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Uncles of Gloucester and of Winchester,
The special watchmen of our English weal,
I would prevail, if prayers might prevail,
To join your hearts in love and amity.
O what a scandal is it to our crown
That two such noble peers as you should jar!
Believe me, lords, my tender years can tell
Civil dissension is a viperous worm
That gnaws the bowels of the commonwealth. (3.1.66–74)
The first time King Henry appears in the play that bears his name is the opening scene of act 3, and these lines are the first he speaks. It is telling that his first words in the play are aimed at healing a rift between his noblemen—a fact that reflects his misfortune at having inherited a kingdom that is already in the process of splitting apart. Despite his inexperience as a king, Henry is canny enough to recognize the threat this dispute between Gloucester and Winchester poses, and he attempts to nudge these lords toward “love and amity.” However, he also acknowledges his “tender years,” and his youthfulness shows in his inability to control these adults with their pre-established agendas. Though he is king in name, he doesn’t yet have the interpersonal authority to issue meaningful commands.
Come hither, you that would be combatants.
Henceforth I charge you, as you love our favor,
Quite to forget this quarrel and the cause.
And you, my lords, remember where we are—
In France, amongst a fickle wavering nation.
If they perceive dissension in our looks,
And that within ourselves we disagree,
How will their grudging stomachs be provoked
To willful disobedience, and rebel! (4.1.134–42)
A full act has passed since King Henry made his first appearance in the play. Now, at the top of act 4, just after he’s arrived in France to be officially crowned king, he learns that the dispute between Gloucester and Winchester has spread like a cancer. No longer confined to the primary disputants, their servants are fully committed to their masters’ cause. And not only that, the argument has now traveled from England to France, where it won’t just embarrass the English—it will also embolden the French. Responding to this situation, the king delivers a long speech that begins with these lines. This represents Henry’s first sustained speech in the play. Far more eloquent than before, the newly crowned king speaks with greater force and confidence that shows him growing into his lofty role.
I feel such sharp dissension in my breast,
Such fierce alarums both of hope and fear,
As I am sick with working of my thoughts.
Take therefore shipping; post, my lord, to France;
Agree to any covenants, and procure
That Lady Margaret do vouchsafe to come
To cross the seas to England and be crowned
King Henry’s faithful and anointed queen. (5.7.84–91)
With these lines, the king makes his decision to marry Margaret of Anjou and thereby break the more politically advantageous engagement that Gloucester had arranged with the earl of Armagnac’s daughter. Whereas Henry had previously been dispassionate about the idea of marriage, now he is clearly inflamed with sexual passion—what he calls a “passion of inflaming love” (5.7.82). In allowing himself to be guided by lust, Henry reminds the audience that, although he’s the king, he’s still just an adolescent, and he wants what adolescent boys often want: sexual experience. Yet in making this hasty decision, Henry unwittingly endangers his kingdom. Shakespeare suggests this danger by planting the language of “sharp dissension” and “fierce alarums” in the king’s speech. These phrases heighten the dramatic irony by recalling the numerous disputes that have rent the king’s court, as well as the many alarums that have punctuated the play’s many military scenes.
