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Alarums
The action of Henry VI, Part 1 is punctuated by near-constant bursts of sound. The scenes in France commonly include the sound of marching drums, and trumpet blasts are even more frequent, variously calling for parley or commanding retreat. Most often, Shakespeare uses the simple stage direction “alarum” to indicate a call to arms or warning of danger, which is to be sounded with trumpets, drums, or bells. In segments of the play that are especially dense with action, Shakespeare uses this stage direction to mark scene changes and signal turning points in battle. This is precisely what happens in our first glimpse of war in act 1, where the “alarum” that separates scenes 2 and 3 also indicates a reversal of fortune for the French: “Here alarum. The French are beaten back by the English with great loss.” These sonic features are perhaps to be expected in a play that’s largely concerned with military conflict. However, similar sounds appear frequently in the scenes at the English court, where trumpet “flourishes” and “sennets” are common features of royal ceremony. In this play, though, even ceremonial trumpets far removed from battle come to sound like warnings of danger to come.
Boasts
Boasting is a common rhetorical device in this play. The convention of boasting has a long history in warfare. From the legendary Trojan War to the chivalric traditions of the Middle Ages, the formal boast was fundamentally a matter of honor. A warrior was expected to present himself as a strong and capable fighter, thereby giving his enemy fair warning and ensuring a fair fight. As the play’s most chivalrous figure, it’s no surprise that Lord Talbot frequently issues formal boasts to his enemies. Even after suffering a minor defeat by the French, he boasts a future victory: “Your hearts I’ll stamp out with my horse’s heels / And make a quagmire of your mingled brains” (1.6.86–87). He issues several similar boasts throughout the play, as do other soldiers fighting in the war. Boasts also prove important in the scenes involving political contest, though in these contexts they are never honorable. Plantagenet’s boast about an enduring rivalry with Somerset marks the onset of the ruinous Wars of the Roses. The newly promoted Cardinal Winchester’s boast about commanding Gloucester’s respect betokens future ill. Most ominously, the play ends with Suffolk’s boast about how he’ll take the reins of the realm through Margaret’s grip on Henry.
Prophecies and Omens
Prophecies and omens often play outsized roles in history plays and other dramas that stage events their audiences might already be familiar with. Such signs help generate and sustain tension for viewers who sit in anticipation of what they know will soon unfold before their eyes. Henry VI, Part 1 is perhaps unique for the way Shakespeare places the entire play, as well as its two sequels, within the frame of a prophecy of England’s decline. Exeter references this omen at the end of act 3, scene 1, where he describes the “fatal prophecy / Which, in the time of Henry named the Fifth, / Was in the mouth of every sucking babe: / That ‘Henry born at Monmouth [i.e., Henry V] should win all, / And Henry both at Windsor [i.e., Henry VI] should lose all’” (3.1.199–203). Shakespeare did not invent this prophecy, though it likely came into being after Henry VI had already lost his kingdom. Even so, the Henry VI plays dramatize this prophecy’s coming to fruition, and references to the “fatal prophecy” appear throughout the play. And as the truth of this prophecy becomes progressively clearer, the tone grows increasingly ominous, such that every event is saturated with obvious foreboding.
