... relevant to a contemporary audience. In September 1599 the rebellion by the Earl of Essex draws a parallel between patriotism, loyalty and the way a monarch treats their friends. The Earl of Essex was a favourite of Queen Elizabeth I before he rebelled. "Were now the General of our Gracious Empress.... Bringing rebellion broached on his sword," Robert Devereux, Earl of Essex came back from Ireland in disgrace. After Elizabeth I died, people became sceptical about the propaganda they were being fed by the writers and preachers of the time. Henry V offers on its surface the patriotic Chorus who glorify Henry V's conquests and through the story an underlining scepticism about how and why he achieved his victories. Henry V is traditionally seen primarily as a celebration of patriotism, of military glory and, in its last act, of true love as a means of reconciliation and Shakespeare selected his material ...

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