ABSTRACT
Charles VI, who ruled from 1380 to 1422 and from whom Henry V won regency of France, suffered periodic bouts of madness from 1392 to his death, the first of which occurred in front of hundreds of witnesses. His madness—which some historians, including R.C. Famiglietti and Vivian Green, have called schizophrenia and others, including Rachel Green, manic depression—greatly contributed to deep and growing divides in the French monarchy, likely contributing directly to Henry’s unexpected victory against him. Simultaneously, the playwright’s refusal to be explicit about Charles’ madness creates a doubled portrait of the French king that matches that of Shakespeare’s Henry. Shakespeare’s Henry V is a dual study of unity and disunity, framing the downfall of a kingdom in the fracturing of its ruler’s mind. Shakespeare’s Charles also plays very little role in the negotiation of the matter which takes up most of the stage time in Act Five—that of the marriage between Henry and the French princess Katherine.
