f their forefathers and to set an example to people of more common blood. He flatters the ordinary soldiers (yeomen) with the suggestion that he sees 'noble' qualities shining in their eyes and he makes the battle seem exciting by comparing it to a hunt.
             The most important themes that the play explores and that we see especially within these two passages are that of patriotism, kingship and warfare.
             We are reminded several times in the play of previous English exploits in France. The Battle of Crécy, 1346, when the French were defeated by Edward III and his son, the Black Prince, is mentioned by the Archbishop of Canterbury, (ActI, Scene 2), and by King Charles, (Act II, Scene 4). The rhetoric of the Chorus in his descriptions of the army's preparations for the expedition (Act III), and Henry's speeches before Harfleur and Agincourt are calculated to rouse patriotic feelings in the audience.
             There are a number of ways in which the English are shown to advantage and presented as being superior to their enemies. The unity and fellowship among the English is contrasted with the discord among the French. The French are shown as vain and incompetent, defeated by a small, sickly English army. At one point Henry boasts that one Englishman is worth three Frenchmen, 'I thought upon one pair of English legs/Did march three frenchmen', (Act III, Scene 6, pg.112). Shakespeare shows the English as being civilised in their sparing of Harfleur (Act III, Scene 1), and we are presented with the view that God is on the side of the English.
             We are presented with the ideal of kingship in Henry V. Piety, humility, learning, courage, leadership, restraint and mercy are all demonstrated in this 'mirror of all Christian kings' (Act II, Chorus). Perhaps Shakespeare intended Henry to be a flattering parallel for Queen Elizabeth. He was certainly aware of the need for unity and stability in his own time a...