SOURCE: "Henry V: King, Chorus, and Critics," in Shakespeare Quarterly, Vol. 34, No. 1, Spring, 1983, pp. 27-43.

In the following essay, Danson calls attention to analogies between king and Chorus, suggesting that both the play and its principal character require an impartial, even sympathetic appraisal. Henry and the Chorus are both performers, the critic remarks, adept at creating images and self-images, myths and legends, and together depicting a king who is noble but flawed and who must make painful choices.

I would like to believe that Henry V was the first of Shakespeare's plays to be performed in his new Globe theatre, and in the absence of proof to the contrary I can at least dally with the surmise. Construction on the Globe began at the end of February 1599, and it must have been completed by late August or early September 1599. The date of Henry V is usually established by...