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William Shakespeare, c. 1599
Comprehensive A-Level revision notes for Shakespeare's Henry V, the final play of the second tetralogy. Act-by-act plot, character profiles, themes (kingship, war, theatre, brotherhood), authentic Folio quotations with analysis, symbols, historical context, and A-Level essay plans for the most-examined questions.
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The Chorus opens the play apologising for the inadequacy of the “wooden O” to depict the “vasty fields of France.” In Act 1 Scene 1, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Ely discuss a parliamentary bill that would strip the Church of much of its wealth; Canterbury proposes to divert the King by endorsing his claim to France. In Scene 2, Canterbury delivers a long, intricate speech on the Salic Law, justifying Henry's claim to the French throne. The Dauphin's ambassador arrives with a mocking gift of tennis balls, suggesting Henry should return to his youthful sports. Henry receives the insult with cold resolve and vows that the gift will be turned into “gun-stones,” preparing for invasion.
Key Moments
The Chorus describes the country preparing for war and warns of three traitors bribed by France: Cambridge, Scroop, and Grey. In the Boar's Head tavern, Pistol, Nym and Bardolph quarrel and prepare to follow the army. The Hostess reports that Sir John Falstaff is dying, broken-hearted by the King's rejection of him. At Southampton, Henry exposes the traitors with theatrical irony, having them condemn themselves before revealing his knowledge of their plot. The Hostess then describes Falstaff's death in one of the play's most tender prose passages. Meanwhile, in France, the French King and Dauphin debate Henry's seriousness; Exeter arrives with terms.
Key Moments
The Chorus describes the English fleet sailing to France. At Harfleur, Henry delivers his famous siege oration, urging his men “Once more unto the breach.” Pistol, Bardolph and Nym hang back and are driven forward by the Welsh Captain Fluellen. After the surrender of Harfleur, Henry threatens appalling violence against the citizens if they resist further, but the city yields. Princess Katherine takes a comic English lesson from her gentlewoman Alice. The French nobility, increasingly nervous, debate the threat. Henry's army falls ill with disease and short of supplies. Bardolph is condemned to hang for stealing a pax from a French church — Henry orders the execution of his old tavern companion. The French herald Mountjoy demands ransom; Henry refuses, conceding his army is weakened but resolute.
Key Moments
The Chorus paints the night before battle, with the “hum of either army stilly sounds.” Henry borrows a cloak and walks among his men in disguise. He encounters Pistol, Fluellen, and the common soldiers Bates, Court and Williams. Williams challenges the King's right to demand his subjects' lives, exchanging gloves with the disguised Henry as a token for later combat. Alone, Henry delivers the “Upon the King” soliloquy, lamenting the burden of ceremony and royal responsibility. Before battle he gives the “St Crispin's Day” speech, transforming his disadvantage into glory. The battle of Agincourt is a stunning English victory; Henry orders the killing of the prisoners after the French rally. The boy and the luggage train are massacred. Fluellen praises the King's Welsh heritage. The glove plot is resolved with Williams confronting Fluellen rather than the King; Henry rewards Williams with a glove full of crowns. Casualty lists are read: the French dead enormous, the English losses tiny.
Key Moments
The Chorus describes Henry's triumphant return to London and his second voyage to France for treaty. Fluellen confronts Pistol and forces him to eat the Welsh leek as punishment for mocking it. Pistol, his Hostess dead, resolves to return to England as a thief and beggar. At the French court, Henry negotiates the Treaty of Troyes: he will marry Princess Katherine and inherit the French throne. He woos her in plain blunt soldier's English mixed with broken French, in a scene that veers between charm and political coercion. The peace is sealed. The Chorus ends with an Epilogue acknowledging that Henry's triumph was short-lived; his son lost France and “made his England bleed,” gesturing to the Henry VI plays the audience already knew.
Key Moments