Quotes & Possible Essay Questions for Henry V

Quotations:

1. "O for a Muse of Fire ... A kingdom for a stage ... can this cockpit hold / The vasty fields of France? or may we cram / Within this wooden O the very casques / That did affright the air at Agincourt? ... On your imaginary forces work." Chorus (Act I Prologue)

2. ". . . the king has kill’d his heart." Hostess (2.1)

3. "The king hath run bad humours on the knight . . ." Nym (2.1)

4. "His heart is fracted and corroborate." Pistol (2.1)

5. "For this revolt of thine, methinks, is like / Another fall of man." Henry V (2.2)

6. ". . . bristle thy courage up;—for Falstaff he is dead, / And we must earn therefore." Pistol (2.3)

7. "Would I were with him, wheresome’er he is, either in heaven or in hell!" Pistol (2.3)

8. "Nay, sure, he’s not in Hell: he’s in Arthur's bosom . . ." Hostess (2.3)

9. "Let us to France; like horse-leeches, my boys, / To suck, to suck, the very blood to suck!" Pistol (2.4)

10. "Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more / Or close the wall up with our English dead!" Henry V (3.1)

11. "Cry ‘God for Harry, England, and Saint George!’ " Henry V (3.1)

12. ". . . but his nose is executed, and his fire’s out." Fluellen (3.6)

13. "If we may pass, we will; if we be hinder’d, / We shall your tawny ground with your red blood / Discolour . . ." Henry V (3.6)

14. ". . . if their heads had any intellectual armour, they could never wear such heavy head-pieces." Duke of Orleans (3.7)

15. "A little touch of Harry in the night . . ." Chorus (Act 4 Prologue)

16. "Though it appear a little out of fashion, / There is much care and valour in this Welshman." Henry V (4.1)

17. "And what have kings, that privates have not too, / Save ceremony . . ." Henry V (4.1)

18. "Not to-day, O Lord, / O, not to-day, think upon the fault / My father made in compassing the crown!" Henry V (4.2)

19. "But if it be a sin to covet honour, / I am the most offending soul alive." Henry V (4.3)

20. "We few, we happy few, we band of brothers . . ." Henry V (4.3)

21. "Then every soldier kill his prisoners . . ." Henry V (4.6)

22. "Kill the poys and the luggage!" Fluellen (4.7)

23. "I was not angry since I came to France / Until this instant." Henry V (4.7)

24. "O Kate, nice customs court’sy to great kings." Henry V (5.2)

25. "This star of England: fortune made his sword . . ." Chorus (Epilogue)

Possible Essay Questions:

1. Compare and contrast two or more versions of Henry V.

2. Discuss Olivier’s metatheatrical and metacinematic version of Henry V. What critical points does the film make about the play?

3. Discuss the BBC version of Henry V as the concluding chapter in a Henriad. How is the film of Henry V related to and influenced by the earlier films in the tetralogy?

4. Discuss Falstaff’s presence in Henry V. How does his death relate to Henry’s treatment of the traitors, the death of Bardolph, the behavior of Pistol, and the disquisition of Fluellen on the subject of Alexander?

5. Discuss the BBC Henry V as the conclusion of a Henriad. In what ways do we see Hal in Henry? Do we see the new king growing into his role?

6. Discuss Henry V’s version of kingship. How does he feel about the king’s role and from whence does he draw his power?

7. Discuss Hal/Henry as actor, analyzing his performances as king, war leader, orator, warrior, and wooer.

8. Discuss Henry V as a romantic comedy. Why is it important that the play have a happy ending and what does the ending say about Shakespeare’s opinion of Henry?

9. Discuss the role of the Chorus and of the audience’s imagination in Henry V. Is the play about war or about other issues?

10. Shakespeare has been accused of jingoism in Henry V. Is the play simply a glorification of the English or is it more complicated than that?

11. Discuss Hal/Henry as machiavel, making your position on the subject clear and supporting it with evidence from the plays.

12. Some critics argue that Hal has to give up much of his own personality and freedom to become Henry V. Do you agree or disagree?

13. Discuss Branagh’s Henry V. Do you agree that his version is less militaristic than Olivier's?

14. Compare and contrast the four Henrys available on film.

15. Compare the four film versions of the play.

16. Compare the two movie versions of the play (Branagh’s and Olivier’s). How do they reflect the concerns of their auteurs and audiences?

17. Is it possible to compare the versions of John Falstaff in a play where he does not (in the text, at least) appear on stage?