STUDY QUESTIONS FOR KING HENRY V

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Introduction

  1. When was the play written? What significant events had occurred in Shakespeare’s career?
  2. How did the emphasis in the later tertalogy differ from that in the first tetralogy?
  3. How did the Tudor historians explain the arrest of Prince Hal by the Lord Chief Justice?
  4. How were early Protestant historians “revisionists” about English history before Luther?
  5. How did Henry V address the political issues of the last years of Elizabeth’s reign?
  6. What were the chronicle dramas and when did they become popular?
  7. What did Shakespeare’s audience find so fascinating about the 15th Century?
  8. Why did Richard II lose the throne in 1400 and who replaced him?
  9. What factors made Henry VI such a weak king?
  10. Why was the War of the Roses so traumatic for English society? What marked the end of that war?
  11. Who was the king who replaced Richard III and what was his relationship to Queen Elizabeth?
  12. Who were the first professional historians of English history and why were they brought to England?
  13. Explain what exactly the “Tudor Myth” is.
  14. What were two folklore elements found in the popular accounts of Henry V?
  15. Who was Holinshed and why was he so important for Shakespeare?
  16. What were the characteristics of Prince Hal that Shakespeare created?
  17. What were humor characters and where are they found in the play?

 

Act I, Prologue

  1. What do all the Prologues in the play have in common?
  2. What does the “wooden O” refer to and why?

 

Act I, Scene 1

  1. What is the crisis Canterbury and Ely face? How do they propose to meet the challenge?
  2. In what areas does Henry excel according to the churchmen?
  3. What does Canterbury mean at line 67 when he says, “miracles are ceased”?

 

Act I, Scene 2

  1. What is the significance when a king refers to himself as “we”?
  2. What does Henry demand of Canterbury?
  3. How does Henry make the decision to go to war seem inevitable?
  4. Why do the nobles like Exeter support the war? Why do the churchmen?
  5. What is the danger posed by Scotland, and how does Canterbury propose to counter it? What conceit does he use to illustrate his point?
  6. What are four examples of Henry’s verbal violence in discussing his plans for the invasion?
  7. Why is the French ambassador anxious about delivering his message from the Dauphin? What is the significance of the “tun of treasure”?

 

Act II, Prologue

  1. How do the French seek to counter the threat of the English invasion? What serious pun does Shakespeare use to describe this effort?

 

Act II, Scene 1

  1. Where does the scene shift to? Why does this surprise the audience? What is Shakespeare’s purpose in making this detour?
  2. What are the dominant characteristics of Bardolph, Nym, Pistol and Mistress Quickly?
  3. What is the cause of the dispute between Pistol and Nym?  Why is Quickly so sought after as a wife?
  4. Find two examples of phallic humor from the scene.
  5. Why does Pistol object to be called “host”? Why does the word “solus” make him mad?
  6. How does Bardolph break up the fight between Pistol and Nym?
  7. Who is Doll Tearsheet and how does she become part of the argument?
  8. What do all agree is the cause of Falstaff’s illness?
  9. What is the basis for the eventual settlement of the fight?
  10. What does Pistol hold out as the promise of making money in the army in France?

 

Act II, Scene 2

  1. How does Henry trick the conspirators into denying themselves mercy?
  2. What is significant about the sequence in which the conspirators are arrested?
  3. What possible mitigation for Cambridge’s treason does Shakespeare omit?
  4. Why does Lord Scroop get the brunt of Henry’s wrath?  What admirable qualities does he possess?
  5. Why is the crime seen as so dangerous for the entire kingdom?  What is Henry’s slogan for the invasion?

 

Act II, Scene 3

  1. How is the account of Falstaff’s death handled in a serious or poignant manner? How is it handled in a comic manner? Why is there a mixture of tones?
  2. How and why does Quickly try to change what Falstaff’s final words were? Find three examples of her verbal mistakes.
  3. What are three pieces of the folklore of the dying process we learn in this scene?
  4. Why won’t Nym kiss Quickly good-bye?
  5. What slogan does Pistol come up with for the invasion?

 

Act II, Scene 4

  1. What do the three French leaders think of the threat posed by Henry?  Why do they hold these opinions?
  2. Characterize the manner in which Exeter delivers his message to the French King.  What is Henry’s response to the Dauphin?
  3. Why does the French King delay in answering Henry’s demands?

 

Act III, Prologue

  1. To what does the Chorus compare the invasion fleet?

 

Act III, Scene 1

  1. What is a “breach,” “mine” and “petard” and how do they figure in the attempt to take Harfleur?
  2. What are three ways Henry appeals to his men to charge the breach? How does he invest his war with religious significance?

 

Act III, Scene 2

  1. How does Pistol try to placate Fluellen’s anger?
  2. What were the objects stolen by the three thieves and what that tell you about them as criminals?
  3. Who are the four captains, and what is Shakespeare’s point in having them from different parts of the British Isles?
  4. What is Fluellen’s obsession? Why does he have that? What are some of the unusual aspects of his pronunciation?  List two of his “verbal tics.”
  5. Why does Macmorris get angry at line 124?

 

Act III, Scene 3

  1. How are the English finally able to take Harfleur?
  2. What aspects of verbal violence does Henry’s speech particularly emphasize?
  3. What is Henry’s plan after he occupies the city?

 

Act III, Scene 4

  1. Why is the French princess learning English?
  2. What English words embarrass Katharine and why?

 

Act III, Scene 5

  1. What is it about the English that makes these French leaders particularly angry about their loss of Harfleur?
  2. Why was the point of combat in medieval battles to capture the enemy nobles instead of killing them?
  3. What conceit does the French King use to compare his army sweeping away the English?

 

Act III, Scene 6

  1. How is it possible for Fluellen to mistake Pistol for a valiant soldier?
  2. Who or what does Pistol blame for Bardolph’s problem with the authorities?
  3. How does Pistol try and save Bardolph and why does it backfire?
  4. According to Gower, what is the con game that people like Pistol are playing and how do they carry it off?
  5. How does Henry react to the news of Bardolph’s execution?  Why does he react this way?
  6. Who is Montjoy?  Why does Shakespeare have him deliver the French King’s demand in prose?
  7. How does Henry respond to the demand for ransom?

 

Act III, Scene 7

  1. What is the dramatic purpose of this scene?
  2. How many times does someone in the scene wish it were morning?
  3. Explain the dynamics among the Dauphin, Constable and Orleans.
  4. Explain how the description of the Dauphin’s horse turns bawdy?

 

Act IV, Prologue

  1. What kinds of images predominate in the description of the two camps the night before the battle? Why?
  2. What does Henry do the night before the battle?

 

Act IV, Scene 1

  1. How does Henry disguise himself? Why does he disguise himself?
  2. What is Pistol’s reaction to the King? Why is it unusual?
  3. To what does Fluellen object the night before the battle?
  4. How many times in the first 35 lines does Henry use “good” or “fair”? Why?
  5. Between lines 86 and 234 identify three examples of dramatic irony.
  6. How has his experience as a prince enabled Henry to communicate so effectively with the three soldiers?
  7. What two analogies does Henry use to convince the soldiers the King is not responsible for their souls?
  8. Why does Williams challenge Henry to a fight? Why was Henry wrong to accept?
  9. What separates Henry from the people he rules? What has the personal cost to him been of leadership?
  10. What is the sin that Henry has sought to atone for? Why does the lecture refer to him as a conflicted man?

 

Act IV, Scene 2

  1. What are the main points of contrast the French make between themselves and the English?

 

Act IV, Scene 3

  1. What are three major elements of Henry’s appeal in the St. Crispin Day speech?
  2. For whom is Henry’s response to Montjoy primarily intended? Why?
  3. According to Henry, how will the English continue to plague the French even after they are killed?

 

Act IV, Scene 4

  1. Why were the French at a tactical disadvantage at Agincourt according to the lecture
  2. In historical reality why did Henry order the slaughter of the prisoners? Why were the nobles reluctant to obey the order? Who did most of the killing?
  3. Why does Shakespeare choose to begin the depiction of the grand battle of Agincourt with this action involving Pistol?
  4. What is Pistol’s primary concern throughout the scene?  Give two examples of his mistaking his captive’s French.

 

Act IV, Scene 5

  1. According to the Constable and Orleans, what is the primary reason for the French defeat?

 

Act IV, Scene 6

  1. Why in the middle of such mass killing does Shakespeare stop the action to focus on the deaths of York and Suffolk?
  2. In this scene why does Henry order the killing of the prisoners?

 

Act IV, Scene 7

  1. According to Gower why does Henry order the slaughter of the prisoners?
  2. What elaborate historical parallel does Fluellen seek to establish in the middle of the battle? Why?
  3. Why are the French so anxious to separate the bodies of their dead?
  4. How does Henry emphasize his “Welsh” heritage?  Why?

 

Act IV, Scene 8

  1. What taboo word signals the seriousness of Fluellen’s rage at Williams? Why is it a taboo word?
  2. Explain the concept of the fellowship of the rough jest.  What psychological function does it fulfill for Henry?
  3. What is Shakespeare’s point in emphasizing the disparity in the numbers killed on both sides? How does Branagh’s film change that emphasis?

 

Act V, Prologue

  1. A reference to what contemporary event enables us to date the composition of this play?

 

Act V, Scene 1

  1. What two things does Fluellen force Pistol to do which demean him?
  2. What three things does Pistol propose to do to make money after he returns to England?

 

Act V, Scene 2

  1. Why are the Duke of Burgundy and Queen Isabel important in the dynamics of the peace conference? Who’s missing from the meeting of the powerful? Why?
  2. What is unusual about Henry’s attitude toward reaching final agreement on the details of the treaty?
  3. How many times does Henry ask Kate if she can love him?
  4. How does Henry denigrate his own abilities? Why?
  5. According to the lecture why was Kate’s acceptance of the marriage so important to Henry?
  6. Who pronounces the benediction on the marriage? What political significance in the marriage does the speaker find?
  7. What happened to Henry’s vision of a united England and France?

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