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Henry V is a history play written by Shakespeare in 1599. It tells the story of Henry V of House Lancaster who ruled England from 1413 to 1422. The play focuses on the events before and after the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, which marked a major English victory in the Hundred Years' War against France.

It is also the final part of Shakespeare's tetralogy consisting of Richard II, Henry IV Part 1, Henry IV Part 2 and Henry V. In the previous installments (which I haven't read) Henry has been depicted as a wild and undisciplined young prince who slowly but surely matured into a respectable and responsible man.

I can't say I am surprised that this is my least favorite Shakespeare play. I really love the Bard's comedies and tragedies, but the histories never woed me. I thought that Henry V was an extremely boring play. I didn't connect to any of the characters, I didn't care for the fighting, and even the infamous speeches couldn't lure me in � no, not even the St. Crispin's Day Speech. I found the plot very hard to follow and through huge chunks of this I didn't really know what was going on.

The only part of Henry V which I thoroughly enjoyed were the introductions before each act by the Chorus. I loved how witty the prose was, and how metatextual. In the prologue the Chorus delivers a formal apology for the low production value of the play (I mean how awesome is that?), and also hints at the fact that the world, too, is a stage nested in the larger structure of imitation.

My favorite lines of the Chorus were the ones in which he initiated a change in location making humorous references to getting seasick (see: We'll not offend one stomach with our play.) or the ones in which he prompted the audience to use their own imagination and to fill in the gaps (and in the literal sense the ranks of the depicted armies):

And let us, ciphers to this great account,
On your imaginary forces work.

Piece out our imperfections with your thoughts:
Into a thousand parts divide one man,
And make imaginary puissance.

Turning th'accomplishments of many years
Into an hour-glass: for the which supply,
Admit me Chorus to this history,
Who Prologue-like you humble patience pray,
Gently to hear, kindly to judge, our play.

The first Act opens up with Henry's lords advising him to invade France. They welcome the herald from France who brings them a box of treasure for the new king, however, the treasure is nothing but a box of tennis balls that Dauphin, the Prince of France, sent them as a joke about Henry's wild days as a prince, taunting Henry that he is unfit to rule even England, let alone France.

Henry, naturally, is super pissed at this and vows that he'll change the tennis balls for cannon balls, and is ready for shit to go down: So get you hence in peace; and tell the Dauphin / His jest will savour but of shallow wit / When thousands weep more than did laugh at it. Oh my!

What then ensues is everything you'd expect from a bloody war: bitches get ready to fight, some bitches die, some bitches turn out to be snitches (I'm looking at you, Cambridge!), the main bitches don't shy away from letting the lowlier bitches do the dirty work (I'm looking at you, Fluellen!), and bitches get their throats cut.

I didn't care for any of that stuff, and so the only subplot that I found remotely interesting was the one of Katherine, the Princess of France. She knows that if Henry will win the war, she'll have to marry him, and so she asks her maid Alice to teach her some English. What then ensues is comedy on a high philological level, because some of the words Katherine is learning have quite a different meaning in her mother tongue. It was a treat to read for someone who is both fluent in English and in French.

I have to say that I was pretty disappointed with the Battle of Agincourt � it didn't feel epic at all. Henry's encouraging speeches felt super cheap to me, and even him spying on his own soldiers in disguise wasn't as entertaining as I thought it would be.

On the morning of the battle, the sheer numbers of the French army dampen the English moral, but when Henry gives his infamous St. Crispin's Day Speech about honor and brotherhood and English pride, his soldiers are electrified and decide to stay. And so they fight.

Shit goes down and the French, having lost the battle, ask to recover their dead. Henry said that God fought for the English that day and forbids anyone to baost about this victory.

The play ends with Henry and the King of France discussing the details of the peace, and Henry admitting that Katherine is his greatest desire in the treaty. While the King of France and Henry's officials discuss the agreement, Katherine and Henry banter about love � which was pretty fucking ridiculous by the way. Henry, for example, tells her that he loves France so much he 'will not part with a village of it � I will have it all mine'. Alrighty!

The short epilogue was also one of the few brilliant things this play had to offer. In it the Chorus narrates that the peace only lasted for a short time because Henry soon dies, and his child, Henry VI, will lose everything his father has won. [insert Beethoven's 5th here] ;)

In conclusion, I can say that there were some funny and clever bits scattered throughout this play, but overall the fighting scenes, and all the overblown speeches bored me to death.