ST. CRISPIN'S DAY SPEECH. BtVS Intertext/Allusion.
Before setting off to confront Glory in “The Gift” Buffy gives the following “speech” to the Scooby Gang:
Buffy: Everybody knows their jobs. Remember, the ritual starts, we all die. And I’ll kill anyone who comes near Dawn.
to which Spike and Giles reply:
Spike: Well, not exactly the St. Crispin’s Day speech, was it?
Giles: “We few, we happy few . . . .”
Spike: “. . . . we band of buggered.”
The St. Crispin’s Day speech was given to English troops by King Henry V to inspire the men as they faced the French at the Battle of Agincourt in William Shakespeare’s play Henry V.
Like the Scoobies in their fight against Glory, Henry’s men were tired and badly outnumbered.
Giles quotes from Shakespeare (Henry V Act 4, Scene 3), “We few, we happy few . . .," while Spike parodies the next part of the line, “. . . . we band of brothers.”
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember’d.
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile.