Square brackets indicate events that happen just outside a play's timescale but are mentioned in the play.
FURTHER READING
AND VIEWING
CRITICAL APPROACHES
Berman, Ronald, ed., Twentieth Century Interpretations of Henry V (1968). Useful collection of early twentieth-century studies.
Berry, Ralph, Changing Styles in Shakespeare (1981). Chapter on Henry V, pp. 67-83, argues that views of the play changed from being a "nationalist epic" after the First World War.
Bloom, Harold, ed., William Shakespeare's Henry V (1988). Interestingly varied collection of critical essays.
Brennan, Anthony, Henry V, Harvester New Critical Introductions to Shakespeare (1992). Well-balanced introduction covering text and performance.
Hall, Joan Lord, Henry V: A Guide to the Play (1997). Useful broad introduction covering history, themes, structure, and performance.
Hattaway, Michael, ed., The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare's History Plays (2002). Another good starting point.
McEachern, Claire, The Poetics of English Nationhood, 1590-1612 (1996). Strong "new historicist" reading of several relevant works, with emphasis on Reformation context.
Meron, Theodor, Henry's Wars and Shakespeare's Laws: Perspectives on the Law of War in the Later Middle Ages (1993). Detailed historical account.
Quinn, Michael, ed., Shakespeare: Henry V, Casebook Series (1969). Useful compilation of early criticism and significant early twentieth-century studies.
Rabkin, Norman, Shakespeare and the Problem of Meaning (1981). Excellent reading of the play's ambivalence.
Rackin, Phyllis, Stages of History: Shakespeare's English Chronicles (1990). Particularly strong on the women in the history plays.
Rossiter, A. P., Angel with Horns and other Shakespeare Lectures (1961). Sane, balanced essays on the history plays.
Saccio, Peter, Shakespeare's English Kings: History, Chronicle, and Drama (1977). Handy comparison with sources and actual history.
Woodcock, Matthew, Shakespeare: Henry V (2008). Detailed discussion of play's critical history from early modern period to present day.
THE PLAY IN PERFORMANCE
Beauman, Sally, ed., The Royal Shakespeare Company Centenary Production of Henry V (1976). Detailed account of production with annotated text.
Branagh, Kenneth, Henry V by William Shakespeare: A Screen Adaptation (1989). Screenplay of Branagh's film plus introduction.
Brooke, Michael, "Henry V on Screen," www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/1048671/index.html. Valuable overview of film and TV versions.
Ewert, Kevin, Henry V: Guide to the Text and Its Theatrical Life, Shakespeare Handbooks Series (2006). Useful introduction with detailed commentary and discussion of key productions.
Hoenselaars, Ton, ed., Shakespeare's History Plays: Performance, Translation and Adaptation in Britain and Abroad (2004). Chapter 3, "A French History of Henry V" by Jean-Michel Deprats, plus numerous passing references.
Holland, Peter, English Shakespeares: Shakespeare on the English Stage in the 1990s (1997). Perceptive, readable overview.
Jackson, Russell, and Robert Smallwood, eds., Players of Shakespeare 2 (1988). Includes Kenneth Branagh discussing playing Henry, pp. 93-106.
Loehlin, James N., Henry V, Shakespeare in Performance (1996). Detailed account of performances including Olivier and Branagh films, BBC version, English Shakespeare Company and RSC 1975/1984.
O'Connor, John, Shakespearean Afterlives: Ten Characters with a Life of Their Own (2003). Chapter 2 is on Henry V with the focus on film representations.
Parsons, Keith, and Pamela Mason, eds., Shakespeare in Performance (1995). Henry V, pp. 83-8 with useful introduction by Niky Rathbone, lavishly illustrated.
Smith, Emma, ed., King Henry V, Shakespeare in Production (2002). Detailed stage history and text of play annotated with stage directions of important productions.
AVAILABLE ON DVD
Henry V, directed by Laurence Olivier (1944, DVD 2003). Starring Olivier as Henry. Magnificent pageant dedicated to the Commandos and Airborne Troops who spearheaded the D-Day landings, with brilliant score by William Walton.
Chimes at Midnight, directed by Orson Welles (1965, DVD 2000). Condenses all the Falstaff material from both parts of Henry IV plus Henry V and The Merry Wives of Windsor. Multi-award nominated, with a star-studded cast, the whole thing as eccentric and brilliant as Welles' own performance in the part of Falstaff.
The Wars of the Roses, directed by Michael Bogdanov (1989, DVD 2005). Recording of English Shakespeare Company's eclectic stage production.
Henry V, directed by Kenneth Branagh (1989, DVD 2002). Multi-award winning: starring Branagh as Henry, grittier and darker than Olivier version but equally impressive.
REFERENCES
1. The Times, London, 26 November 1803.
2. The Times, London, 26 November 1803.
3. Anthony Brennan, Harvester New Critical Introductions to Shakespeare: Henry V (1992), p. xvii.
4. Brennan, Henry V, p. xviii.
5. The Athenaeum, No. 1640, 2 April 1859, pp. 459-60.
6. Brennan, Henry V, p. xix.
7. Illustrated London News, XXXIV, 967, 2 April 1859, p. 331.
8. Richard Foulkes, p. 28, quoted in James N. Loehlin, Shakespeare in Performance: Henry V (1996), p. 21.
9. Loehlin, Henry V, p. 21.
10. George C. D. Odell, Annals of the New York Stage, 1875-1879, Vol. X (1938), pp. 118-69.
11. Henry James, The Scenic Art: Notes on Acting & the Drama, 1872-1901, ed. Allan Wade (1948, reprinted 1957), pp. 22-7.
12. Norman Hapgood, The Stage in America 1897-1900 (1901), pp. 174-205.
13. Brennan, Henry V, p. xxi, quotes the Stratford Herald review for 1902 which relates the spirit of Henry's troops with that of "Baden-Powell and the defenders of Mafeking."
14. Brennan, Henry V, p. xx.
15. Brennan, Henry V, p. xxi.
16. Brennan, Henry V, p. xxiii.
17. James Agate, Brief Chronicles: A Survey of the Plays of Shakespeare and the Elizabethans in Actual Performance (1943), p. 113.
18. Laurence Olivier, Confessions of an Actor (1982), pp. 79-80.
19. Gordon Crosse, Shakespearean Playgoing, 1890-1952 (1953), p. 105.
20. Brennan, Henry V, pp. xxiii-xxiv.
21. Brennan, Henry V, p. xxv.
22. T. C. Worsley, New Statesman and Nation, XLII, 1078, 3 November 1951, pp. 489-90.
23. Richard David, "Shakespeare's History Plays: Epic or Drama?" Shakespeare Survey, 6 (1953), pp. 129-39.
24. Brennan, Henry V, p. xxvi.
25. Robertson Davies, Saturday Night, 71, 9, 7 July 1956, pp. 7-8.
26. J. G. Weightman, The Twentieth Century, CLX, 956, October 1956, pp. 344-5.
27. Weightman, The Twentieth Century.
28. Robertson Davies, Saturday Night, 71, 9, 7 July 1956, p. 8.
29. Brennan, Henry V, p. xxvii.
30. Bernard Levin, Daily Express, 26 February 1960.
31. Brennan, Henry V, pp. xxvii-xxviii, citing Tynan (1967), p. 154.
32. Brennan, Henry V, p. xxviii.
33. Brennan, Henry V, p. xxix.
34. Julius Novick, Village Voice, XXI, 28, 12 July 1976, p. 111.
35. Novick, Village Voice, p. 111.
36. Brennan, Henry V, p. xxxi.
37. Ruth Morse, Times Literary Supplement, 5055 (18 February 2000), p. 19.
38. Morse, Times Literary Supplement, p. 19.
39. Susannah Clapp, Observer, 18 May 2003.
40. Alistair Macaulay, Financial Times, 14 May 2003.
41. Ben Brantley, New York Times, 16 July 2003.
42. James, The Scenic Art, pp. 22-7.
43. Edgar Anstey, Spectator, 173, 6075, 1 December 1944, p. 503.
44. Robert Shaunessy, "The Last Post: Henry V, War Culture and the Postmodern Shakespeare," Theatre Survey, 39, 1 (May 1998), pp. 41-61.
45. Philip French, Observer, 8 October 1989.
&
nbsp; 46. French, Observer, 8 October 1989.
47. Kenneth S. Rothwell, "Kenneth Branagh's 'Henry V': The Gilt in the Crown Re-Examined," Comparative Drama, 24, 2, Summer 1990, pp. 173-8.
48. John Ramsden, "This story shall the good man tell his son ...," Henry V, RSC program, 1994.
49. Loehlin, Henry V.
50. Benedict Nightingale, The Times, London, 12 May 1994.
51. Michael Billington, Guardian, 12 May 1994.
52. "War Is Sown from War," condensed from Erasmus' Essay on "Beginning War" (1540), Henry V, RSC program, 1965.
53. Brennan, Henry V, p. 34.
54. Loehlin, Henry V.
55. Rhoda Koenig, Independent, 4 September 2000.
56. Charles Spencer, Daily Telegraph, 4 September 2000.
57. Catherine Bates, Times Literary Supplement, 15 September 2000.
58. Robert Speaight, Shakespeare Quarterly, XV, 4, Autumn 1964.
59. Gareth Lloyd Evans, "Shakespeare, the Twentieth Century and 'Behaviourism,' " Shakespeare Survey, 20 (1967).
60. Michael Billington, Guardian, 29 March 1984.
61. Benedict Nightingale, The Times, London, 13 September 1997.
62. Rex Gibson, Times Educational Supplement, 19 September 1997.
63. Peter Holland, English Shakespeares: Shakespeare on the English Stage in the 1990s (1997).
64. Holland, English Shakespeares.
65. Jan Kott, Shakespeare Our Contemporary (1964).
66. Ron Daniels in interview with Heather Neill, Times Educational Supplement, 19 September 1997.
67. "Edward Hall Talks to Terry Grimley About Henry V," Birmingham Post, 19 September 2000.
68. Bates, Times Literary Supplement.
69. Charles Peachment, Sunday Telegraph, 15 September 1994.
70. Paul Taylor, Independent, 13 September 1997.
71. Irving Wardle, The Times, London, 30 March 1984.
72. Ralph Berry, Changing Styles in Shakespeare (1981).
73. Holland, English Shakespeares.
74. Nightingale, The Times, 12 May 1994.
75. Michael Coveney, Financial Times, 29 March 1984.
76. Wardle, The Times, 30 March 1984.
77. Peter Hall, "The Empirical Empire," Henry V, RSC program, 1965.
78. Sally Beauman, ed., The Royal Shakespeare Company Centenary Production of Henry V (1976).
79. Ralph Berry, Changing Styles in Shakespeare (1981).
80. Peter Hall, "The Empirical Empire," in Henry V, RSC program, 1964.
81. Carole Woddis, London Theatre News, 1 September 2000.
82. Alan Howard on Henry V from "The Player King," in Judith Cook, Shakespeare's Players (1983).
83. Berry, Changing Styles in Shakespeare (1981), pp. 79-80.
84. Irving Wardle, The Times, London, 22 January 1976.
85. Benedict Nightingale, New Statesman, 89, 2300, 18 April 1975.
86. Spencer, Daily Telegraph, 4 September 2000.
87. John Gross, Sunday Telegraph, 3 September 2000.
88. Ron Daniels in interview with Heather Neill, Times Educational Supplement, 19 September 1997.
89. Taylor, Independent, 13 September 1997.
90. James Treadwell, Spectator, 27 September 1997.
91. Taylor, Independent, 13 September 1997.
92. Plays and Players, October 1997.
93. Nightingale, The Times, London, 12 May 1994.
94. Peter Holland, English Shakespeares: Shakespeare on the English Stage in the 1990s (1997).
95. Michael Billington, Guardian, 29 September 1984.
96. Wardle, Times, London, 30 March 1984.
97. Alan Howard on playing Henry V.
98. Irving Wardle, The Times, London, 13 July 1977.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND
PICTURE CREDITS
Preparation of "Henry V in Performance" was assisted by a generous grant from the CAPITAL Centre (Creativity and Performance in Teaching and Learning) of the University of Warwick for research in the RSC archive at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. The Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) funded a term's research leave that enabled Jonathan Bate to work on "The Director's Cut." Kenneth Branagh's interview is based, with his kind permission, on earlier interviews he has given about his stage performance and film (thanks to Jan Sewell for editing the material).
Picture research by Michelle Morton. Grateful acknowledgment is made to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust for assistance with picture research (special thanks to Helen Hargest) and reproduction fees.
Images of RSC productions are supplied by the Shakespeare Centre Library and Archive, Stratford-upon-Avon. This Library, maintained by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, holds the most important collection of Shakespeare material in the UK, including the Royal Shakespeare Company's official archive. It is open to the public free of charge.
For more information see www.shakespeare.org.uk.
1. Directed by Dorothy Green (1946). Angus McBean (c) Royal Shakespeare Company 2. Directed by John Barton and Trevor Nunn (1964). Reg Wilson (c) Royal Shakespeare Company 3. Directed by Adrian Noble (1984). Joe Cocks Studio Collection (c) Shakespeare Birthplace Trust 4. Directed by Terry Hands (1975). Joe Cocks Studio Collection (c) Shakespeare Birthplace Trust 5. Directed by Adrian Noble (1984). Joe Cocks Studio Collection (c) Shakespeare Birthplace Trust
6. Directed by Nicholas Hytner (2003). (c) Donald Cooper/photostage.co.uk 7. Directed by Michael Boyd (2007). Ellie Kurttz (c) Royal Shakespeare Company 8. Directed by Ed Hall (2000) (c) Donald Cooper/photostage.co.uk
9. Reconstructed Elizabethan Playhouse (c) Charcoalblue
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Prologue
1 muse source of inspiration (originally, one of nine classical goddesses inspiring learning and the arts) 2 invention imagination, creativity/rhetorical term for the discovery of topics 4 swelling growing/magnificent
5 warlike skilled in warfare/like war (or Mars) itself 5 like himself in a manner befitting his status as a kingly warrior 6 port bearing, stance
6 Mars Roman god of war
8 gentles ladies and gentlemen
9 flat unraised dull, lifeless, dormant
9 spirits i.e. the actors and playwright (plays on the idea of supernatural spirits that may be raised by incantation) 10 scaffold stage
11 cockpit circular arena (literally, ring used for cockfighting--much smaller than a theater) 12 vasty vast
13 wooden O i.e. the circular, timber-built theater (wooden plays on the sense of "dull, lifeless") 13 casques helmets
14 affright frighten
14 Agincourt English forces defeated the French at the battle of Agincourt (northern France) on 25 October 1415
15 crooked rounded; perhaps with connotations of "deceptive, crafty"
15 figure may play on the sense of "person, actor"
15 crooked ... million i.e. a zero added to 100,000 increases the number to 1,000,000
17 ciphers zeros/nonentities/symbols, visual representations 17 accompt account, total/story
18 imaginary imaginative
19 Suppose imagine
19 girdle circumference
20 monarchies i.e. England and France
21 upreared raised up, erected, reared up
21 abutting neighboring, adjoining (perhaps with a suggestion of fighting animals butting one another) 21 fronts cliffs of Dover and Calais/frontiers/foreheads 22 narrow ocean i.e. the English Channel
23 Piece out supplement
25 puissance power
28 deck adorn, equip
31 for ... supply for the purposes of which
Act 1 Scene 1
1.1 Location: the royal court, London
1 self same
1 urged put forward
2 last king's i.e. Henry IV's
3 like likely (to have been passed)
4 scambling quarrelsome, scuffling
5 question consideration
9 temporal secular, not belonging to the Church
10 By testament in their wills
12 maintain stand the cost of
14 esquires one ranking just below a knight
15 lazars lepers
16 indigent needy, poor
16 corporal toil physical work
18 coffers money chests, i.e. treasury
18 beside in addition
19 bill (proposed) parliamentary act/total owed
20 drink deep i.e. swallow much of their wealth
23 grace honor/virtue/divine grace/goodwill