Henry V Lesson Plan

What is the function of the chorus in the prologue?

Though students won't know this yet, every act of this play features a relatively long expository speech by the chorus, which functions as a Greek chorus, outside of but commenting on the action. In the first line ("O for a muse of fire, that would ascend"), Shakespeare invokes the "muse of fire," rhetorically tying his chorus to a longer tradition of classical art, while also framing this play as an epic whose terrain is fire and conflict. The strongest association may be to the Iliad. This is bolstered by the fact that the play's first foot, "O for a," is a dactyl, making quick reference to the fact that dactylic...