Henry V, King

Henry V, King, a historical drama by Shakespeare, written in 1599, printed in 1600 from a memorial reconstruction; the First folio text (1623) is based on Shakespeare's own papers. Its chief sources are the chronicles of Hall and Holinshed.

The play opens with the newly ascended Henry astonishing clergy and courtiers by his piety and statecraft (cf. Prince Hal). The archbishop of Canterbury demonstrates, in the long ‘Salic Law’ speech, Henry's claim to the throne of France, and the Dauphin's jesting gift of tennis balls gives him an immediate pretext for invasion. Henry unmasks the three traitors, Scrope, Grey, and Cambridge, and sets out for France; he besieges and captures Harfleur, and achieves a resounding victory at Agincourt (1415), a battle for which he prepares his soldiers in the ‘Crispin Crispian’ speech. Comic relief is provided by the old tavern companions of Falstaff, who have fallen on hard times, and by some of Henry's soldiers, especially the pedantic but courageous Welsh captain Fluellen. The new, patriotic, comic characters symbolically defeat the old when Fluellen compels the braggart Pistol to eat a leek (v. i). The last act is given to Henry's wooing of Katherine of France.