknowledge him as the victor, a statement that means as much as the victory on the battlefield. This surrender is a psychological victory over the same people who have arrogantly dismissed his chances of victory.

“O God, Thy arm was here!”

After his astonishing victory and the limited number of deaths on the English side, Henry does not take credit. He thanks God and credits God with the manner of the victory. This humble approach establishes his credentials as King, especially in contrast to the arrogant and hubristic French. By taking the time to thank God rather than accepting praise for himself, Henry is providing evidence to his soldiers and his enemy that he is humble enough to rule them.

“There is occasions and causes why and wherefore in all things.”

As Fluellen fusses about the leek in his hat and the perceived slight from Pistol, Gower is in a more somber mood. His seemingly dismissive, throwaway line speaks to the plot of the play as a whole, however. The perceived slights—an arrogant attitude, a rude dismissal—from the French nobles drove Henry to war, providing a similar echo to Fluellen’s pursuit of Pistol. The scene is repeated, first as tragedy, then as farce.

“If thou couldst, thou wouldst find me such a plain king.”

Henry proved himself a worthy winner on the battlefield by showing that he was a modest, devout, and humble man. He continues this during his speedy courtship with Katherine. He confesses that, if she were able to understand his language, then she would find him to be just a “plain king.” His humbleness works again and Katherine agrees to marry him, embellishing his reputation as a deserving king.