Week 4 - Henry V

As you prepare for our Literature seminar next week:

The background of Henry V is England and France during the Hundred Years' War which were a series of Wars between England and France that lasted a hundred years.

Gather background and context:

1. Do a little research on the background of Henry V. Who is he? When was he? Where was he? I suggest you read some of introduction of The Brightest Heaven of Invention if you have this commentary by Peter Leithart. 
2. Then get some context of the play itself. Again, The Brightest Heaven of Invention, will provide context nicely. You can get a general context here Spark Notes

Having this context on the person of Henry V and then a little background on the play of Henry V will aid in our discussions.

Our governing question, as we read Henry V, is:

Is Henry V an image of a Christian King?

This week as you read through the play, I want you to do two things:

1. Highlight in one color any lines you find that help us answer our governing question. Lines that might demonstrate that Henry V is an image of a Christian king and lines that might demonstrate that Henry V is not an image of a Christian King.
2. Highlight in BLUE any lines that you found interesting. I'm going to call these BLUES as we go forward. When I ask, "What were your blues?" What I mean is, what did you find interesting? Yes, you must have at least one blue! 
3. For the extra ambitious student, highlight references to "ceremony" in the color of your choice. Pay attention to the idea of ceremony. What is ceremony?

There are many phrases and sayings that we use today, that originated from Shakespeare. Have you ever heard the phrase, band of brothers?

From this scene, how would you answer our governing question?