Henry V

Summary: Act III, scene iii

Captain Fluellen enters with Captain Gower, his fellow officer and friend. Gower and Fluellen discuss the “mines,” or tunnels, that the English side has dug in order to get under the walls of Harfleur (III.iii.4). Fluellen, who is well informed about the ancient Roman tactics of war, thinks that the mines are being dug incorrectly. In his characteristically amusing and very wordy manner, Fluellen expresses his scorn for Captain MacMorris, the Irish officer in charge of digging the mines, and his admiration for Captain Jamy, the officer in charge of the Scottish troops.

Captain MacMorris and Captain Jamy enter, and Fluellen offers MacMorris some advice about digging the tunnels. The hotheaded MacMorris takes offense, and they begin to quarrel. But they are all responsible officers, and there is much work to be done, so after some philosophizing about the hazards of war and the inevitability of death, all four head back into the battle.

With a flourish of trumpets, King Henry appears before the gates of the French town of Harfleur. The town has sounded a parley—in other words, its inhabitants have asked for a cease-fire in order to negotiate. The governor of Harfleur stands on the town walls. King Henry addresses him, advising him to surrender immediately. Henry declares that if the governor surrenders, the people of the town will be allowed to live; if he makes the English fight their way inside, however, the English will destroy the town, rape the women, and kill the children. The governor replies that although he would rather not surrender, he has just received word from the Dauphin that no army can be raised in time to rescue Harfleur. He declares that he will therefore open the gates. Henry orders Exeter to fortify Harfleur as a citadel from which the English can fight the French. He says that he himself will take his forces onward to Calais the next day.

Summary: Act III, scene iv

In King Charles’s palace, Charles’s daughter, Catherine, speaks with her maid, Alice. Catherine speaks no English, and this scene is spoken almost entirely in French. Alice has spent some time in England and knows some English, and so Catherine asks Alice to teach her the language. Catherine seems to suspect, wisely, that she may soon need to be able to communicate with the king of England. They begin by learning the names of parts of the body. Catherine mispronounces them amusingly, but she is eager to learn them anyway—that is, until the final two words, “foot” and “cown” (gown), which sound like French obscenities.

Summary: Act III, scene v

Elsewhere at the French court, King Charles, the Dauphin, and his advisors—including the Constable of France and the Duke of Bourbon—are having an urgent meeting to discuss King Henry’s swift advance through France. The French exclamations that pepper their English conversation signify the degree of their distress. They cannot figure out how the English got to be so courageous, since they come from such a damp, gloomy climate. They feel their national honor has been outraged by the British successes, and they are determined to turn the tables. Worst of all, their wives and mistresses have started to make fun of them for being beaten by King Henry’s forces.

King Charles, more sensible and decisive than his followers, orders all his noblemen to raise troops for the army. He calls on about twenty noblemen by name, and presumably there are many more. Charles and his men are confident that with this great number of troops raised, they can intimidate King Henry, conquer his army, and bring him back as a defeated prisoner.