Henry V - (UK, 1944)


Figure 1.--This scene in the Olivier production show boy actors getting dressed for their female parts behind the stage. The boy in the first image is stuffing an orange into his bodice to make himself appear to have breasts. He is apparently preparing himself for the role of Princess Katherine, the daughter of the King of France whom Henry V marries at the end of Shakespeare's play.

Henry V was one of the great English warrior kings. He began his military campaigns when he was only 14 years old by engaging the Welsh comanded by Owen ap Glendower. He comanded his father's (Henry IV) forces in the battle of Shrewsbury when he was only 16 years old. After succeeding his father, he supressed the Lollard uprising and an attempt to assasinate him by a group of nobles loyal to Richard II. Henry is best known for his adventures in France. He attempted to marry the Frnch Princess Catherine in 1415 and insisted on the former Plantagenet provinces of Normandy and Anjou as a dowry. Frenck king Charles VI rejected the war. Henry declared war, in fact a continuation of the Hundred Years' War. The war for Henry offered two prospects. Henry could gain land tha had ben lost to the French. It also helped to deflect his cousins' royal ambitions. Henry achieved one of the great English victories over the French at Agincourt (October 1415). Henry's small English army defeated and killed a vastly superior French force. The cream of the French airistocracy was killed at Agincourt, many after the battle. Much as moden movies create images (often eronious) about battles, Shakespeare's "Henry V " has created the image of Henry in the popular in mind. Many are familiar with the "band of brothers" speech. Olivier's first of his great Shakespearian films was Henry V (1944). As part of thde film, Olivier wanted to show the Tudor practice of having boys play the female roles in the popular plays of the 16th and early 17th centuries in England. He cast modern actresses in the female roles of Princess Katherine and Mistress Quickly, but he also showed scenes backstage at the Globe theatre in which boy actors were getting dressed as women before coming out before the audience. One scene shows a boy actor (about 12 or 13 apparently) dressed in ruff, doublet (or jacket), trunk hose (short cut bloomer-like trunks), and long red stockings or tights. He comes out before the play commences to show a placard announcing the play or the setting of a particular scene since virtually no scenery was used on Elizabethan public stages. There was no actual boys' clothing. In this case the boy actor functioning as the "presenter" is dressed in doublet and hose exactly as an adult male would be dressed. Elizabethan boys, once they were breached, dressed just like adult men.

Henry V

Henry V was one of the great English warrior kings. He began his military campaigns when he was only 14 years old by engaging the Welsh comanded by Owen ap Glendower. He comanded his father's (Henry IV) forces in the battle of Shrewsbury when he was only 16 years old. After succeeding his father, he supressed the Lollard uprising and an attempt to assasinate him by a group of nobles loyal to Richard II. Henry is best known for his adventures in France. He attempted to marry the Frnch Princess Catherine in 1415 and insisted on the former Plantagenet provinces of Normandy and Anjou as a dowry. Frenck king Charles VI rejected the war. Henry declared war, in fact a continuation of the Hundred Years' War. The war for Henry offered two prospects. Henry could gain land tha had ben lost to the French. It also helped to deflect his cousins' royal ambitions. Henry achieved one of the great English victories over the French at Agincourt (October 1415). Henry's small English army defeated and killed a vastly superior French force. The cream of the French airistocracy was killed at Agincourt, many after the battle.

Hundred Years War

Edward III initiated the Hundred Years War with France (1337). Edward with his many French possessions refused to do homage to King Philip VI of France. Edward had aclaim to the French crown through his mother. Hostilities erupted and cintinued over 100 years. The French suffered some serious defeats in the early years of the war, Crécy (1346) and Poitiers (1356). At Poitiers French King John the Good was captured by the English Black Prince Under Charles V the struggle became a war of attrition. He relied on Bertrand du Guesclin to engage the marauding Free Companies, marauding mercenaries. Charles V by his death had stabilized the struggle (1380). England's Richard II seeme willing to settle the differences. Charles VI's mental instability and feuding princes undermined the French position. John the Fearless, duke of Burgundy, had the king's brother, Louis of Orleans murdered (1487). This left France deeply slipt between Armagnacs and Burgundians. Henry V seized the opportunity. The result was the most disastrous French military defeat until Napoleons defeat in Russia. Henry destroyed the cream of French nobility at Agincourt (1415). Henry forced Charles VI to acknowledge him as the legitimate heir to the French throne. France was split between the powerful John Duke of Burgundy and the Dauphin, Charles, son of Charles VI and Isabella of Bavaria. Gradually the Dauphin aided by the young peasant girl Joan of Arc built his power. He was crowned Charles VII at Reims, recaptured Paris, and recovered Normandy (1450). Charles then took Guienne (1453). With the the victory of Castillon, France had effectively defeated the English and united the country.

Tudor Propaganda

Shakespeare's play shold be viewed in a sence of Tudor propaganda. The Tudors were one of England's most important dynasties. Playrights who wanted their plays performed had to be careful to adhere to the tudor view of history. This was true especially of "Richard III". But Shakespeare had to be carefull in all of his plays to be carefiul of not offending the reigning Tudor monarch. Much as moden movies create images (often eronious) about battles, Shakespeare's "Henry V " has created the image of Henry in the popular in mind. Many are familiar with the "band of brothers" speech.

Olivier Plays

Olivier's first of his great Shakespearian films was Henry V (1944).

Use of Boy Actors

As part of the film, Olivier wanted to show the Tudor practice of having boys play the female roles in the popular plays of the 16th and early 17th centuries in England. He cast modern actresses in the female roles of Princess Katherine and Mistress Quickly, but he also showed scenes backstage at the Globe theatre in which boy actors were getting dressed as women before coming out before the audience.

Costuming

Boys on the Elezibethian stage played a variety of roles.

Presenter

One scene shows a boy actor (about 12 or 13 apparently) dressed in ruff, doublet (or jacket), trunk hose (short cut bloomer-like trunks), and long red stockings or tights. He comes out before the play commences to show a placard announcing the play or the setting of a particular scene since virtually no scenery was used on Elizabethan public stages. There was no actual boys' clothing in the 16th century. Boys wore the same clothes as men only in scaled doen sizes and this is how the boy is costumed. The boy actor functioning as the "presenter" is dressed in doublet and hose exactly as an adult male would be dressed. Elizabethan boys, once they were breached, dressed just like adult men. He comes out before the play commences to show a placard announcing the play or the setting of a particular scene since virtually no scenery was used on Elizabethan public stages.


Figure 2.--Two boy actors helping each other to get dressed for the stage. The boy who is to play Mistress Quickly, the female associate of Falstaff at the Boar's Head Tavern, has soap lather all over his face. He is about to shave so that his boyish facial hair will not detract from his female appearance.

Female parts

At the time, it was not considered appropriate for women to make public appearances such as on the theater stage. Thus boys were needed to play the female parts. The boys who play the women's part and the presenter are only middle teenagers or perhaps even younger. The boys who played young women on the Elizabethan stage had mostly been trained in the great choir schools of the period and were talented musicians as well as actors. They had to be able to sing trebble songs in comedies such as "Twelfth Night". But we must remember that boy's voices remained soprano longer in Elizabethan times than they do now. Modern diet and other factors make boys' voices change earlier now than was true in the 17th century. Other scenes in the Olivier production show boy actors getting dressed for their female parts behind the stage. The boy in the first image is stuffing an orange into his bodice to make himself appear to have breasts. He is apparently preparing himself for the role of Princess Katherine, the daughter of the King of France whom Henry V marries at the end of Shakespeare's play. In another scene we see two boy actors helping each other to get dressed for the stage. The boy who is to play Mistress Quickly, the female associate of Falstaff at the Boar's Head Tavern, has soap lather all over his face. He is about to shave so that his boyish facial hair will not detract from his female appearance. The other boy (Princess Katherine) is helping him put on his female headress over a wig. When the actual play begins, director Olivier takes us out of the Globe theatre and we see real women in the parts of Katherine and Quickly. But at the end of the drama after the victory of Agincourt at the wedding of Henry (Olivier) and Katherine, the film shifts us back for a brief moment to the Elizabethan theatre and the beautiful image of Katherine is suddenly replaced by the image of the boy actor in a similar costume with obvious stage makeup, wig, and the false bosom filled out by the oranges.

Youth parts

One of the Boar's Head group is a "Boy" who goes to France to fight with Pistol, Bardolph and the others. He is unnamed in Shakespeare's play but is meant to be about 18 years old and experiencing his first military service.

Other Shakespearian Productions

There are several other film versions of Shakesperian plays. Another excellent version is Olivier's "Richard III" (1955). This was a major piece of Tudor propaganda, villianizing Richard as the murdere of the Little Princes. "Richard III" was another of Olivier's three Shakesperian films. The third was "Hamlet".

St Crispin's Day Speech

"Henry V" is one of several plays Shakespeare wrote about English monarchs. It was probably written about 1599. Reading over the famous St. Crispian speech that Henry V delivers to his troups before the Battle of Agincourt (1415) in Shakespeare's play, "Henry V", one finds that most of the vocabulary is Anglo-Saxon in origin although, of course, some of the words derive from Latin via Norman French: such words as "honour," "desires," "covert," "offending," "name," "advantages," "faniliar," "remembered," and "condition." But the majority of the words are of germanic origin, especially the all-important verbs. A word that illustrates the combination of romance and germanic roots is the word "gentlemen" (which uses the French word "gentille" and the Anglo-Saxon "mann"). Notice the most prominant phrase, "band of brothers". Many of the prominent and memorable words have Old English Anglo-Saxon roots. "Band of brothers" is certainly prominent, even memorable, and that is certainly a phrase with Germanic rather than French roots. Scholars believe Shakespeare;s words are perhaps the most notable dramatic presentation leadership in medieval era. Of course we do not know Henry actually said. eant to the men in the Middle Ages.







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Created: December 16, 2003
Last updated: 5:49 PM 7/6/2007