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This paper examines the function and the meaning of Henry's marriage to Katherine in Henry V. Though the marriage is obviously and inevitably political, it also has the symbolic function of embodying the peaceful union of England and France. Henry's wooing makes his marriage seem humane and affectionate within the framework of this play. In addition, a strong male leader would have been an ideal figure around 1599 when Queen Elizabeth was getting old without any successor. However, the political relationship between England and France around 1599 as well as the whole structure of Shakespeare's history plays gives Henry's marriage a more pessimistic tone. The long explanation for the invalidity of the Salic law at the beginning of the play first enables Henry to claim the French throne, and later promises him a securer position in France through his marriage to Katherine. However, the long speech must have reminded the Elizabethan audience of the unstable, opportunistic interpretations of the Salic law presented by French King Henri IV (Henri of Navarre) and of the very fact that England supported Henri for a long time only to allow him to conclude a peace treaty with Spain. Just as the final chorus stresses by pointing out the darker side of the English history which Shakespeare has already shown in his former history plays, the peace and union embodied by Henry's marriage is temporal.
東京農工大学の論文
2002-09-10