Henry V

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In Henry V, the Chorus informs us before each act what happens and where the action takes place, notifies us if the play skips over certain periods of time. However, one of his main goals is to compensate for what the staging is unable to achieve, ask the audience to use their imagination, and try to see what cannot be shown on stage.

If we read this speech, we can observe that everything the Chorus tells us can actually be summarized in a few sentences (The English fleet sails from Southampton and the siege of Harfleur begins by the English army. The ambassador returns with an offer from the French King: the hand of his daughter Katharine, with some dukedoms of little importance. The offer is rejected, and the the siege goes on…). However, the importance of the speech lies in something different- the approach and literary techniques (language, style, tone…) that Chorus uses to arouse our attention, suspend our disbelief and stimulate us to use our imagination. The Chorus does so very intelligently in its use of verbs as in “Suppose” (Henry V, Act 3, scene 1, line 3), “Play” (7), “behold” (7), “Hear” (9), etc. Such phrasing gives enormous energy to the speech and we feel encouraged to take part in the play and make the most out of it. The style is adjectival, as in the following line: “With silken streamers the young Phoebus [fanning].” (6) ; Imaginative, as when the Chorus compares ships at sea to “A city on th’inconstant billows dancing” (15). The speech also contributes to the heroic tone of the work which is highly patriotic and celebratory, and which, together with a lot of hyperbolic words, leads to creating an epic, exaggerated and almost mythical view of the whole military operation: “Work, work your thoughts, and therein see a siege: behold the ordnance on their carriages, with fatal mouths gaping on girded Harfleur.” (25-27). The "ordnance" on the "carriages" are compared to "fatal mouths" that turn towards Harfleur as the English army starts its siege of this French city. The description of these mouths that "gape" at Harfleur certainly help to exaggerate the power of Henry's army. Henry's fleet is described as “majestical.” (16). The Chorus is keen to present the fleet as being powerful and numerous so as to exaggerate the military power of Henry.

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