And with that, Henry V gets underway, with all of the ‘mighty monarchies’ and actions of ‘warlike Harry’ that he had promised his ‘muse of fire’ to make possible. The Chorus concludes his Prologue, and makes way for the action of Act 1. So hearing the play was, in many ways, more important even than having a good view. He entreats the audience to accept him as the commentator on the history they will witness, begging their patience as they hear (and, he hopes, kindly judge) the play put before them.Ĭraik notes that it was ‘the usual Shakespearean expression’ to refer to hearing rather than seeing a play, and this is one reason why Shakespeare’s language is so rich with imagery: to summon forth into the audience’s imaginations the spectacle of what cannot be literally put before them, such as those vast armies and battles. The play must condense the action (which took place over a number of years) into a play that runs for just a few hours. So the playgoers’ imaginations must deck out the kings portrayed on stage, and imagine them travelling from place to place and jumping forward over several months and years. The Chorus concludes his speech by referring to the illusion of all theatre: ultimately, every play involves the audience’s participation in the creation of the illusion, and letting their imagination supply what cannot be presented literally on stage. That difficult, necessary, transcendent will to weave is what the great Caribbean poet, playwright, essayist, and Nobel laureate Derek Walcott (January 23, 1930March 17, 2017) explores in a stirring 1974 essay titled The Muse of History, found in his essay collection What the Twilight Says ( public library ). Gently to hear, kindly to judge, our play. Who prologue-like your humble patience pray, Into an hour-glass: for the which supply, And when the actors talk of horses, the audience are asked – like something out of Monty Python and the Holy Grail – to imagine the actors are riding said imaginary horses, which are stomping along the ground.įor ’tis your thoughts that now must deck our kings,Ĭarry them here and there jumping o’er times, Imagine there is ‘puissance’ or armed might and force present. Although the Chorus said ‘divide’, he means ‘multiply each actor by a thousand’.
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