Henry V

Performing Katherine

The following lines scene are from the first meeting of Henry V and the French princess Katherine in Act 5, Scene 2. Note: for the purposes of this task, some lines have been translated into English and the spelling has been anglicised.

KING HENRY

Therefore Queen of all, Katherine, break thy mind to me in broken English; wilt thou have me?

KATHERINE

That is as it shall please the king my father.

KING HENRY

Nay, it will please him well, Kate; it shall please him, Kate.

KATHERINE

Then it shall also content me.

KING HENRY

Upon that I kiss your hand, and I call you my Queen.

Actors and directors spend a lot of time trying to figure out what ‘motivates’ a scene. Looking at the text above, you might notice that Katherine’s motivations and feelings are not especially clear. Does she like Henry, or is she being forced to marry him?

Using the short excerpt above, form pairs, assign roles, and begin to read through the lines. Once you are comfortable with the flow of the words, you can begin to ‘play’ with the dynamics of the scene.

As a pair, get the scene up onto the floor and play it with the following motivations (Note: you are not required to use a French accent).

  • King Henry loves Katherine. Katherine hates him and is being forced to marry him;
  • King Henry loves Katherine, and Katherine loves him too;
  • King Henry loves Katherine. Katherine is not sure how she feels about him;
  • Katherine loves King Henry. He does not love her and is being forced to marry her;
  • Katherine likes Henry, but tries not to show it. Henry realises this and tries to get her to reveal her true feelings;
  • Katherine is angry at Henry. Henry is apologetic for his actions, and tries to make amends; OR
  • Come up with another set of different circumstances!

Following this activity, rejoin as a class and reflect on what you have learned. Which version of the text worked best? Which motivations made the most sense? Did you learn something about Katherine and King Henry from performing the lines like this?

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