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| Character | King Henry V | |
|---|---|---|
| Gender | Male | |
| Age Range(s) | Young Adult (20-35), Adult (36-50) | |
| Type of monologue / Character is | Angry, Scolding, Persuasive, Gives orders | |
| Type | Dramatic | |
| Period | Renaissance | |
| Genre | Historical | |
| Description | King Henry V orders the execution of his traitors | |
| Location | ACT II, Scene 2 | |
Summary
The play is set in the early 15th century. Henry V has just become king after the death of his father. He is now a changed man as the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Ely point out in the first scene of the play. Henry V, as a young prince, had lived a dissolute life surrounded by questionable characters. He is now a responsible, intelligent and virtuous king.
King Henry is now considering to claim the throne of France too since he thinks he is entitled to as one of his ancestors was the daughter of the king of France. The French king, Charles VI, doesn't agree and sends a group of ambassadors with an insulting message to King Henry, saying that the French king considers him immature to rule England and will never concede to his claim to the French crown. King Henry decides to invade France and gathers an army.
In the beginning of ACT II the Chorus tells us that there are 3 traitors that have been bribed by the French to kill King Henry before he leaves for France. The 3 corrupt men are the Earl of Cambridge, Henry Lord Scrope of Masham and Sir Thomas Grey of Northumberland.
In ACT II, Scene 2, we find out that King Henry has actually found out about the betrayal and decides to consult them about a case of a drunk man who was arrested for speaking against the king in public. The 3 traitors advice the king to punish them even if King Henry wants to let him free. He then tells them he knows that they have betrayed them and they ask for mercy.
In this monologue King Henry tells them that they can't ask for mercy as they were ready to execute a drunk man for just speaking against the king. He scolds them for betraying them and finally orders to execute them.
King Henry is now considering to claim the throne of France too since he thinks he is entitled to as one of his ancestors was the daughter of the king of France. The French king, Charles VI, doesn't agree and sends a group of ambassadors with an insulting message to King Henry, saying that the French king considers him immature to rule England and will never concede to his claim to the French crown. King Henry decides to invade France and gathers an army.
In the beginning of ACT II the Chorus tells us that there are 3 traitors that have been bribed by the French to kill King Henry before he leaves for France. The 3 corrupt men are the Earl of Cambridge, Henry Lord Scrope of Masham and Sir Thomas Grey of Northumberland.
In ACT II, Scene 2, we find out that King Henry has actually found out about the betrayal and decides to consult them about a case of a drunk man who was arrested for speaking against the king in public. The 3 traitors advice the king to punish them even if King Henry wants to let him free. He then tells them he knows that they have betrayed them and they ask for mercy.
In this monologue King Henry tells them that they can't ask for mercy as they were ready to execute a drunk man for just speaking against the king. He scolds them for betraying them and finally orders to execute them.
Written by Administrator
| Excerpt |
|---|
| KING HENRY V The mercy that was quick in us but late, By your own counsel is suppress'd and kill'd: You must not dare, for shame, to talk of mercy; For your own reasons turn into your bosoms, As dogs upon their masters, worrying you. See you, my princes, and my noble peers, These English monsters! My Lord of Cambridge here, You know how apt our love was to accord To furnish him with all appertinents Belonging to his honour; and this man Hath, for a few light crowns, lightly conspired, And sworn unto the practises of France, To kill us here in Hampton: to the which This knight, no less for bounty bound to us Than Cambridge is, hath likewise sworn. But, O, What shall I say to thee, Lord Scroop? thou cruel, Ingrateful, savage and inhuman creature! Thou that didst bear the key of all my counsels, That knew'st the very bottom of my soul, That almost mightst have coin'd me into gold, Wouldst thou have practised on me for thy use, May it be possible, that foreign hire Could out of thee extract one spark of evil That might annoy my finger? 'tis so strange, That, though the truth of it stands off as gross As black and white, my eye will scarcely see it. Treason and murder ever kept together, As two yoke-devils sworn to either's purpose, Working so grossly in a natural cause, That admiration did not whoop at them: But thou, 'gainst all proportion, didst bring in Wonder to wait on treason and on murder: And whatsoever cunning fiend it was That wrought upon thee so preposterously Hath got the voice in hell for excellence: All other devils that suggest by treasons Do botch and bungle up damnation With patches, colours, and with forms being fetch'd From glistering semblances of piety; But he that temper'd thee bade thee stand up, Gave thee no instance why thou shouldst do treason, Unless to dub thee with the name of traitor. If that same demon that hath gull'd thee thus Should with his lion gait walk the whole world, He might return to vasty Tartar back, And tell the legions 'I can never win A soul so easy as that Englishman's.' O, how hast thou with 'jealousy infected The sweetness of affiance! Show men dutiful? Why, so didst thou: seem they grave and learned? Why, so didst thou: come they of noble family? Why, so didst thou: seem they religious? Why, so didst thou: or are they spare in diet, Free from gross passion or of mirth or anger, Constant in spirit, not swerving with the blood, Garnish'd and deck'd in modest complement, Not working with the eye without the ear, And but in purged judgment trusting neither? Such and so finely bolted didst thou seem: And thus thy fall hath left a kind of blot, To mark the full-fraught man and best indued With some suspicion. I will weep for thee; For this revolt of thine, methinks, is like Another fall of man. Their faults are open: Arrest them to the answer of the law; And God acquit them of their practises! |
