Welcome to Litsy!

Always appreciate the opportunity to see Shakespeare live. This play is a favorite!

Happy #StDavidsDay from Shakespeare, Fluellen, and me! #EatALeek #WindsOfMarch
@Eggs

The Bard✍

#Shakespeare #AGoodHeart

I really wanted to get up and grab the book for a picture with this review, but the cat refused to be moved. She would make a terrifying queen of Medieval England. Henry V was apparently an iffy king, but the Bard makes him a hero, a somewhat odd move as the play has no villain or, well, drama. Maybe it‘s a necessary piece in his history play oeuvre. Anyway, I‘ve now read it. Thanks #shakespearerealong and @merelybookish for guiding me through.

Last weekend I had other plans and this week has been busy, so it took me until this morning to finish Henry V. This is the first history play that I‘ve read, so I‘m really not sure what to say about it in that context. There were scenes I enjoyed and others that I just didn‘t care about one way or another.

#ShakespeareReadalong #BookAndBreakfast #ArkAngelShakespeare

To sum up, Dennis the constitutional peasant & King Arthur from Monty Python and the Holy Grail:

"DENNIS: What I object to is you automatically treat me like an inferior!

ARTHUR: Well, I AM king...

DENNIS: Oh king, eh, very nice. An' how'd you get that, eh? By exploitin' the workers -- by 'angin' on to outdated imperialist dogma which perpetuates the economic an' social differences in our society! ...If there's ever going to be any progress..."

We did it! We finished a history play! 👏👏Act V marks the final demise of Falstaff & Co as Pistol is beaten and commits to a life of crime. There's diplomacy with France and Henry woos Katherine by telling her he is just a soldier, a homely dude, and a terrible wooer. (I was into it. I can't lie.)
Just as the play ended with Chorus, so shall we! (Also I promised @CarolynM a shot of Derek Jacobi 😄)
Final thoughts #shakespearereadalong crew?

This is not my favourite history play. It‘s really long in places it doesn‘t need to be. The French characters almost exclusively speaking French was tedious. Perhaps it was novel or commonplace for his early modern audiences, but that really fell flat for me. This one has several rather famous speeches, but I felt like they got lost in amongst the constant speeches. This really felt like the speeches play, and not in a good way.

It‘s not my favorite, often the history‘s aren‘t, just because Shakespeare doesn‘t get as much room to play around with plot & when he tries to force in a side plot to lighten the mood, it seems out of place. But I will admit to some soaring rhetoric mixed in with some smack talk, and some just barely almost-crosses-the-line criticism of the Monarchy‘s “divine” rights, which Shakespeare was good at poking, but not crossing.
#ShakespeareReadAlong

Act IV. Lots of Henry! He mixes with the soldiers. He laments how hard it is to be king (boo hoo 🙄).He delivers his rousing St. Crispin's Day speech. (Famous band of brothers line!) And then somehow the underdog English win the Battle of Agincourt. Yay?
Also, more horse talk from the French. And a running gag about the Ancient Greeks? Pistol steals.
This act was a slog for me #shakespearereadalong. Even Chorus couldn't save it. How'd you fare?

I didn‘t quite make it through all of Act III last Sunday, so I had several pages of Shakespeare to catch up through the end of Act IV this morning. I did not realize there was going to be this much French in the play, but I think as with last week‘s conversation, I was able to decipher enough to follow the gist of it.

#ShakespeareReadalong #BookAndBreakfast #ArkAngelShakespeare

Once more unto the breach dear #Shakespearereadalong friends, once more! Act 3 is long? Lots of scenes moving between kings and captains, English and French. Henry's army is in trouble. Katherine is learning English. Bardolph is to be executed. Shakespeare has fun with accents. The Dauphin loves his horse. Overall, I find I'm enjoying certain passages (eg Boy's speech in scene 2) more than the play itself. What say you?

Henry V Act II - the focus is war with treason, strategizing, and diplomacy. The comic relief comes from Pistol et al who report the death of Falstaff. Thoughts on this act #shakespearereadalong? Was it a lackluster end for one of Shakespeare's great characters? Is Henry on a divine mission? Any one else like Chorus's speeches best?

Good Morning! It‘s time for Sunday morning Shakespeare with breakfast again. This morning it‘s sourdough pancakes with baked apples. I listened to Act I again as I wasn‘t very focused last week, and now I‘m ready to go on to Act II.

#ShakespeareReadalong #BookAndBreakfast #ArkAngelShakespeare

Don't mind me, just a grown adult having an uncontrollable giggle over "Pistol's cock is up" #PistolMetaphors

#ShakespeareReadAlong @merelybookish

Act I of Henry V! The prologue asks us to imagine a battlefield upon the stage. Henry is wayward prince no more but an ideal king. Invasion of France is decided upon (based on a questionable claim.) Henry returns the Dauphin's 'gift' of tennis balls with a declaration of war. 🎾🎾
Overall found the act dense but easy to read. Lots of love for king and country! I expect more to come! 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
Thoughts so far #shakespearereadalong?

This act sent me down a rabbit hole of the history of tennis, which was called “jeu de paume” and played without rackets, but did exist, and was very popular in France during the time of Henry V. #shakespearereadalong

It is a beautiful fall morning, so I‘m enjoying breakfast outside while listening to my Sunday morning Shakespeare before church. I especially appreciated how the scene was set at the beginning of Act 1.

#ShakespeareReadalong #BookAndBreakfast #ArkAngelShakespeare

Got started on this.
#Shakespeare #HenryV #shakespearereadalong

My introduction says lots of pageantry. Curious how that‘s a dramatic draw. Anyway, #shakespearereadalong , I‘ve cracked this open. (Also, that‘s a really weird way to get on a 🐴. )

Stoic Kenneth Branagh on the Cliffs of Dover with a friendly reminder that our #shakespearereadalong of Henry V starts this Sunday with Act I. All welcome!
@GingerAntics @Graywacke

Repost @merelybookish :
Okay, #shakespearereadalong folx, next up is Henry V! We can do it! Kenneth Branagh believes in us!
Discussion of Act 1 kicks off October 11. You know the drill!
👑If you want to join us for some Shakespearean history, comment & I‘ll add you to the group tag.
👑 If you want a break, comment and I‘ll remove your name.
(And if you think I'm going to use this play as an excuse to post pics of young KB, you‘d be right. 😛)

I do love a Shakespeare garden!

@merelybookish #shakespearereadalong

Okay #shakespearereadalong folx, next up is Henry V! We can do it! Kenneth Branagh believes in us!
Discussion of Act 1 kicks off October 11th. You know the drill!
👑If you want to join us for some Shakespearean history, comment and I will add you to the group tag.
👑 If you want a break, comment and I will remove your name.
(And if you think I'm going to use this play as an excuse to post pics of young KB, you would be right. 😛)

#quotsysept19 @TK-421
#Prepare

“O for a Muse of fire, that would ascend/The brightest heaven of invention!”

#StarTrekSummerJune | 19: #TheMuse

📷: Made with Typorama

One of literature's greatest proclamation of love

#ready #quotsysept18 @TK-421

My second favourite of the four plays that comprise the first series of "The Hollow Crown". Having Tom Hiddleston in mind certainly helped me picture things more clearly ? I also thought the French-lessons scene very amusing, if random.

I enjoy when this calendar subtly comments on holidays. #goodfriday

A different use of the word #literature. Who but the Bard used it as a verb? #quotsymarch18 @TK-421

Thanks to Tom Hiddleston my daughter and her friends became interested in Shakespeare😊

#NovemberByTheNumbers
#five
#5

Went to finish our Shakespeare tour in Stratford-upon-Avon and there were two more with the new covers which I love 😍 plus had to get a colouring book!

#seductiveshakespeare Day 10: Henry V

A problem many of us face, if we be honest. 😀. #HenryV #seductiveShakespeare @jenniferw88 (image courtesy of Google)

Kenneth Branagh as #HenryV 😍😍😍
#seductiveshakespeare @jenniferw88

"You have witchcraft in your lips"

Bathroom reading.

#feistyfeb Day 7: #alltheworldsastage with my copy of Henry 5 from 1901!

It's good to be King...and a good night for hockey. Pens are in Montreal. So Hiddleston as Henry makes royalty looks good. #readjanuary #royals #readingandwatchinghockey

Happy (belated) St. Crispin's Day! Henry V is in my top three Shakespeare (the other two are Richard III and Macbeth), and I love the St. Crispin's Day speech. It's such an iconic role played by so many iconic actors and Famous British People - here's just a sampling. How many of these can you guess? #thisdayinbooks

From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remembered-
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother.
- William Shakespeare (Henry V)

Anyone who is a fan of epic fantasy, history, or poetry should check out Shakespeare's plays of England's kings, especially if you like Game of Thrones. If reading them seems a little steep, give BBC'S The Hollow Crown a try.