Source: "Imagery and Irony in Henry v," in Shakespeare Survey: An Annual Survey of Shakespearian Study and Production, Vol. 21, 1968, pp. 107-14.
[In the following essay, Hobday explores the use of death imagery in Henry V and the emotional significance that the imagery had for Shakespeare. He notes that Shakespeare constantly places the language of honor and religion amidst the realities of greed and cruelty.]
During the last century and a half many of the most distinguished Shakespearian critics, from Hazlitt to J. Dover Wilson, have disputed over the character of Shakespeare's Henry V. When such a debate has continued so long, without showing any sign of reaching a conclusion, it seems reasonable to assume that the division of opinion among critics may reflect a division in Shakespeare's own mind, and that his emotions.....
