The Chorus In Shakespeare's Henry V

The role of the Chorus in the Shakespeare's play, Henry V, is significant. Due to the subject matter that the play deals with, it is hard to present in the way that it deserves. The Chorus helps the audience follow the play by helping them to picture things as they were through the use of imagery. It uses descriptive language in describing events that take place in the play. The Chorus also helps in making the plot of the play flow together better by filling the time lapses that occur between acts due to the fact that the event being depicted in only a few hours actually occurred over several years, leaving some gaps between events. It also explains what happens in an act

Henry V is a wise and loyal king, changing from a wild youth to a mature king. He is described to be an intelligent, thoughtful and an efficient statesman. He thinks carefully whether to invade France or not which represents his responsible character. King Henry gives a very strong speech which gave courage and confidence to his army that they could win the battle. This character describes him to be a king of great ability to fight and having good administrative skills. Throughout the play Henry’s nature is religious, merciful and compassionate.

n Shakespeare's King Henry V, King Henry prepares his troops for battle with a passionate speech about fighting, honor, and kinship. Henry uses strong ethos and pathos to persuade his men to fight the French, though they are outnumbered in the battle. Henry notes that his troops feel unprepared and overwhelmed for battle. This speech marks the moment where the boy Hal transforms into King Henry. For the first time, Henry takes on the role of a valiant king and takes control of the situation. He seizes the moment to prepare them and inspire them. Henry hopes by making an effective speech his men will understand why they need to fight.

Shakespeare successfully establishes the nature of honour in his historical living production Henry IV Part 1. The play embarks around the subject of honorable rebellion, primarily through the duality of the two characters of Prince Harry (Hal) and King Henry IV as well as Hotspur and Falstaff. Through different concepts of the major universal theme of honour displayed by various protagonists, the interrelated ideas of power and responsibility are also made evident. As this play unfolds, the importance of the soliloquy’s, issues and conflicts are highlighted. Honour is encapsulated from success on the battlefield to dealing with noble and respectable behaviour. Shakespeare captures the essence of a historical tragedy and

King Henry V, is one of the only successful monarchs in Shakespeare’s plays. He displays great strength and intelligence. King Henry V is capable of uniting all of his people in his St. Crispin’s Day speech as they prepare to go to battle. The troops were greatly outnumbered and believed they had no chance at winning. But King Henry makes them feel like they are part of something important, and by doing this he motivates them to fight their hardest.

7. Shakespeare portrays the noblemen in the play as gallant but also cowards. While they follow through with what they originally decide to believe in, in the end, they are left questioning their motives. While I commend them for following through with their original endeavors, they begin to get rather brutal. An example is when Antony creates a hit list and says that, “these many, then, shall die; their names are pricked,” (4.1.1-2). The noblemen want to be noble and honorable, yet they go to such brutal extremes.

Shakespeare is well known for using stage managers to shape audience understanding or responses. As a playwright during the English Renaissance period, Shakespeare draws on literature models from two cultures Greek and medieval English plays. One example of Shakespeare’s use of these models is evident by examining the stage manager character type in Greek, English Medieval, and English Renaissance literary periods. Shakespeare appears to use the commentary quality of Greek chorus and the medieval English use of a single stage manager character to produce more sophisticated stage managers that integrate smoothly into plays but still shape audience understanding or response.

In Act I Scene I we are introduced to the play’s antagonist, Tybalt. Perpetrator of the play’s violence and fuel to the conflict, Tybalt is constantly drawn to violence and uses family honour as his reasoning. His malevolence is shown from the onset of the play: “What, art thou drawn among these heartless hinds? Turn thee, Benvolio; look upon thy death.” Initial impressions of Tybalt include that his character is domineering and antagonistic, vindictive and unscrupulous. The topic of violence and death is the theme of his first few lines. Rather, the word “death” is syntactically placed at the end of the sentence, resonating and leaving a lingering impression. With regards to the context of the original play, status and power are explored within

The Norton Shakespeare / Stephen Greenblatt, general editor; Walter Cohen, Jean E. Howard, Katharine Eisaman Maus, [editors]; with an essay on the Shakespearean stage by Andrew Gurr (New York: W.W. Norton, 1997)

         Henry V, written by William Shakespeare, is by far one of his more historically accurate plays. This play is the life of young King Henry V, who ascended to the throne after his father, Henry IV's death. These times were much different for England, as Henry V was a noble lord whom everyone loved, whereas angry factions haunted his father's reign. Shakespeare portrays a fairly accurate account of the historical Henry V, but certain parts are either inflated"deflated, or conflated to dramatize Henry V as a character suitable for a Renaissance audience.

Shakespeare in Henry V shows Henry through his life as a king from just becoming king until right after the battle of Agincourt. King Henry made many people who doubted him and his motives rethink their initial thoughts. The way he handles issues and conflicts, he quickly makes them realize that he is not a person to be messed with. Despite the reputation of his younger years, Henry V proves himself a selfless king.

course of events, the chorus is used to apply a setting, or a mood in the play. For example on page 1281, the chorus

To begin with, Shakespeare introduces a Prologue to the audience in Act One, Scene 1. Through the quote, “Chorus. Two households, both alike in dignity, / In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, / From ancient grudge break to new mutiny, / Where civil blood makes civil hands

To examine Shakespeare’s exploration of identity as a means of control, it is important to understand what all constitutes each character’s identity. In the case of Henry, for one, it is apparent that the actions of his past alter his perceived identity throughout the play. Before Henry speaks his first lines in the play, the Bishop of Ely calls Henry a “true lover of the holy Church,” to which the Archbishop of Canterbury replies, “The courses of [Henry’s] youth promised it not” (1.1.23-24). This reckless reputation follows Henry further into the play when an ambassador from France delivers a message to Henry from the Dauphin: “…the prince our master says that you savor too much of your youth and bids you to be advised there’s naught in France that can be with a nimble galliard won: you cannot revel into dukedoms there” (1.2.250-254). Along with this message, the Dauphin included a gift of tennis balls meant to further insult Henry. Even later in the play, after the English won the battle at Harfleur, the noble Frenchmen continue to underestimate Henry’s ability as a leader: “What a wretched and peevish fellow is this King of England, to mope with his fat-brained followers so far out of his knowledge” (3.8.120-122).

        Finally, the Chorus is used to keep the continuity during the play. In modern theatre, the plays are normally split up into scenes and acts. However, the Greek kept the continuity between these natural gaps, by having a narrative section. This prevented the necessity of having breaks in the action and also kept the audience up to date with what had just gone on, and perhaps offering some insight or other. In this role, I think the Chorus is very helpful to the audience, as it succeeds in keeping the audience 'on the edge of their seats'.