Shakespeare’s ‘Brawl Ridiculous’

Summary

'A little touch of Harry in the night' makes such a splendid finish to the famous Act 4 prologue of Henry V that directors are tempted to cut the following final six lines:

And so our scene must to the battle fly,

Where O for pity, we shall much disgrace,

With four or five most vile and ragged foils,

Right ill-disposed in brawl ridiculous,

The name of Agincourt. Yet sit and see,

Minding true things by what their mock'ries be.

(4.0.48-53)

Apart from the fact that the prologue does indeed lead directly to 'a little touch of Harry', with the Battle of Agincourt to follow some time later, another cause for this omission might be that the director does not wish to call attention to what will in fact be a 'brawl ridiculous' - combat scenes on the modern Shakespearian stage are all too often a cause for merriment rather than intense excitement.

What of the Elizabethans themselves? Were they also frequently contemptuous of actors' attempts to represent a great battle on stage, or if they were not, was Shakespeare merely adding some spectacle to please the uncultured masses standing in the yard - 'sit and see' being directed to the more refined patrons in the galleries?