Ceremony In William Shakespeare's Henry V

In Henry V, Shakespeare has the young king, Henry V, soliloquize on the main difference between him and a commoner – ceremony, as well as on the downsides and heaviness of the ceremony that he has as king. Written in 1598 or 1599, the play follows Henry as he embarks on a conquest of France, with this monologue appearing once he and his men have arrived in France. The night before the battle of Agincourt, in which the English defeat the French, Henry visits his men in disguise and listens to their thoughts on the upcoming battle and on him, the king. He even engages in a discussion with several of his men about the king’s duty when he decides to send so many men to likely death in battle. His men argue that he should give more thought to what
The idea that ceremony alone separates a commoner and a king is argued earlier in Act 4, scene 1, when Henry, disguised as Harry Le Roi, is talking to several of his soldiers. He says “…I think the king is but a man as I am. The violet smells to him as it doth to me… His ceremonies laid by, in his nakedness he appears but a man, and though his affections are higher mounted than ours, yet when they stoop, they stoop with the like wing” (4.1.105-112). Henry is consistent here with the other speech – the king is the same as everyone else except that he has ceremony, which gives him the outward appearance of superiority as well as more responsibility. How his second idea matches up with other incidences in the play is more questionable. In his monologue he appears to think that the only things ceremony has to offer are responsibility and difficult. However, there are two other notable instances where he speaks and acts in a way which contradicts this because he has found an advantageous use for ceremony. Most obvious is his response to Kate’s consent to marriage, when he asks to kiss her, and she says, basically, that “It is not a fashion for the maids in France to kiss before they are married…” (5.2.276-277). His response is “…nice customs curtsy to great kings. Dear Kate, you and I cannot be confined within the weak list of a country’s fashion. We are
Because of this, as well as the activity of Mary Queen of Scots, who was Catholic, there was uncertainty in the realm of politics. In addition, religion in England was in an unstable state, possibly due to the religious conflicts during the reign of Henry VIII, Elizabeth’s father. Thus, several sources, including Rich Lawson, stated that Henry V was a good play for pulling the country together, establishing a commonality with the use of an English hero, and encouraging patriotic feelings (Lawson, Muses Realm, Jackson). However, the more important part of the historical context was the people’s pursuit of medieval traditions and ceremonies. Quoting Rich