Henry V is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been
written near 1599. It tells the story of King Henry V of England,
focusing on events immediately before and after the Battle of Agincourt
(1415) during the Hundred Years' War. In the First Quarto text, it was
titled The Cronicle History of Henry the fift, p.6 which became The Life
of Henry the Fifth in the First Folio text.The play is the final part of
a tetralogy, preceded by Richard II, Henry IV, Part 1, and Henry IV,
Part 2. The original audiences would thus have already been familiar
with the title character, who was depicted in the Henry IV plays as a
wild, undisciplined young man. In Henry V, the young prince has matured.
He embarks on an expedition to France and, his army badly outnumbered,
defeats the French at Agincourt.The Elizabethan stage lacked scenery. It
begins with a Prologue, in which the Chorus (a lone speaker addressing
the audience) apologizes for the limitations of the theatre, wishing
there were "a Muse of fire", with real princes and a kingdom for a
stage, to do justice to King Henry's story. Then, says the Chorus, King
Henry would "[a]ssume the port [bearing] of Mars". The Chorus
encourages the audience to use their "imaginary forces" to overcome the
limitations of the stage: "Piece out our imperfections with your
thoughts ... turning the accomplishment of many years / Into an
hour-glass".Shakespeare's plays are in five acts. In Henry V, the first
two deal largely with the king and his decision to invade France,
persuaded that through ancestry, he is the rightful heir to the French
throne. The French Dauphin, son of King Charles VI, answers Henry's
claims with a condescending and insulting gift of tennis balls, "as
matching to his youth and vanity."The Chorus reappears at the beginning
of each act to advance the story. At the beginning of Act II, he
describes the country's dedication to the war effort: "Now all the youth
of England are on fire... They sell the pasture now to buy the horse, /
Following the mirror of all Christian kings ...." Act II includes a plot
by the Earl of Cambridge and two comrades to assassinate Henry at
Southampton. Henry's clever uncovering of the plot and his ruthless
treatment of the conspirators show that he has changed from the earlier
plays in which he appeared.In Act III Henry and his troops cross the
English Channel to attack the French port of Harfleur.
