Critical Commentary on Henry V: Shakespeare's Dramatic Language

This report presents a critical commentary on the Chorus' prologue to Act V of Shakespeare's Henry V. The analysis begins by situating the speech within the play's context, highlighting its function in summarizing the events and preparing the audience for the final act. The commentary then delves into Shakespeare's use of dramatic language, focusing on rhetorical devices such as metaphors, similes, personification, and zeugma, and their effects on characterization, theme reinforcement (patriotism), and setting. The report examines how these devices contribute to shaping the audience's perception of King Henry as a valiant leader and how the language creates a sense of pride and grandeur. Furthermore, the analysis explores the significance of the speech's grammatical construction, including the use of blank verse and iambic pentameter, emphasizing how these elements elevate the tone and finesse of the choric speech. The report concludes by summarizing the transition of time, place, and action facilitated by the Chorus's language, and it highlights the speech's role in setting the stage for the resolution of the play.

Running head: CRITICAL COMMENTARY ON HENRY V
CRITICAL COMMENTARY ON HENRY V
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Speech for analysis- Henry V, Chorus’ prologue to Act V.
CHORUS, 5.Prologue.1-45
Vouchsafe to those that have not read the story,
That I may prompt them: and of such as have,
I humbly pray them to admit the excuse
Of time, of numbers and due course of things,
Which cannot in their huge and proper life
Be here presented. Now we bear the king
Toward Calais: grant him there; there seen,
Heave him away upon your winged thoughts
Athwart the sea. Behold, the English beach
Pales in the flood with men, with wives and boys,
Whose shouts and claps out-voice the deep mouth’d sea,
Which like a mighty whiffler ‘fore the king
Seems to prepare his way: so let him land,
And solemnly see him set on to London.
So swift a pace hath thought that even now
You may imagine him upon Blackheath;
Where that his lords desire him to have borne
His bruised helmet and his bended sword
Before him through the city: he forbids it,
Being free from vainness and self-glorious pride;
Giving full trophy, signal and ostent
Quite from himself to God. But now behold,
In the quick forge and working-house of thought,
How London doth pour out her citizens!
The mayor and all his brethren in best sort,
Like to the senators of the antique Rome,
With the plebeians swarming at their heels,
Go forth and fetch their conquering Caesar in:
As, by a lower but loving likelihood,
Were now the general of our gracious empress,
As in good time he may, from Ireland coming,
Bringing rebellion broached on his sword,
How many would the peaceful city quit,
To welcome him! much more, and much more cause,
Did they this Harry. Now in London place him;
As yet the lamentation of the French
Invites the King of England’s stay at home;
The emperor’s coming in behalf of France,
To order peace between them; and omit
All the occurrences, whatever chanced,
Till Harry’s back-return again to France:
There must we bring him; and myself have play’d
The interim, by remembering you ’tis past.

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Then brook abridgment, and your eyes advance,
After your thoughts, straight back again to France.
Commentary
The extract appears as a prologue to the fifth act of Henry V, after the victory of King
Henry and the English troops in Agincourt. The speech describes the pride and valor of
Henry by comparing him to a classical hero, who is waiting to be ushered and greeted in
his motherland by his subjects. The chorus implores the audience to imagine Henry’s
victorious trip from Calais to England as such a journey is impossible to be presented
within the limited time and space of the dramatic stage. The chorus paints an imaginary
picture of this journey for the audience through the use of rhetorical tropes and
schemes such as metaphors, similes, periphrases and anthimeria to reinforce the theme
of patriotism. The grammatical construction of the speech and the language used by the
chorus plays an important role in characterizing Henry as a valiant leader, thereby
influencing the audience’s response.
The first few lines of the speech appear in the manner of an invocation, a device
commonly used in epic narratives. Thus, the use of language in this section uplifts the
theme of the play to an extent of reminding the audience of the majestic classical battles
fought in history. The implications of utterances in this speech depend as much on its
content, as on the method of its deliverance, and in this the rhetorical language is a
significant aspect. The speech forms a direct relationship with the audience from its
very outset. In the first six lines of the speech, the chorus requests the audience to
pardon the dramatic depiction of the victory of King Henry, as the stage cannot provide
justice to the grandeur of the real event. This is evident from the use of the words, “huge
and proper life” (5.Prologue.6), which depicts the grandness and valiance of the feat
achieved by Henry and his soldiers.
The imperative used sets the scene for the detailed description about the battle fought
by the English troops at Agincourt and prepares the audience to respond accordingly. A
zeugma is used in the fourth line, where a single word is applied to several other words
or contexts. This zeugma combines the concepts of time, numbers and course of action,
thereby implying that the temporal and spatial constraints of the stage cannot depict
real events truthfully. Using this device, the playwright makes the audience realize the
grave importance and sublimity of the feat achieved by King Henry and his troops in the
battle of Agincourt. The repetitive use of imperatives in the speech engages the
audience in the action of the play, giving them a significant role in its progress.
Immediately after the invocation, in the eighth line, the chorus asks the audience to take
a flight of fancy by imagining the victorious voyage of the English troops back to their
motherland. This is done through the use of the rhetorical trope of a transferred epithet
by giving the attribute of wings to thoughts. A sense of pride and valor resonates
through the description of the English citizens eagerly waiting to greet their king. The
word “pales”(10) is used as an anthimeria, where the adjective ‘pale’ is transformed to a
verb, demonstrating the gathering of men and women on the shores of England. In this
way, the chorus paints a picture about the imagined setting where the victorious King
will be greeted by his countrymen. The choric figure then goes on to compare the ocean

3CRITICAL COMMENTARY ON HENRY V
to a man who prepares for the arrival of King Henry and his men, using a simile, thereby
elevating his stature to that of a classical hero. The use of these rhetorical devices
influences the perception of the audience about the character of Henry V, where he is
viewed as a sublime enigma of noble stature. The application of dramatic language in
this section therefore plays an important role in the characterization of the King Henry
and portrays his emotions of delight and satisfaction owing to the unimaginable victory
attained in the grounds of Agincourt.
Shakespeare’s use of rhetorical tropes is further seen in the phrase “bruised helmet”
(18) through a periphrasis. The term refers to the scars that a brave hero attains in the
battlefield. The use of this trope indicates the glory of war and makes the King appear
bold, fearless and valiant. The following section of the prologue shows the use of the
rhetorical trope of personification. Personification is a device that provides human
attributes to an abstract or non-human object. “Thoughts” (23) have been personified
by giving the human attribute of the ownership of a workhouse. In this workhouse,
thought is the producer of imagination that constructs the image of citizens pouring out
of the city of London. Furthermore, another personification has been used to give
human attributes to London who pours out citizens from herself, therefore being
considered the motherland. The playwright then goes on to use a simile to compare the
mayor of the city and his fellow citizens to the Roman senators of yesteryears who had
once greeted the victorious Julius Caesar. Through this dramatic device, Henry V is also
being compared to the famous classical hero. In this aspect, it can be said that the
rhetorical tropes used in this section give a detailed analysis and understanding of the
character of the protagonist, thereby elevating the perspective of the audience about the
prestige of the victory at Agincourt and establishing a sense of patriotism.
From the thirty-fifth line, the ending section of the Prologue shows a parity with its
beginning using an imperative to the audience to excuse the inability to display the
passage of time on stage. Therefore, the language of the chorus provides for an effect of
transition of time, place and action, bringing the audience back to the action of the play
in France. The chorus’ dramatic language ensures a smooth flow in spite of the omission
of certain time-periods that are difficult to display in the dramatic sphere. The
grammatical construction of the prologue to the fifth act in Henry V displays a grand
style of narration which justifies the valor and grandeur of the protagonist with due
regard for his unbelievable achievements.
The speech displays the use of blank verse. The term blank verse is applied to a poetic
piece that does not rhyme but has a regular meter. The regular meter that has been used
by the chorus is an iambic pentameter, the rhythm that is recurrently used by
Shakespeare in almost all of the speeches by the nobility and the chorus. The use of this
meter is significant as it gives the words of the speaker an elevated tone and finesse,
that is fitting to the purpose of the choric speech.
The choric speech in the prologue sets the scene for the fifth act where the actions and
plot of the entire drama ends in a resolution with the signing of a peace treaty between
King Henry and the former king of France. The speech anticipates the action that will
occur amongst the army and primarily Fluellen and Gower in the English base at France
in Act 5 Scene 1. The speech therefore provides an overview of the response towards
the battle among the various sections of the society and the King himself.

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Work cited:
Shakespeare, William. Henry v. Vol. 21. Classic Books Company, 2000.