In this case, they are mostly common soldiers in Henry's army, and they include Pistol, Nym, and Bardolph from the Henry IV plays. The 1587 edition of Holinshed's ChroniclesĪs in many of Shakespeare's history and tragedy plays, a number of minor comic characters appear, contrasting with and sometimes commenting on the main plot. The battle turns out to be a lop-sided victory: the French suffered 10,000 casualties the English, fewer than 30. Though the French in one scene complain that 'Tout est perdu', the outcome is not clear to Henry, until the French Herald Montjoy tells him the 'day is yours'. Shakespeare does not describe the battle in the play. The French herald Montjoy returns to ask if Henry will surrender and avoid certain defeat, and ransom his men's survival Henry bids him 'bear my former answer back', saying the French will get no ransom from him 'but these my joints'. Daylight comes, and Henry rallies his nobles with the famous St Crispin's Day Speech (Act IV Scene iii 18–67): 'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers'. He agonizes about the moral burden of being king, asking God to 'steel my soldiers' hearts'. They surround him near the small town of Agincourt, and in Act IV, the night before the battle, knowing he is outnumbered, Henry wanders around the English camp in disguise, trying to comfort his soldiers and determine what they really think of him. The French assemble a powerful army and pursue him. Instead, he decides to move up the coast to Calais. 'Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more / Or close the wall up with our English dead.' After a bloody siege, the English take Harfleur, but Henry's forces are so depleted that he decides not to go on to Paris. The French king, says the Chorus, 'doth offer him / Catharine his daughter, and with her, to dowry, / Some petty and unprofitable dukedoms.' Henry is not satisfied.Īt the siege of Harfleur, the English are beaten back at first, but Henry urges them on with one of Shakespeare's best-known speeches. The Chorus appears again: 'Grapple your minds to sternage of this navy/And leave your England, as dead midnight still'. In Act III Henry and his troops besiege the French port of Harfleur after crossing the English Channel. 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.Ī print of Act III, Scene i: 'Once more unto the breach, dear friends!' ' Act II includes a plot by the Earl of Cambridge and two comrades to assassinate Henry at Southampton. They sell the pasture now to buy the horse, / Following the mirror of all Christian kings. 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. The Chorus reappears at the beginning of each act to advance the story. 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'.

In Henry V, the first act deals largely with the king and his decision to invade France, persuaded that through ancestry, he is the rightful heir to the French throne. turning the accomplishment of many years / Into an hour-glass'. The Chorus encourages the audience to use their 'imaginary forces' to overcome the limitations of the stage: 'Piece out our imperfections with your thoughts. Then, says the Chorus, King Henry would 'ssume the port of Mars'. It begins with a Prologue, in which the Chorus (a lone speaker addressing the audience) apologizes for the limitations of the theatre, wishing for 'a Muse of fire', with real princes and a kingdom for a stage, to do justice to King Henry's story. Soldiers, servants, attendants, and lords Duke of Bourbon / Duke of Brittany (depending on the edition of the play).

Louis, Duke of Guyenne, the dauphin – their son and the Dauphin of France.

Mistress Quickly – hostess of the Boar's Head tavern, and Pistol's wife.

Boy – formerly Sir John Falstaff's page.

Pistol, Nym, and Bardolph – soldiers, former followers of Sir John Falstaff.

John Bates, Alexander Court and Michael Williams – soldiers.

U.k. france once more breach