...first to Caesar's return as conqueror to Rome and then to Essex's anticipated return from Ireland: As, by a lower but by loving likelihood, Were now...much more, and much more cause, Did they this Harry." Notice the prudent qualification that this is "a lower . . . likelihood" insofar as Essex is but "the...

...plebeians swarming at their heels, Go forth and fetch their conquering Caesar in: As, by a lower but loving likelihood, Were now the general of our gracious...much more, and much more cause, Did they this Harry. It is most unlikely that Shakespeare knew the extent of the queen's displeasure with the Earl of Essex,...

...plebeians swarming at their heels, Go forth and fetch their conquering Caesar in: As, by a lower but loving likelihood, Were now the general of our gracious...much more, and much more cause, Did they this Harry. However qualified by references to 'our gracious empress' and by insistence that Henry V's triumph...

...plebeians swarming at their heels, Go forth and fetch their conqu'ring Caesar in; As by a lower but loving likelihood, Were now the general of our gracious...Much more, and much more cause, Did they this Harry. (Henry V, V. Prol. 22-35)' I HIS section of the chorus's speech just before Act 5 of Shakespeare's...

...description of Henry's triumphal return to London. we have the following lines: As. by a lower but loving likelihood. Were now the General of our gracious...many would the peaceful city quit To welcome him! (V.Chorus.29-34) • The empress was Elizabeth. the general was the Earl of Essex who had not yet returned...

...based on the Chorus's lines referring to Essex's ill-fated expedition to put down an Irish rebellion: Were now the General of our Gracious Empress As in...many would the peaceful city quit To welcome him! (V.Chorus.30-4) Essex left London on 27 March, and returned on 28 September to face charges about his...

...identification with the ongoing campaign of Essex in Ireland: The Mayor and all his brethren in best sort . . . Go forth and fetch their conquering Caesar in, As...many would the peaceful city quit To welcome him! (5.cho.25-34) Syntactically (and even tactically), "Go forth and fetch their conquering Caesar in"...

...to current events which enables us to be pretty sure when it was written: the Chorus to Act 5 says: Were now the General of our gracious Empress As in...many would the peaceful city quit To welcome him! The 'General' must be the Earl of Essex, whose 'Empress', Elizabeth, had sent him on an Irish campaign...

...Several lines in the Chorus to Act Five make this almost indisputable: As, by a lower but high-loving likelihood, Were now the General of our gracious Empress...many would the peaceful city quit To welcome him! (5.0.29-34) 'Our gracious Empress' must be Elizabeth I, who died in 1603, and 1 AR Humphreys argues...

...Shakespeare. In the chorus at the beginning of the fifth act of Henry I' we hear the followmg lines: Were now the General of our gracious Empress As in...many would the peaceful city quit To welcome him' 5.1 30-34) Any audience member at the Globe theatre with the remotest knowledge of contemporary affairs...