Source: "Of Diplomacy, War, and Peace: Henry V," in The Drama of Power: Studies in Shakespeare's History Plays, Northwestern University Press, 1973, pp. 263-82.
[In the following excerpt, prior discusses Henry V's emphasis on war. He traces the structure of the play, from the preparations for war to the negotiations for peace, noting that no other of Shakespeare's histories focus on war so exclusively as subject or setting.]
Henry V is constructed on bold, simple lines. It is dominated by the figure of the warrior king, and it moves in a sequence of well-defined acts without the complex interrelations of an intrigue plot and subplots, and with strongly contrasting scenes. There are, however, several clearly established links between Henry V and the preceding plays. The prince's youthful wildness and later reformation, so large a feature.....
