Mitarai Digital Folio

Henry VI, part 1, Act 1 Scene 5

39Lines 2Speakers

Henry VI, part 1, Act 1 Scene 5 runs 39 lines of dialogue, spoken by 2 speakers. That is shorter than the play’s average scene length of about 102 lines. This scene is part of Act 1 of Henry VI, part 1.


Full Dialogue
Talbot
Where is my strength, my valour, and my force?
Our English troops retire, I cannot stay them:
A woman clad in armour chaseth them.
Here, here she comes. I'll have a bout with thee;
Devil or devil's dam, I'll conjure thee:
Blood will I draw on thee, thou art a witch,
And straightway give thy soul to him thou servest.
Joan La Pucelle
Come, come, 'tis only I that must disgrace thee.
Talbot
Heavens, can you suffer hell so to prevail?
My breast I'll burst with straining of my courage
And from my shoulders crack my arms asunder.
But I will chastise this high-minded strumpet.
Joan La Pucelle
Talbot, farewell; thy hour is not yet come:
I must go victual Orleans forthwith.
O'ertake me, if thou canst; I scorn thy strength.
Go, go, cheer up thy hungry-starved men;
Help Salisbury to make his testament:
This day is ours, as many more shall be.
Talbot
My thoughts are whirled like a potter's wheel;
I know not where I am, nor what I do;
A witch, by fear, not force, like Hannibal,
Drives back our troops and conquers as she lists:
So bees with smoke and doves with noisome stench
Are from their hives and houses driven away.
They call'd us for our fierceness English dogs;
Now, like to whelps, we crying run away.
Hark, countrymen! either renew the fight,
Or tear the lions out of England's coat;
Renounce your soil, give sheep in lions' stead:
Sheep run not half so treacherous from the wolf,
Or horse or oxen from the leopard,
As you fly from your oft-subdued slaves.
It will not be: retire into your trenches:
You all consented unto Salisbury's death,
For none would strike a stroke in his revenge.
Pucelle is enter'd into Orleans,
In spite of us or aught that we could do.
O, would I were to die with Salisbury!
The shame hereof will make me hide my head.
39 lines rendered verbatim from the dialogue corpus.

Who’s On Stage

Speaking characters in this scene

Character Lines Share
Talbot 32 82.1%
Joan La Pucelle 7 17.9%

Line distribution

The top speaker in this scene delivers 32 lines, while the scene’s average per speaker is about 20 lines.

Total speakers on stage

2 named characters speak in this scene.

Scene in Context

Position within Act 1

This is Scene 5 of 6 in Act 1 of Henry VI, part 1.

Scene length vs. play average

At 39 lines, this scene is shorter than the Henry VI, part 1 average scene in Henry VI, part 1 (~102 lines).

Adjacent scenes

Previous: Act 1 Scene 4 · Next: Act 1 Scene 6