Shakespeare, Henry V, and Language Over Theatre
One of the Most Popular History Plays Also Queries Notions of Acting
Sep 24, 2008
King Henry V begins with the Chorus humbly requesting devices which exceed those of the Elizabethan theatre:
O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend
The brightest heaven of invention,
A kingdom for a stage, princes to act
And monarchs to behold a swelling scene!
The play appears to admit its own limitations; the stage cannot physically become a kingdom, and it cannot enlist real princes to act the parts, or indeed a plethora of royals to spectate.
It seems, then, that Shakespeare acknowledges the fallibility of the medium, qualifying its failures and begging the audience to accept them so that he may present a fitting tribute to King Henry’s legendary campaign at Agincourt; the Chorus implies that the production cannot match the history, but it can at least pay homage.
Celebrating Language, Building on the Theatre
But in that opening prologue, the Chorus toys with the idea of having the kindling of the Muse for the most sublime authorship and imagination that might create a perfect tribute.
It suggests that if the theatre could be substituted for the battlefield and the actors for princes themselves, then Shakespeare could have King Henry appear in truthful glory before his audience:
Then should the warlike Harry, like himself,
Assume the port of Mars; and at his heels,
Leash’d in like hounds, should famine, sword and fire
Crouch for employment.
In this famous quote lies the function of the Chorus, for even as the play admits its own limitations it reconciles them; the play describes Henry in this form as “like himself”, producing the image for the audience, and as a consequence, creating the image itself.
Though the King Henry of true history never took this form, the play is able to qualify both the historical Henry and the Henry of the production as this fantasy figure, achieving the one thing it claims it cannot do: match the brilliance of the true campaign of Agincourt.
Art as a Transformative Power
Through this technique, King Henry V displays the power of art and language to transcend that of physicality and history and create something greater; for in the power of language, Shakespeare creates an artistic battlefield and an artistic Henry that outstrips the true living Henry, and creates an artistic, fantastical account of the English victory at Agincourt.
In listing the shortcomings of the Elizabethan theatre, Shakespeare destroys the foundations of expectation that surround the battle and replaces it with something more spectacular; for in this imaginative space - in which King Henry being “himself” means becoming the classical god of war and leashing in the great powers of famine, sword and fire like dogs - is an Agincourt campaign that transcends that of the original.
What begins as a denunciation of theatrical potential, then, becomes a celebration of figurative language.
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