The style of the prologue to Act 3 of Shakespeare’s play
Henry V might be described in a number of ways, including the
following:
- Unifying,
as in the opening word “Thus,” which links Act 3 with the immediately preceding
act. - Alliterative, as in the
words “with imagin’d wing our
swift
scene
flies” (1) or the words
“Than that of
thought”
(3). - Employing assonance, as
in the words “motion of no”
(2). - Dialogical, as when the
Chorus directly addresses the audience by referring to them as “you”
(3). - Smoothly flowing
(notice how relatively few of the lines in this speech end with any kind of punctuation;
this is known as enjambment). - Richly
adjectival, as in the following lines, asking us to notice the
king’s
. . . brave
fleet
With silken streamers
the young Phoebus [fanning].”
(5-6)
- Emphatic
in its use of verbs, as in “Suppose” (3), “Play” (7), “behold” (7),
“Hear” (9), etc. Such phrasing gives enormous energy to the
speech. - Often abrupt, as in
such short phrases as “Play with your fancies” (7) and “Follow, follow!” (17). Yet these
short phrases are typically used to punctuate and interrupt much longer sentences, thus
giving the speech a great deal of rhythmic variety, so that it never seems
monotonous. - Innovating and
inventive in some of its phrasing, as when the Chorus refers to ships
“Breasting the lofty surge” (13). - Vivid in
its use of imagery, as when the Chorus describes
how
. . . th’ invisible and creeping wind
[can]
Draw the huge bottoms through the furrowed sea” . . .
(12)
- Imaginative
in some of its imagery and
metaphors, as when the Chorus compares ships at sea to “A
city on th’inconstant billows dancing”
(15). - Unconventional
in some of its phrasing, as when the Chorus mentions a “fleet majestical” rather than
the more predictable phrase “majestical fleet” (16).
- Skillful in using emphatic
lists, as in the reference to “grandsires, babies, and old women”
(20) - Humorous and playful,
as when he refers to a
. . . chin . . .
enrich’d
With one appearing hair
(22-23)
and also when he
plays with very heavy and exaggerated alliteration in line
24.
- Courteous, as
when the Chorus ends his speech by once more begging the audience’s
indulgence.
All in all, this speech is lofty,
soaring, eloquent, witty, and highly imaginative. It displays the very kind of
heightened imagination it hopes to stir in the audience. It advances the plot of the
play (as in lines 28-31), but it also contributes mightily to the epic, heroic tone of
the work. It is patriotic, rousing, celebratory, and clever.
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