While William Shakespeare’s historical drama Henry V has been a popular play in performance since the eighteenth century, it has been seen by many critics since the Romantic era as the least successful play in the historical tetralogy it concludes, and thus it has been to some extent overshadowed by Richard II, 1 Henry IV, and 2 Henry IV. The play has been the object of marked critical contention over the last century or more, with some critics seeing it as an eloquent patriotic celebration of the English nation, others seeing it as a work fundamentally marred by a capitulation to popular nationalist enthusiasm rather than measured judgment, and still others interpreting the play as embodying an …
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Citation: Grady, Hugh. "Henry V". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 03 March 2005; last revised 21 November 2019. [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4803, accessed 21 November 2024.]
