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'Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.' The young King Henry V, once the wild Prince Hal, claims the crown of France and invades it. Through…
'Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more.' The young King Henry V, once the wild Prince Hal, claims the crown of France and invades it. Through the siege of Harfleur, a night spent in disguise among his soldiers before the battle, and the great English victory at Agincourt in 1415 against a much larger French army, he proves himself a leader of men, inspiring them with the famous speech of 'we few, we happy few, we band of brothers'. The play ends with his courtship of the French princess Katherine.
Context and significance
Written in 1599, the play is introduced by a Chorus who asks the audience to imagine the fields of France inside the 'wooden O' of the theatre. It can be read as a celebration of heroism or as a darker look at war, and both Laurence Olivier and Kenneth Branagh filmed it. Read Henry IV, Part 1, and see Shakespeare's life.
About the author
William Shakespeare (1564–1616), born in Stratford-upon-Avon, actor, playwright and shareholder of a London company, wrote about thirty-seven plays and 154 sonnets.