Introducing this edition, Gary Taylor shows how Shakespeare shaped his historical material, examines controversial critical interpretations, discusses the play's fluctuating fortunes in performance, and analyses the range and variety of Shakespeare's characterization. The first Folio text is radically rethought, making original use of the First Quarto (1600).
Adaptations (6)
Henry V has been adapted 6 times, across film and television film, from 1944 to 2019. The most recent is The King (2019).
Chimes at Midnight1965 · film · 115 min · dir. Orson Welles · IMDb ↗Henry IV usurps the English throne, sets in motion the factious War of the Roses and now faces a rebellion led by Northumberland scion Hotspur. Henry's heir, Prince Hal, is a ne'er-do-well carouser who drinks and causes mischief with his low-class friends, especially his rotund father figure, John Falstaff. To redeem his title, Hal may have to choose between allegiance to his real father and loyalty to his friend.
Henry V1989 · film · 137 min · dir. Kenneth Branagh · IMDb ↗In 1415, in the midst of the Hundred Years' War, the young King Henry V of England embarks on the conquest of France.
My Own Private Idaho1991 · film · 104 min · dir. Gus Van Sant · IMDb ↗In this loose adaptation of Shakespeare's "Henry IV," Mike Waters is a hustler afflicted with narcolepsy. Scott Favor is the rebellious son of a mayor. Together, the two travel from Portland, Oregon to Idaho and finally to the coast of Italy in a quest to find Mike's estranged mother. Along the way they turn tricks for money and drugs, eventually attracting the attention of a wealthy benefactor and sexual deviant.
Henry V2012 · television film · 132 min · dir. Thea Sharrock · IMDb ↗IMDb8.2Hal is now a responsible monarch as Henry V, his rejection of Falstaff hastening the latter's death. Told by courtiers that,through Edward III, he has a claim to the French throne he makes overtures to the Dauphin but is sent a hu...
The King2019 · film · 140 min · dir. David Michôd · IMDb ↗England, 15th century. Hal, a capricious prince who lives among the populace far from court, is forced by circumstances to reluctantly accept the throne and become Henry V.
