What was Big Willy Shakes going for?
Throughout Henry V, the king is pretty kick-butt. He's already won the war. He's got the girl. So why's he bothering to woo her after the fact?
At this point in history, it was up to a girl's father who she married. The girl just had to behave accordingly. That makes Catherine's choice all the more irrelevant because her father is the king. So she's even more of a pawn in a man's game. She knows she'll be traded for a political alliance. That might sound careless to us now, but that's how deals were made in Shakespeare's day.
But Henry doesn't seem to care that he has the right to marry Catherine. He wants her to want to marry him. Has he gone soft? Is he secretly a gushy romantic at heart who's unafraid to show his vulnerable side? Maybe. Or maybe he just wants to seem more chivalrous than waltzing in and demanding she hitch her wagon to his horse. Who knows?
What we do know is that he tells Catherine he could easily show her on his horse how strong and brave he is. Or he could jump over bunch of people in a high and mighty game of leapfrog. (We thought that was a game for kids, but okay.) But he has no cunning way of wooing her with the gift of language.
Now we know that is not true. We've actually just seen him deliver two really persuasive, inspiring, exciting speeches that have lead his troops to victory when it seemed there was no hope. But he chooses not to use his skill here. Why?
Perhaps he genuinely wants Catherine to love him. Perhaps he's trying to gain an ally in France instead of just overtaking them. (Hopefully they forget about the whole invading thing.) The truth is, we don't know. And we don't think we're supposed to know for sure. We think this is one of those complicated situations Shakespeare purposely left vague so we can decide for ourselves, or learn to be content with a heaping helping of ambiguity.
Shakespeare was the first to use the word "leap-frog" but chances are he probably didn't invent the game. He still gets credit for coining it though.