![]() The game's afoot:Ĭry 'God for Harry, England and Saint George!' ' (Act 3, Scene 1)īoy: 'Men of few words are the best men' (Act 3, Scene 2)Ĭonstable: 'Give them great meals of beef and iron and steel they will eat like wolves and fight like devils.' (Act 3, Scene 7) King Henry: 'I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips, King Henry: 'And sheathed their swords for lack of argument' (Act 3, Scene 1) Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood' (Act 3, Scene 1) In peace there's nothing so becomes a manīut when the blast of war blows in our ears, Or close the wall up with our English dead. ![]() King Henry: 'Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more, Mistress Quickly: 'As cold as any stone' (Act 2, Scene 3)ĭauphin: 'Self-love, my liege, is not so vile a sin, Mistress Quickly: 'Even at the turning o' the tide. ![]() The air, a chartered libertine, is still' (Act 1, Scene 1) The brightest heaven of invention!' (Prologue)Īrchbishop of Canterbury: 'Turn him to any cause of policy,įamiliar as his garter, that, when he speaks, Chapman published this in 1598 and dedicated his work to the Earl of Essex.įamous quotes Here is a selection of some of the most famous quotes from Shakespeare's Henry V.Ĭhorus: 'O, for a Muse of fire, that would ascend Shakespeare's imagination would have been engaged by this in George Chapman's translation, Seven Books of the Iliad of Homer. The wakeful Agamemnon of Homer's Iliad walks through his camp, encouraging his soldiers on the night before a decisive battle. Classical sources also provided models for such actions. Shakespeare used the device again later in his career in Measure for Measure. Here, Shakespeare is following dramatic rather than historical tradition - there are many examples in plays of the 1590s of the disguised ruler moving, unknown, among his subjects. There is no account in either of these chronicle histories of the king visiting his army incognito on the eve of battle. Edward Hall's The Union of the two Noble and Illustre Families of Lancaster and York, first printed in 1548, is the other chronicle history from which Shakespeare took his material. The complicated explanation of the Salic Law, given by the Archbishop of Canterbury in Shakespeare's play, is almost a direct versification of that given in Holinshed. Like Shakespeare's play, it presents both king and commoners and it, too, has a wooing scene between the victorious English king and the Princess of France.Īs with his other English history plays, Shakespeare drew closely on Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland, first printed in 1577 and revised and enlarged in 1587. This anonymous play lays uncomplicated stress on the comic and romantic aspects of the story, beginning with an account of Henry's madcap youth before moving onto his reformation and victories in France. ![]() 'The Famous Victories of Henry the fifth: Containing the Honourable Battell of Agin-court: As it was plaide by the Queenes Maiesties Players.' The existence of two of these is known only on the strength of brief contemporary references but the text of the third has survived and its anonymous title page announces its subject: We know of three other plays about the great military hero already in circulation in late 1580s and early 1590s. Shakespeare was sure of a popular success in taking Henry V as his subject. It was not until the inclusion of the play in the 1623 First Folio edition of Shakespeare's plays that a reliable text was in print. The first printing of Henry V - in a quarto edition on 1600 - is clearly based on an imperfect reported text. At around the same time, Shakespeare wrote Much Ado About Nothing and Julius Caesar. The failure of his expedition had been apparent since June and therefore Shakespeare's optimistic allusion can only have been written in the first half of 1599. In fact, no such triumph was achieved and Essex returned in disgrace on 28 September 1599. All London turned out to honour him and joyfully anticipate his military triumph as he and his troops departed to crush the Irish rebel, Tyrone, on 27 March 1599. Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex, is the General here receiving the praise of this lofty comparison. Were now the General of our gracious EmpressĪs in good time he may - from Ireland coming,īringing rebellion broached on his sword, 'As by a lower but high-loving likelihood, The Chorus of Act 5 compares Henry V's triumphant return to London from foreign wars with that of a certain famous soldier in Queen Elizabeth's service:
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |