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Lord Talbot is a renowned general who leads the English army in the battle to suppress French resistance. As a highly decorated soldier who has long fought in the service of the recently deceased King Henry V, Talbot belongs to a celebrated old guard. He is, indeed, the very picture of the chivalrous knight. He makes fierce boasts before his enemy, whom he longs to meet face to face on the battlefield, testing his mettle in single combat. For him, this is the only honorable way to wage war and thereby earn valor. But despite being widely respected by the English and just as widely feared by the French, Talbot finds that the conventions of chivalry that guide his conduct are quickly being eroded. With the French army under the leadership of the formidable Joan la Pucelle, Talbot’s army faces a more coldblooded and covert style of warfare. Instead of being the meeting of equals, this new form of battle relies increasingly on feints and guerrilla strikes that fail to honor the enemy.
Talbot also faces the increasing political division within Henry’s court. As a man who has committed his life and service to the Crown, Talbot bears witness to an internal divisiveness that bodes ill not just for the war effort, but for the kingdom he serves. It is therefore appropriate—and tragic—that his death should occur as an indirect result of the dispute between Somerset and York. Somerset intentionally delays the delivery of cavalrymen to York’s standing army. And without the horsemen, it’s impossible to break the French barricade around Bordeaux, which leaves Talbot stranded. Shakespeare further heightens the pathos of Talbot’s death by spotlighting the relationship with his son, a young man whose commitment to the tenets of chivalry compels him to fight by his father’s side instead of fleeing from battle. His valiant death so aggrieves Talbot that the great general dies of his own sorrow. Denied a true warrior’s death in this way, Talbot becomes a tragic symbol of England’s decline.
