Play review – “Henry V” by William Shakespeare

Henry IV advised his son to solve his domestic problems with an invasion of a foreign country – so here he’s looking hungrily at France. He’s accompanied by some of Falstaff’s old cronies – Falstaff dies off stage in this one. Unlike Henry IV Part Two the action is simple – invasion of France, battle, victory at Agincourt. There is a scene entirely in French, some repetition (eg French nobles being cocky), stirring battle speeches. An example of Shakespeare’s genius – he writes scenes that tug on the heart strings about the English (eg the killing of the boy) but doesn’t hide the fact that Henry orders killing of prisoners, and it was a massacre of the French The final wooing scene might seem tacked on – a bit of romance after all the war – but it does work, because it’s a political wooing brings an end to Henry’s invasion.