Acts I and II:
1. In Henry IV, Part 2, King Henry IV advises his son (Henry V in this play) to “busy giddy minds / With foreign quarrels,” adding “that action hence borne out / May waste the memory of the former days” (4.3.341-43). At the opening of this play, we see two clergymen, the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Ely, discussing a plan for war. What is *their* motivation?
2. Canterbury then gives a very long and confusing speech in 1.2 advising the King about his right to invade and claim lands in France (Note that Canterbury calls his explanation “clear as is the summer’s sun” (1.2.86), a line that is sure to get a laugh from any audience for its obvious inaccuracy!) From whom does England derive this claim?
3. The “Dauphin,” the heir to the French throne, sends a galling gift to King Henry–what is it?
4. We hear word of Falstaff in 2.1–what has happened to him? What (or who) is the cause, according to Mistress Quickly (now Hostess)? His death is reported, but not staged, in 2.3. Why do you think Shakespeare chose not to bring Falstaff onto the stage in this play (as he promised he would at the end of Henry IV, Part 2)?
5. How does the King manage to trick the conspirators? What is written on the papers he gives to them in lines 64-65?
6. The King calls Cambridge, Grey, and Scrope “English monsters” at 2.2.80 and Scrope a “cruel / Ingrateful, savage, and inhuman creature” at 2.2.91-92. What does he mean by this? Why do you think he uses these words to describe them?
7. When Exeter addresses King Charles of France in 2.4, he states the English claim to France. What is the basis of his argument? Does this remind you of any other moments in the history plays we have read?
Act III-Act IV, Scene Four:
1. Note the language that King Henry uses to stir his troops in the opening of act three. What does he mean when he calls on them to “Then lend the eye a terrible aspect”?
2. Immediately following the king’s stirring speech in 3.1, Nim, Bardolph, and Pistol enter the stage with their singing and foolery. What do you think is the point of including these characters in this scene? In the play at large?
3. How does Henry get the French to surrender at Harfleur in 3.3? Note what he says to Exeter following the surrender. What does this reveal about his speech to the Governor?
4. Shakespeare includes an interlude during the battle that shows Catherine, the daughter of the French king, with her chamber maid. What are they doing? Read the notes carefully–why do you think Shakespeare wrote the dialogue in this way?
5. In 3.5, the French noblemen have unkind words for the English. How do they characterize them? What is the impression we get of the French in this scene and throughout the play?
6. What crime do we learn in 3.6 that Bardolph has committed? What is his punishment? Why?
7. On the eve of the battle at Agincourt, King Harry borrows Erpingham’s cloak (4.1.24) and wanders through the English camp in disguise. Be sure to read the description of this event given by the Prologue at 4.0.28-47. There is one soldier he encounters during his walk from “watch to watch, from tent to tent” who comes close to angering the disguised King. His name is Williams. What does he maintain that provokes the exchange of gages (see Stage Direction, 4.1.197)?
8. At what point does King Harry remember his father’s offense? What has he done to rectify those sins?
9. King Harry’s speech in 4.3 is one of the greatest (and most famous) in the play. How, in this speech, does the king “turn evils to advantages”?
End of Act IV-Act V:
1. At the end of 4.4, the boys are left behind with the camp’s “luggage” or supplies. What happens to this band of boys? How does the king respond upon hearing the news in 4.6? What is Fluellen’s response to this order in 4.7?
2. In 4.7, the king finishes his trick on Williams (begun on the night before battle earlier in the act). What do you think the point is of these hijinks?
3. What is the ultimate outcome of the Battle of Agincourt? What about the outcome is literally “wonderful” (4.8.106) for the English? How does the king explain this outcome, and what does he promise to do at the end of the battle?
4. The Prologue in 3.0 tells us that the King of France offered his daughter Catherine to King Harry, but that King Harry “The offer likes not.” The last scene of the play, however, is devoted to setting up the match between King Harry and Catherine. What has changed to make Catherine a more desirable bride to Harry? Why does Shakespeare end the play (and the tetralogy) with this scene?
