Henry V · Chapter
Scene VII explained
After the Battle of Agincourt, King Henry learns the day is his and names the field after the nearby castle.
What happens
After the Battle of Agincourt, King Henry learns the day is his and names the field after the nearby castle. He gives Fluellen a glove as a favor, setting up a potential conflict with the soldier Williams. Fluellen compares Henry to Alexander the Great, noting that Henry, unlike Alexander, never killed his friends but did banish Falstaff. The French herald Montjoy requests permission to bury the dead, and Henry, angered by the slaughter of the boys and luggage, threatens further violence.
Themes in this chapter
Kingship and Leadership
Henry demonstrates leadership by naming the battlefield, managing the aftermath, and asserting authority over his soldiers and the French.
War and Its Costs
The slaughter of the boys and luggage, the order to cut prisoners' throats, and the bloody field highlight the brutal costs of war.
National Identity and Patriotism
Fluellen's pride in Welsh identity and the leek badge, along with Henry's claim to be Welsh, emphasize national and regional identity.
Honor and Glory
The discussion of oaths, the glove as a gage, and Fluellen's insistence on keeping vows reflect themes of personal honor and glory.
Characters to notice
- King Henry V
Names the field of Agincourt, gives Fluellen a glove as a favor, and expresses anger at the slaughter of the boys.
- Captain Fluellen
Compares Henry to Alexander the Great, discusses the leek as a Welsh badge, and receives a glove from the king.
- Captain Gower
Reports the slaughter of the boys and the burning of the king's tent, and converses with Fluellen about Alexander.
- Michael Williams
Explains the glove in his cap as a gage for a fight with a rascal who swaggered with him the previous night.
- Montjoy
Returns to request permission to bury the dead and confirms the English victory.
- Duke of Exeter
Points out Williams to the king and accompanies Henry.
- Earl of Warwick
Instructed by Henry to follow Fluellen to prevent harm.
- Duke of Gloucester
Instructed by Henry to follow Fluellen and notes the French herald's humbler demeanor.
Key passages
“I tell thee truly, herald, I know not if the day be ours or no; For yet a many of your horsemen peer And gallop o’er the field.”
Henry admits he is unsure of victory because French horsemen still roam the field.
Henry's cautious response to Montjoy's declaration of English victory.
“Praised be God, and not our strength, for it!”
Henry gives credit to God rather than his own army for the victory.
Henry's religious humility after learning the day is his.
“Kill the poys and the luggage! ’tis expressly against the law of arms”
Fluellen condemns the killing of the boys and destruction of luggage as a violation of military law.
Fluellen's outrage at the French atrocity.
“I was not angry since I came to France Until this instant.”
Henry declares that this is the first time he has been angry since arriving in France.
Henry's anger at the French attack on the camp.
“as Alexander killed his friend Cleitus, being in his ales and his cups; so also Harry Monmouth, being in his right wits and his good judgements, turned away the fat knight with the great belly doublet”
Fluellen compares Alexander's drunken murder of Cleitus to Henry's sober dismissal of Falstaff.
Fluellen's parallel between Alexander and Henry, emphasizing Henry's virtue.
