Henry V · Chapter
Scene VII explained
In the French camp near Agincourt, the Dauphin, Constable of France, Orleans, and Rambures boast about their horses and armor while waiting for dawn.
What happens
In the French camp near Agincourt, the Dauphin, Constable of France, Orleans, and Rambures boast about their horses and armor while waiting for dawn. They engage in witty banter and proverbial exchanges, mocking each other's valor. A messenger reports the English are within 1500 paces. The French nobles dismiss the English as foolish and underfed, confident of an easy victory by morning.
Themes in this chapter
Honor and Glory
The French nobles boast of their armor, horses, and anticipated victory, revealing a preoccupation with personal honor and martial glory.
War and Its Costs
The French dismiss the English as foolish and underfed, underestimating the true costs and horrors of the impending battle.
Characters to notice
- Constable of France
Boasts of his armor and horse, engages in proverbial sparring with the Dauphin and Orleans, and dismisses the English as lacking courage.
- The Dauphin
Extravagantly praises his horse as a Pegasus, claims his horse is his mistress, and longs for dawn to trample the English.
- Duke of Orleans
Participates in the banter, defends the Dauphin's gallantry, and mocks the English as foolish and underfed.
- Lord Rambures
Asks about the stars on the Constable's armor and proposes a wager for twenty prisoners.
Key passages
“I will not change my horse with any that treads but on four pasterns. Ça, ha! he bounds from the earth, as if his entrails were hairs; le cheval volant, the Pegasus, qui a les narines de feu!”
I wouldn't trade my horse for any other that walks on four hooves. Ha! He leaps from the ground as if his guts were made of hair; he's a flying horse, a Pegasus with nostrils of fire!
The Dauphin hyperbolically praises his horse as a mythical creature.
“I think he will eat all he kills.”
I believe he will consume everything he slays.
The Constable mocks the Dauphin's boastfulness about fighting the English.
“If the English had any apprehension, they would run away.”
If the English had any sense, they would flee.
Orleans expresses contempt for the English army's positioning.