Henry V
William Shakespeare (1599)
“A young king invades France, wins an impossible battle, and delivers the greatest motivational speech in English literature — but Shakespeare keeps asking whether any of it is heroic.”
Short Summary
Henry V, the newly crowned King of England, invades France to claim the French throne. After a brutal siege at Harfleur, his starving, outnumbered army faces a vastly superior French force at Agincourt. Henry rallies his men with the St Crispin's Day speech — one of the most famous passages in English — and wins a miraculous victory. He negotiates peace, woos the French princess Katherine, and unites the two crowns. The Chorus frames the entire play as a theatrical event, constantly reminding the audience they are watching actors on a stage, not a real war.
Detailed Summary
Henry V is the final play in Shakespeare's second tetralogy of history plays, following Richard II, Henry IV Part 1, and Henry IV Part 2. The protagonist has undergone one of literature's great character arcs before this play even begins: as Prince Hal, he spent the Henry IV plays drinking in tavern...