King Henry V

King Henry V by William Shakespeare
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A patriotic pageant which the last 100 years of commentary – understandably uncomfortable with imperialism and monarchical government – has tried to complicate. The best and most machiavellian explanation for the unprovoked invasion in this play is actually found in the Henry IV Part 2, where the dying king urges his son to go on foreign wars of conquest in order to unite a fractious kingdom. Military success will wash away the sin of usurpation.

Henry V is a consumate politician, able to deploy the common touch he learned while carousing in his youth to motivate his followers. The coldness with which he treats his dissipated former associates may mar his reputation among the admirers of Falstaff (who dies off-stage of a broken heart), but reinforces the point that upon becoming King, Henry has to move on to bigger things than drinking and whoring and actually act the part of King. Richard II was also a good actor, but Henry V (the character if not the play) is a success because he knows which part to play.

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