Chapter Synopsis of Henry V - Study Guide by William Shakespeare

And their most reverend heads dashed to the walls,

Your naked infants spitted upon spikes…"

This is the savage picture of war which Henry presents with a measure of hyperbole in order that it may be avoided in the siege, but there is no doubt that the brutality he describes is a reminder of what human beings are capable of in war, as much as emphasizing the ruthlessness with which Henry is prepared to assert his claim to the throne. The following scene, which neatly fills in stage terms the substantial chronological space while the tired English troops withdraw to rest, is a welcome change of mood with the French princess practising her English. Not named on stage, Katherine has already been named as a wife with a dowry for Henry should he withdraw, and her English lessons seem to prepare her for the eventuality of an English victory too, as well as allowing opportunity for sexual innuendo to keep the groundlings happy amid this rabble-rousing dramatic spectacle.

With the discussion of the French high command signalling the march of the English troops again, there is time for Fluellen and Pistol to come together and have words over the arrest of the pimple-faced Bardolph for robbing a church, preparing the way for the later scenes between Pistol and the disguised King. When the thief’s name is advanced by Fluellen to the King there is a poignant dramatic irony since, as Prince Hal, he did indeed know Bardolph in the former plays. The King gives no indication of this previous intimacy, only replying that, "We would have all such offenders so cut off…"

The King faces a rude French envoy and does not avoid telling him of the problems of his troops, which will only glorify their victory and insult their foe:

"Though ’tis no wisdom to confess so much

Unto an enemy of craft and vantage,

My people are with sickness much enfeebled,

My numbers lessened, and those few I have

Almost no better than so many French"

The contrast with the bragging Constable and self-important Dauphin in the next scene whets the appetite for the great battle that is now fast approaching.

Act IV

This lengthy act displays both the excitement and spectacle of war and the universalization of its terrors in the fears of the English troops, outnumbered and wearied, on the eve of battle, with their King wandering amongst them to cheer and rally them. The Chorus describes how with "A largess universal, like the sun, / His liberal eye doth give to every one, / Thawing cold fear…" and unlike earlier helpful imaginings from the Chorus, this one is shown again in the opening scene, as the King borrows Erpingham’s cloak and passes in solitary meditation through the camp. First to hail him is Pistol, who when told he is kinsman to Fluellen, directs a similar continental insult towards him. In fact there is little suggestion from Shakespeare that a natural kingliness will shine through mere disguise, since the King receives principally insults from the various (and some would say typically) churlish Englishmen he encounters. Meeting three common soldiers, Henry at first convinces them in lyrical fashion that the King is prey to just such fears, hopes and sensations as they are:

"I think the King is but a man, as I am;

…his ceremonies laid by, in his

nakedness he appears but a man"