"Was ever woman in this humour woo'd? Was ever woman in this humour won?"

Sick yesterday so I took things easy. Now I'm ruminative and I been thinking...

The end of the play is horrifying! Every time I've seen it (including the time I directed it), it's done as this "aw, shucks", "will you go to the prom with me?" sort of afterschool special thing, like it belongs in one of the "earlier, funnier" comedies. It stuns me continually that audiences accept this treatment of the scene. Consider what's come before: England has, with little recent provocation, invaded France and killed or captured over 10,000 soldiers, 126 of them nobles, a fact that no doubt leaves Charles' castle feeling a little empty. In the scene itself, Burgundy delivers a speech that exhorts peace but in his words he can barely conceal his loathing for the continual aggression of the English. Henry basically says "Sign the paper and everything's cool, but if you don't, we have a problem." Oh, and by the way, can I talk to your daughter quick? Try to imagine Harry Truman hitting up Hirohito's daughter on the deck of the Missouri and you come close to the ridiculousness of this scene.

I understand that, despite the horrors of war on display in earlier acts, Henry V is essentially an historical adventure play for your average Elizabethan Londoner and every adventure needs a love story. But how the crap are we supposed to think this is cute? If I wrote a scene where a girl's dad made her marry the CEO who was taking over his company against her wishes and everyone was totally cool about it, there'd be rioting in the streets. Oh, but the CEO is cute and tells a self-deprecating joke or two, so don't worry about it.

We're going to block and work this scene tonight and I'm hoping for a breakthrough or five but I've got some serious issues about how this scene should be portrayed and how it'll be received. I know that, by the end of the play, people are ready to laugh and enjoy something light-hearted, but it seems like a disservice to make this scene fulfill that role. It ends up being more chauvinistic than people claim Taming of the Shrew is.

"Darling, being out of your box is a privilege, not a right..."