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Section 2: Reattributions
Perhaps the strongest indication of deliberate adaptation in the Quarto is the remarkable number of reattributed lines, a very unusual feature of Q Henry V.[9] In the Quarto, some 80 lines have speech headings different from the parallel lines in the Folio—not including 21 lines in 4.8 mistakenly assigned to Exeter in Q. Many of these 80 lines reattributed in Q may have been intentional alterations, made by the reporter/adapters when they reconstructed the text.
However the assignment of the 21 lines in 4.8 to Exeter rather than Henry is an obvious error in Q rather than a deliberate reattribution. In Q, the reading of the list of the dead at Agincourt is assigned to Exeter, as a continuation of his four lines that seem to begin a reading of the list. But the sequence beginning "This note doth tell me" (F3r, TLN 2799) must be Henry's, as F indicates, for the next speech in both versions belongs to Exeter.[10] The Quarto includes a double speech heading for Pistol in 4.1
The remaining 80 reassigned lines in Q Henry V are not obvious errors (like the misattribution in 4.8); some are significant indications of purposeful adaptation in the Quarto. The most obvious and important include the reassignment of all of the Dauphin's lines in the French nobles' scenes at Agincourt. Table 2 lists the reattributions in scenes involving the French nobles.
| Act & | Folio | Quarto | Description |
| scene | TLN | Sig. # | |
| 2.4 | 956-7 | C1v | F, French Messenger; Q, Constable |
| 2.4 | 1039 | C1r | F, Exeter; Q, French King |
| 3.5 | 1384-5, 1388 | C3v-4r | F, Dauphin; Q, Constable |
| 3.5 | 1389-93 | C4r | F, Brittany; Q, Bourbon |
| 3.7 | 1632-3, 1645-7 | D2v | F, Dauphin; Q, Bourbon |
| 3.7 | 1667 | D2v | F, Orleans; Q, Constable |
| 3.7 | 1669-70 | D2v | F, Dauphin; Q, Bourbon |
| 3.7 | 1687-8, 1692 | D2v | F, Dauphin; Q, Bourbon |
| 3.7 | 1706-7 | D2v | F, Dauphin; Q, Bourbon |
| 3.7 | 1711-12 | D2v | F, Rambures; Q, Orleans |
| 3.7 | 1715 | D3r | F, Dauphin; Q, Bourbon |
| 3.7 | 1716 | D3r | F, Orleans; Q, Gebon |
| 3.7 | 1717 | D3r | F, Rambures; Q, Orleans |
| 4.5 | 2459 | E3r | F, Constable; Q, Gebon |
| 4.5 | 2460 | E3r | F, Orleans; Q, Bourbon |
| 4.5 | 2461 | E3r | F, Dauphin; Q, Constable |
| 4.5 | 2478-80 | E3r | F, Orleans; Q, Constable |
| 4.5 | 2482 | E3r | F, Bourbon; Q, Constable |
The Quarto omits one of the French nobles' scenes (4.2, except for the final 2 lines retained for the end of 3.7, as discussed in detail below). In 3.7, in which the nobles banter about mistresses and horses, the Dauphin is replaced in Q by Bourbon, a change consistent with his father's order in 3.5 that the Dauphin stay in Rouen. Several critics have suggested other theories for this alteration, but whatever the reason, it seems a deliberate, systematic change, accounting for 18 of Q's 80 re-attributed lines.[11]
Three of the Dauphin's other Folio lines are assigned to the Constable in 3.5, significantly reducing the Dauphin's part in his final appearance in Q. The Constable in Q also delivers the two lines spoken by the French Messenger in F's 2.4 (eliminating a speaking role in Q), two of Orleans's lines in 3.7, and five additional lines in 4.5, one spoken in F by the Dauphin, three by Orleans, and one by Bourbon. Some of these changes may have been intentional, as the Constable's role is significantly altered in Q, but others were probably inadvertent, for one of the Constable's Folio lines in 4.5 (TLN 1167) is given to Gebon in Q. This is especially interesting because "Gebon" —perhaps the name of an actor—speaks no lines in F, two in the Quarto.[12] In another change, Q assigns four of Brittany's (Folio) lines to Bourbon in 3.5, where he appears in F but has no lines. This change introduces Bourbon, preparing the audience for his expanded role in Q, and eliminates one speaking part, Brittany's; the lines are consistent with Bourbon's usual character in the Quarto, boastful, bantering, and colloquial.
One of the reassignments in 2.4 is an intriguing anomaly: in this scene, Q moves forward a line spoken by Exeter in the Folio, TLN 1039, and attributes it to the French king, in a segment parallel to TLN 899-901.[13] In F, Exeter warns the French that Henry "is footed in this Land already" (TLN 1039), in a four-line passage omitted from Q at the end of the scene. In the Quarto, the line appears instead at the beginning of the scene, as part of the French king's first speech: "he is footed on this land alreadie" (C1r). Because such anticipations are extremely rare in Q Henry V, and because this case involves one of Exeter's lines, I believe it was an intentional change, although we can only speculate about the reporter/adapter's reasons. Perhaps the actor who played Exeter salvaged a line from an omitted section to fill out a scene he remembered with difficulty. In any case the reattributed and moved line is another indication that the reporters were familiar with a version related to the Folio rather than an intermediate abridgment, for the transferred line is part of a neat cut of four lines not otherwise present in Q.
Other reassignments—none of them altering the impact of the scenes—include three lines in 3.7 (one changed from Orleans to Gebon, two from Rambures to Orleans) and one line in 4.5 (changed from Orleans to Bourbon). Speech headings in 4.5 in particular seem almost random in both texts, as the French lords move from despair to a show of bravery. The Constable, for example, is as miserable as any, in contrast to his earlier courage, while Bourbon (in F the Dauphin) is uncharacteristically bold, with his call to arms and its graphic reference to rape. Scene 4.5 calls into question the view that either text—especially Q—is consistent in its characterization of the individual French lords, casting a shadow on Taylor's decision to use Q's substitution of Bourbon for the Dauphin in both of his Oxford editions.
In all, the scenes involving the French nobles account for 40 of the 80 lines reattributed in the Quarto. Surprisingly, the group of scenes with the next highest number of reassigned lines—29—includes the scenes with the English nobles, as shown in Table 3.
| Act & | Folio | Quarto | Description |
| scene | TLN | Sig. # | |
| 1.2 | 148 | A2r | F, Westmorland; Q, Exeter |
| 1.2 | 313-19 | A3v | F, Ely; Q, Lord |
| 1.2 | 628 | B2v | F, Bedford; Q, Gloucester |
| 2.2 | 635-8 | B2v | F, Exeter; Q, Gloucester |
| 4.3 | 2243 | E1v | F, Westmorland; Q, Warwick |
| 4.3 | 2253-4 | E1v | F, Bedford; Q, Clarence |
| 4.3 | 2255 | E1v | F, Exeter; Q, Clarence |
| 4.3 | 2259-61 | E1v | F, Westmorland; Q, Warwick |
| 4.3 | 2312-13 | E2r | F, Salisbury; Q, Gloucester |
| 4.3 | 2316 | E2r | F, Westmorland; Q, Warwick |
| 4.3 | 2319-20 | E2r | F, Westmorland; Q, Warwick |
| 4.7 | 2650 | F1v | F, Exeter; Q, Fluellen |
| 5.2 | 3086 | G1r | F, Isabel; Q, French King |
| 5.2 | 3323-4 | G3v | F, Westmorland; Q, French King |
Because Exeter witnessed all of these reassigned lines—and spoke a few of them himself—some of Table 3's reattributions may have been deliberate. The largest block, the 7 lines spoken by Ely in the Folio (1.2, TLN 313-319) and assigned to a Lord in Q (A3v), eliminates a speaking part, if the Lord's lines are spoken by, say, Gloucester or Warwick.[14] Other reassignments in Q systematically eliminate Westmorland's role (19 lines in F). Nine of his lines are omitted entirely in Q, the other 10 reattributed: Exeter takes one (TLN 148), while Warwick replaces Westmorland in 4.3, where 7 of these lines appear as Warwick's 6 lines. One reason for this change may be that Warwick, not Westmorland, is included in Henry's brief list of heroic soldiers in both versions (TLN 2296-98, E2r). But this list in F also includes Talbot, who does not appear in the play, and omits Erpingham (as does the list in Q), although Erpingham is mentioned in F's entry direction for 4.3. Q alters the list to include York instead of Talbot, but omits Salisbury, though Salisbury is included in Q's stage direction (E2r). In F Henry addresses Westmorland twice by name (TLN 2263 and 2278); Q alters the first direct address to Warwick (E1v), an indication that the change from Westmorland to Warwick was deliberate, but omits the second. Westmorland's last 2 lines, TLN 3323-24, are paraphrased by the French king in Q. Though the evidence is mixed, I think it favors deliberate substitution of Warwick for Westmorland in the Quarto.[15]
Bedford is also eliminated from Q as a speaking role. Six of his 9 Folio lines are cut in Q, while his other 3 lines are divided between Gloucester (TLN 628, which is set in Q as two lines) and Clarence (TLN 2253-54). But not all of the reattributions in these scenes eliminate speaking roles: Clarence has no lines in F but 3 in the Quarto, including two of Bedford's lines just mentioned and one of Exeter's (TLN 2255), which precedes these lines in the Quarto version. Other reattributions include 4 lines transferred from Exeter to Gloucester and two from Salisbury to Gloucester. Gloucester's role may have been deliberately expanded, as he has 5 lines in the Folio, 11 in Q—and 4 of these are spoken by Exeter in F. In 4.7 Fluellen is reassigned another of Exeter's lines. This seems almost certainly intentional, for the line is altered to fit Fluellen's tone in Q: in F, Exeter tells Williams, "Souldier, you must come to the King" (TLN 2650), while in Q Fluellen, more roughly, says, "You fellow come to the king" (F1v).[16] One other reattribution in scenes involving the English nobles paraphrases Isabel's sentiment in 5.2 (TLN 3086) in one of the French king's speeches, as part of Q's systematic elimination of lines by Isabel.
| Act & | Folio | Quarto | Description |
| scene | TLN | Sig. # | |
| 2.1 | 532 | B1v | F, Bardolph; Q, Nym |
| 2.1 | 543 | B1v | F, Bardolph; Q, Quickly |
| 2.3 | 828 | B4v | F, Pistol; Q, Bardolph |
| 2.3 | 850 | B4v | F, Bardolph; Q, Boy |
| 2.3 | 856-7 | B4v | F, Boy; Q, Nym |
| 3.2 | 1139-40 | C2v | F, Pistol; Q, Nym |
| 3.4 | 1131 | C3v | F, Alice; Q, Katherine |
| 4.1 | 2034-5 | D4v | F, Williams; Q, Bates |
| 4.1 | 2056 | E1r | F, Williams; Q, Henry |
| 4.1 | 2057-8, 2066 | E1r | F, Henry; Q, Williams |
Of the remaining 13 lines reassigned in Q, shown in Table 4, only 3 are especially significant. In the Folio (4.1, TLN 2056-58, 2066), Williams asks Henry how their quarrel should be renewed at a more appropriate time; Henry suggests the exchange of gloves. But in Q, the King asks, "How shall I know thee?" to which Williams throws down his glove and suggests the challenge, a marked difference. In the Quarto version, Henry seems more detached from the quarrel than he does in F, partly because of the omission of his line "I embrace it [the quarrel]" as well as other omissions. Henry's aloofness in Q is perhaps consistent with his true identity; the challenge seems rather childish, more in keeping with Prince Hal's behavior than King Henry's. Even so, the device of the glove is appropriate for a nobleman; coming from Williams it almost parodies the chivalric convention. Thus it is
Earlier in 4.1, Bates delivers a sentiment assigned to Williams in F (TLN 2034-35), a rather insignificant change. Equally indifferent reattributions include one of Alice's lines (TLN 1331) to Kate and the reassignment of 8 lines in the two Eastcheap scenes. Though some of these might have been intentional, the differences do not affect either the casting or the impact of the scenes.
Of the 80 lines attributed to different characters in the two versions, most seem to be deliberate changes, especially those involving Exeter's lines, the Dauphin-Bourbon substitution, and those that reduce the number of speaking roles (such as Westmorland's). Though some of the reattributions are indifferent, as a few lines seem assigned almost at random in the scenes with the French and even the English nobles, and others are difficult to judge, like the lines concerning the exchange of gloves, the majority of the reattributions support the view that the reporters deliberately altered certain roles as they reconstructed Henry V.
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