payment page
Of my nation? What ish my nation? Ish a villain and a basterd and a knave and a rascal. What ish my nation? Who talks of my nation?
(Act 3, scene 2, lines 125–27)
The Scottish captain MacMorris speaks these words in response to Fluellen, who has just made a comment about his “nation.” Clearly offended by Fluellen’s insinuation of national difference, MacMorris utters this exasperated series of rhetorical questions. His point seems to be that in this context, where Scots are fighting alongside Englishmen, Irishmen, and Welshmen, it should be understood that everyone is united under the single banner of a united Britain.
There is some soul of goodness in things evil,
Would men observingly distill it out.
For our bad neighbor makes us early stirrers,
Which is both healthful and good husbandry.
Besides, they are our outward consciences
And preachers to us all, admonishing
That we should dress us fairly for our end.
Thus may we gather honey from the weed
And make a moral of the devil himself.
(Act 4, scene 1, lines 4–12)
Henry addresses these lines to the Dukes of Bedford and Gloucester as the English make their final preparations for battle. Although here he’s talking about the danger the French pose to the English, his lines also anticipate a discovery he’ll make when he roams among his soldiers in disguise later the same night. Specifically, he’ll learn that his soldiers hold a range of different opinions about him, about the righteousness of the war in France, and about who is ultimately responsible for the bloodshed. Arguably, the king is made stronger by hearing this diversity of opinion. Such diversity also paradoxically strengthens the unity of the soldiers—and, symbolically, the unity of Britain itself.
Will you mock at an ancient tradition begun upon an honorable respect and worn as a memorable trophy of predeceased valor, and dare not avouch in your deeds any of your words? I have seen you gleeking and galling at this gentleman twice or thrice. You though because he could not speak English in the native garb, he could not therefore handle an English cudgel. You find it otherwise, and henceforth let a Welsh correction teach you a good English condition.
(Act 5, scene 2, lines 74–83)
After the victory at the Battle of Agincourt, Fluellen humiliates Pistol by hitting him with a cudgel and forcing him to eat the leek that he’s worn in his cap to symbolize his Welsh pride. When Fluellen exits the scene, his friend, the English captain Gower, explains what has just happened to the still-bewildered Pistol. He recalls hearing Pistol mock Fluellen’s accent and treat him unkindly, presumably because of his preconceived notions about Welshmen. Gower therefore interprets Fluellen’s act of humiliation as a lesson about Welsh and English equality. Despite coming from a different part of Britain, Fluellen has just as much familiarity with “an English cudgel” as any Englishman. Thus, he wielded this cudgel to enforce “a Welsh correction” to Pistol’s “English condition”—that is, to Pistol’s belief in English superiority.
