The opening scenes of the play show the reasons England goes to war with France. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that they show the forces, circumstances, and process through which England came to invade France. Identify these forces and circumstances, and consider how Shakespeare presents them. Henry V has long been considered the most rousing and patriotic of Shakespeare’s history plays. Is this reputation justified by these early scenes? As for Henry, does Shakespeare depict him as being in control of the situation or not?
Staying with the subject of Henry himself, one can imagine him — even more than most major Shakespearean characters — in different ways. Indeed, one of the themes of the play, as these early scenes show, is that he is different from what people expect and different from what he has been. Henry, then known as Prince Hal, is a or even the major character in Henry IV, Part I and Henry IV, Part II, the two history plays that precede this one. (Other characters appearing in one or both of those plays who also appear or are at least mentioned in this one include Sir John Falstaff, Gloucester, Bedford, Warwick, Westmoreland, Bardolph, Pistol, Mistress/Hostess Quickly, and Doll Tearsheet.) In those plays he behaves much as this play describes: he is irresponsible, hangs around with thieves and prostitutes, and often seems unfit for the throne. What sense of his character do you get so far?
As always with plays, a character is intended to be seen on stage, not read. The actor’s performance plays a huge role (the pun is hard to avoid) in how we perceive Henry. Choose a passage of any length from a single line to a short series of lines and explain in detail how you would perform it, given the chance. What should Henry’s tone and demeanor be in it? What words should he emphasize? What should his pace be? Would any particular physical gestures or actions or props be appropriate? How would performing the speech in this way help convey your sense of the character to an audience?
Unlike the ancient Greeks, Shakespeare did not think it wise to maintain a single tone in his plays. The reasons were at least partly practical. His audience was exceptionally diverse, including everyone from the most common laborers to the royal family. His acting company included actors who specialized in comedic parts — comic actors or fools were some of the biggest box office draws back then, as they are now — and he had to write plays that kept them employed. Henry V is a play about war and intrigue, but Shakespeare also finds time to work some comedy into the plot. Consider how he does that in these scenes, and whether the change in tone works for or against the dramatic force of the play.