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Imagery
Definition of Irony
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are. If this seems like a loose definition... read full definition
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are. If this... read full definition
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how... read full definition
Key Examples in Henry V
Act 1, Scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—Miracles:
In a deeply ironic scene, the Archbishop of Canterbury casts doubt on the possibility of “miracles.” Speaking privately with the Bishop of Ely prior to their meeting with the King, the Archbishop states:
It must be so, for miracles are ceased,
And therefore we must needs admit the means
How things are perfected.
Act 2, Scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—Laying a Trap:
King Henry V’s conversation with the traitorous lords—the Earl of Cambridge, Lord Scroop, and Sir Thomas Grey—is deeply layered with verbal and dramatic irony, as they do not realize that the King already knows of their intended betrayal. Henry asks for their advice on punishing a commoner who has insulted him and, not recognizing the trap that the King has set for them, the lords advise him to offer no mercy:
Unlock with LitCharts A+SCROOP
Let him be punished, sovereign, lest example
Breed, by his sufferance, more of such a kind.KING HENRY
O, let us yet be merciful.CAMBRIDGE
So may your Highness, and yet punish too.GREY
Sir, you show great mercy if you give him life
After the taste of much correction.KING HENRY
Alas, your too much love and care of me
Are heavy orisons ’gainst this poor wretch.
Act 2, Scene 3
Explanation and Analysis—King Arthur:
The Hostess of a public tavern in London makes an ironic allusion to the legendary figure of King Arthur in describing the death of Falstaff, King Henry’s former companion and mentor. When Bardolph says that he wishes that he was with Falstaff “either in heaven or in hell,” the Hostess sharply refutes the implication that Falstaff might have gone to hell, stating:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Nay, sure, he’s not in hell! He’s in Arthur’s
bosom, if ever man went to Arthur’s bosom. He
made a finer end, and went away an it had been any christom child.
Act 4, Scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—King in Disguise:
In a scene rife with verbal and dramatic irony, King Henry disguises himself among his soldiers in order to better understand their perception of the war and of himself as a leader.
Unlock with LitCharts A+KING HENRY
I myself heard the King say he would not
be ransomed.WILLIAMS
Ay, he said so to make us fight cheerfully,
but when our throats are cut, he may be ransomed and we ne’er the wiser.KING HENRY
If I live to see it, I will never trust his
word after.
Related Themes:
Act 4, Scene 5
Explanation and Analysis—Pistol the Gentleman:
As the tide of battle turns in favor of the English, Pistol apprehends a French Soldier whom he intends to ransom for money. In a satirical scene full of dramatic irony, the French soldier mistakes Pistol, a low class criminal, for an English nobleman. The Boy translates for the Soldier, stating:
Unlock with LitCharts A+He gives you upon his knees a thousand thanks,
and he esteems himself happy that he hath fall’n
into the hands of one, as he thinks, the most
brave, valorous, and thrice-worthy seigneur of
England.
Related Themes:
