u/elalavie

There are so many ways to read Henry V, but one that I've been thinking about a lot lately is focusing on it as a story being constructed around Henry after his death.

Because Hal isn't just dead, he's a dead soldier. (Even if he died after the war was over, we see him as a soldier by the way the story is told.)

There's such a fundamental loss of personhood in that (one that isn't present in just being a soldier), that works so well with the themes of the play. I did, unfortunately, lose some friends to war- and I always found it kinda horrifying watching those stories being created.

They all have to be heroes, of course- what happened in their last moments is truly irrelevant, and that means they have to be soldiers forever. Every flaw is sanded out, every doubt or regret is swept under the carpet. It doesn't matter if they wanted to be there or not, or if they should have, or if they did the right thing. It doesn't matter who they were before either- at least, it's not a part of *this* story, because we aren't talking about the person, we're talking about the hero.

Doesn't that sound kind of familiar when thinking about the Henriad?

So I think it’s very interesting to see HV as an unreliable narrative through that lens. We saw Hal, we know Hal- this story is not about him. Henry V isn't Hal not only because his character made an in-universe choice to change, but also because the story can't let him be.

I think this works especially well when you look at scenes like when Henry commands the killing of the hostages. He does it twice, each time for a different reason- isn't it interesting to think of it as the story blurring as it tries to fit that moment into a heroic narrative?

Idk if it's my favorite reading but I do think it's an interesting way to look at it

Wanna see how many I can get!

(Bonus points to whoever guesses mine, with Hanoch Levin, Lord Byron (Cain is an insane play, but so underrated), and Samuel Beckett)

Edit: Please tell me if I'm wrong and give me one clue before telling me the answer

Edit 2: my current score: out of 20 where I have confirmations, I got 5 on the first try, 9 complete misses, and 6 on the second try

I'm not very good at it, but it's also hard! No one has guessed mine yet, I'm giving y'all 3 more tries before I add a clue

Edit 3: Wow, there's a lot! Sorry if I haven't gotten to you yet, this post did make my bus ride from Rome to Florence pass really nicely:) I am trying to get to everyone:))

Since I'm guessing for all of you, I'm going to let you guess my top five:)

5. Julius Caesar ( u/LizHazZoe guessed it:)

So Much Ado is my favorite play- got me into Shakespeare and no play has topped it yet (though some histories did come close). Obviously, it's a very popular play too, and I've seen a lot of interesting interpretations of it (the gender dynamics in the play are always interesting to explore).

But something that I always felt was underappreciated is how well this play catches the feeling of coming home for a break from war.

The balance of nothing and everything happening all at once is just perfect for it.

I feel the play is a lot more interesting if you don't let the shadow of war leave the play after the first scene (as a lot of productions do). Seeing it as an explanation of the characters' more ridiculous actions- if the war is constantly living at the back of your mind, of course you'd busy yourself with some low stakes overly convoluted fun. If it's waiting to come out if a moment of silence goes on for too long, why would you allow it to?

Of course every emotion is heightened! Of course everything spirals so quickly.

Also, from personal experience, I find the way the characters move from the more intense part of the plot to leisure very relatable (the need to both do everything you thought about at any moment before you run out of time, and get enough rest in at the same time is so realll).

I think this reading fixed the problems I had with Claudio and Don John.

I get people connecting the military in Much Ado to macho masculinity (as I said before, I find gender based readings very interesting here), but I feel the more literal reading I'm talking about results in more likable characters, and a more unique representation of war.

Finally, I'll add that a staging detail I'd have in a dream production is Beatrice putting on her own uniforms during the start of the love confession part of 4.1.

There would need to be a scene break after Hero, Leonato, and the friar exist, which there sometimes is, anyway. But I really think it works- the tone got darker, the thin shield of fun broke, so the war came back. It would give more weight to Benedick finally blurting out that he loves her, and logistically it works, with Beatrice being gone for a little while afterwards (extra points if you switch the order of 5.2 and 5.3- especially because that way the tone gets lighter again just as she comes back.) It would also make 5.2 just that bit nicer, and would help the impression that more time passes between the first and second wedding

So, yeah :) would like to hear more thoughts

So I saw a post on Tumblr, with the op talking about a production of helmet they saw that had two actors playing the main character. I thought that idea might be really interesting when applied to Hal, then I overthought it, and now I have a scene-by-scene vision for this:

For Henry IV you have two Hals, let's call them tavern Hal (t!hal) and prince Hal (p!hal). I'd have them always on stage together, and visibly aware of each other, giving each other high fives and pulling faces while the other Hal is talking.

For the first few scenes, it's mostly t!hal, while p!hal is speaking exclusively to the audience. ("I know you all...", but also play with the text a little bit to give him more lines- Hal's live commentary on Falstaff's story about the buckram men can be spoken directly to the audience too).

Until the ending of II.4, where after t!hal play, p!hal is the one to say "I will, I do.", and in the mess of trying to hide from the sheriff Falstaff catches p!hal *him* the "never call a true piece of gold a counterfeit" line. Essentially pulling him through the fourth wall to deal with the sheriff.

I'd have p!hal continue in the role in III.2, while talking to his father, until t!hal pushes him away and takes over for "Do not think so; you shall not find it so!"

T!hal is back for III.3, while p!hal is sorting through papers by one of the tavern's tables, until he finds what he's looking for and takes over from "I have procured thee, Jack, a charge of foot."

During the battle, they switch places every scene:

T!hal is in IV.2, p!hal dose V.1, t!hal V.3, p!hal for the first half of V.4, and most importantly, t!hal for the second half of that scene, the fight with Hotspur.

After t!hal stabs Hotspur both Hals look shocked at each other, with p!hal coming to comfort t!hal, and taking over from "For worms, brave Percy"

In part two we are back to t!hal leading, with p!being behind the fourth wall (maybe he reads aloud the letter to the audience while t!hal reads it quietly?)

They switch places for IV.5, with Hal in the palace, they both exist with the crown, but only t!hal comes back when Henry IV wakes up. He is alone for the rest of the play.

I like that the fun, funny Hal is the one to both kill Hotspur and become Henry V. This way instead of feeling like one personality takes over, we just have him breaking down.

For Henry V, I'd have t!hal in the leading role and p!hal as the narrator, and I wouldn't have them on stage together at all until the ending of IV.1.

I'd have p!hal hesitantly come on stage after the soldiers exit, and t!hal basically scream the "Upon the king!" soliloquy at him (especially "ceremony, show me but thy worth!").

From that moment on they are on stage together again. I'm thinking it might be cool to give p!hal the "O God of battles!" Speech while t!hal is talking to Gloucester.

And maybe have the st. Crispin's Day speech split between them on opposite parts of the stage.

T!hal would still have the speaking part and p!hal is still the narrator, but they can share the stage and interact again.

The last thing I think can be funny and sweet is them rapidly switching places during the wooing scene to represent Hal being very nervous and constantly changing strategies. T!hal is still the one to get the kiss, but p!hal high-fives him for it. Of course almost immediately after that p!hal would have to deliver the closing narration, which makes it even worse 🥲

I have no idea if it's good or if I'm just dehydrated (walking the via francigena rn, lol), but here it is🤷‍♀️