So What Exactly is Henry Conquering in Henry V?

The militaristic design of Shakespeare’s Henry V makes the above question seem like a ridiculous one. But is it? Yes, the basic idea is that England (namely an advised and provoked Henry) is trying to lay claim to the French crown, and war ensues as a result. So he's conquering the French lands. Done. Well, you're not wrong. Land is the obvious answer, and the only one even I had thought of in all the three times I've previously engaged with this play, but as I’ve discovered this semester there is much more to be read.

There is an obvious conquering of the French land, but what of its language or its people? Let’s begin with language. It’s perhaps the most overlooked concept because we rarely think about it — we just use it. During war times taking over another country’s language was not uncommon. In fact, one needs look no farther than the Norman Conquest of 1066 where Normandy invades and seizes rule of the land now known as England. Language shifts power to favor the Anglo-Norman French over the Anglo-Saxon English. But back to the play. Katherine, the current princess of France, recognizes her necessity to learn English in Act 3, scene 5. However, the scene itself isn’t really what one might expect. For one, she’s learning English from her attendant, Alice, whose little knowledge of English comes from her time spent in England (time unspecified). Okay, that aside, for the whole course of the scene Katherine only asks Alice about English equivalents for parts of the body (namely the length of the arm, the neck, and the chin). Are these particularly useful words? I suppose in some sense, but I’ll let you be the judge of that. Perhaps the scene is written like this to play up the comedic aspect of an otherwise difficult-themed play, or rather the more likely, it’s just supposed to make fun of the French.

Every scene having a French person in it is basically just them sitting around going between “Oh, no, what are we going to do!” and “Don’t worry about it. We’ll be fine”. It follows then that the lesson scene (3.5) might not make as much sense. Then there is the final scene of the play (5.2.98-258) where Shakespeare takes a drastic turn and creates a comedy within the history. Alice, despite being somewhat knowledgeable about English, serves as a translator only a handful of times in the scene. Most of her dialogue is concentrated by confirming what either Henry or Katherine is hearing from the other person in their native language, but in one exchange (lines 232-47) she changes that pattern. Katherine states twice that she does not wish to be kissed by Henry, but all that Alice can think to say is that it is not the custom of French women to [perhaps intentionally stumbles on the word ‘kiss’] before they are married (lines 241-42). There isn’t enough text to determine whether Alice thinks the situation is cute and is happy that Katherine, whom she has attended, will be getting married, but she doesn’t seem to be trying to discourage it. (It’s not unlike the nurse in Romeo and Juliet, but in a much subtler tone. But that’s a different situation entirely.) In the end, it wouldn’t matter because the decision isn’t up to either Alice or Katherine. It’s up to her father to decide, the “capital demand,” i.e. Katherine’s fate (line 96).

One could go on about the language games at play in this scene, but let’s focus on Katherine’s feelings instead. There’s this man and king [Henry] who has decided that he should also be king of Katherine’s country where she's the princess. A woman she is but more so a political pawn or device for the crown. She begins to see the gravity of the situation and tries to figure out some English, but there isn’t enough time for her to learn much to help her out. By the time she meets this man her fate has all but been sealed by her father’s words. She’s powerless against it but attempts to side-step his [sincere?] advances anyway to no avail. What’s a woman to do? In this time, nothing, she’s stuck with it. Congratulations! No, not really. But everyone wants a love story, right? Anyone? Yet it’s not a love story. It never was. Hey, maybe Henry was trying to be sincere and wanted her to love him instead of it being just a thing she had to do, but I’m not convinced.

Shakespeare, William. The Norton Shakespeare: Histories. Edited by Stephen Greenblatt et al., W.W. Norton & Company, 2016.