This first Henriad comes to completion with a play about heroism and the rise of an epic king.
Shakespeare obviously means for us to get swept up in the action, setting the stage in a conflict between warrior kings, culminating in a band of underdogs who ride out to victory in spite of all odds. He frames the play with a dramatic chorus, calling the audience to elevate their imaginations even beyond what he can do on a stage:
O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend
The brightest heaven of invention,
A kingdom for a stage, princes to act
And monarchs to behold the swelling scene!
Then should the warlike Harry, like himself,
Assume the port of Mars; and at his heels,
Leash'd in like hounds, should famine, sword and fire
Crouch for employment.
Before apologizing that the stage can never contain such a scene, the chorus paints Henry V as a hero so large that only needs to take the stage to set us all in awe: “Then should the warlike Harry, like himself, / Assume the port of Mars.” If you could only see Henry like himself, that would be akin to watching the god of war walk on earth!
Even the French King Charles knows his foolish son the Dauphin has made a terrible error in rousing the “heroical seed” of Edward III:
This is a stem
Of that victorious stock; and let us fear
The native mightiness and fate of him.
But Henry still has to carry the weight of history on his shoulders as well. Not just the heroic ancestors whose blood runs in his veins, but the burdens as well. He still carries the weight of what his father did in Richard II. He still carries the weight of turning his back on his former companions. He carries the weight of responsibility for the lives in his care down to the youngest baggage boy. And that weight, juxtaposed against all the fiery speeches and heroism, gives him that Shakespearean depth, revealing the heart of humanity in the midst of Epic adventure. It’s not a play to skip.
Enjoy it as a powerful climax to the first Henriad arc! After this, we’ll take a week break and then enter into the second Henriad, which follows a very different arc and has a very different climax!
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