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A review by jameskeates
Henry V by William Shakespeare
5.0
[Hint: plays should be seen as well as read!]
Jingoistic adventure story as brave King Henry defeats the arrogant French against all the odds? Ironic attack on the boasts of royal warriors as we see how the common soldiers actually feel and nobles actually act, compared to the rhetoric? Both! As so often in Shakespeare, he gives us both sides of an argument and people can see what they want to see or enjoy the complexity.
Two of the great stirring speeches (Harfleur: "Once more unto the breach" and St Crispin's Day/Agincourt: "We few, we happy few") and I personally love how the chorus captures the different moods in the two camps on the eve of the battle - you can really feel yourself in worried silence by a little camp fire, hearing the French confidently carousing across the valley.
One of my favourite Shakespeare plays.
Jingoistic adventure story as brave King Henry defeats the arrogant French against all the odds? Ironic attack on the boasts of royal warriors as we see how the common soldiers actually feel and nobles actually act, compared to the rhetoric? Both! As so often in Shakespeare, he gives us both sides of an argument and people can see what they want to see or enjoy the complexity.
Two of the great stirring speeches (Harfleur: "Once more unto the breach" and St Crispin's Day/Agincourt: "We few, we happy few") and I personally love how the chorus captures the different moods in the two camps on the eve of the battle - you can really feel yourself in worried silence by a little camp fire, hearing the French confidently carousing across the valley.
One of my favourite Shakespeare plays.