Help with 'Henry V' by Shakespeare! ?

Question

I was assigned a summer reading assignment to read Henry V.

However, I was extremely unprepared for all the Old English.

If anyone can help me out a little with a couple of these questions, that would be FANTASTIC:]

1. In Act 1, how does the Dauphin of France insult Henry, and how does he respond?

2.In Act 3, What feelings does Shakespeare convey in the scene in which Katherine, the French princess, practices her English?

If you could help me out, that would be great.

Thanks:]

Answer 1

Believe it or not, it's not Old English: it's Early Modern English.  I've added some links below to Old English and Middle English.  Knowing this won't make it any easier to read Shakespeare, but just so you know ... it could be worse!

Henry V is one of my favorite of Shakespeare's plays, and I recommend that you rent or borrow Kenneth Branagh's film of the play, which has excellent productions of both of the scenes you're asking about.

1. In Act 1, Henry V has recently ascended to the throne after the death of his father, Henry IV.  As a prince, "Hal" was a bit of a prodigal, and spent much of his time in the company of disreputable men and loose women.

At the beginning of the play, Henry contemplates invading France to reclaim lands that belong to England -- whether in fact they _do_ belong to England is a question addressed at some length by Canterbury.  His conclusion: Henry has claim to the lands, and should invade.

Having heard Canterbury's argument for invasion, Henry receives a messenger from the Dauphin, or prince, of France.  The messenger tells Henry that the Dauphin

"Says that you savour too much of your youth,

And bids you be advised there's nought in France

That can be with a nimble galliard won;

You cannot revel into dukedoms there.

He therefore sends you, meeter for your spirit,

This tun of treasure; and, in lieu of this,

Desires you let the dukedoms that you claim

Hear no more of you."

Basically, the Dauphin says that Henry is still very young and foolish if he thinks he can win any lands in France. Instead of French holdings, the Dauphin sends a more appropriate gift: tennis balls.

Essentially, the Dauphin calls Henry an impulsive and ineffectual child, and this insult is the final factor in Henry's decision to invade. This being Shakespeare, Henry responds with a verbal play on the insult:

"When we have march'd our rackets to these balls,

We will, in France, by God's grace, play a set

Shall strike his father's crown into the hazard."

2. Act 3 scene 4 is one of my favorite scenes in all of Shakespeare.  It is almost entirely in French, but on stage (or on screen) it is not difficult to understand exactly what is going on -- again, rent a film of the scene.

In the scene, Katharine learns the English terms for parts of the body.  She is both fascinated and repulsed the barbaric words. For me, this scene perfectly expresses a certain nervous mixture of curiosity and dread:

De foot et de coun! O Seigneur Dieu! ce sont mots

de son mauvais, corruptible, gros, et impudique, et

non pour les dames d'honneur d'user: je ne voudrais

prononcer ces mots devant les seigneurs de France

pour tout le monde. Foh! le foot et le coun!

Neanmoins, je reciterai une autre fois ma lecon

ensemble: de hand, de fingres, de nails, de arm, de

elbow, de nick, de sin, de foot, de coun.

Essentially: "These are evil, horrible words that I wouldn't care to pronounce before the nobles of France for all the world.  Okay, let me say them again ... "

Hope this helps.