Henry IV, Part One Language

In the first excerpt, Milton Crane examines the use of prose and verse in the play and shows how the two modes of speech differentiate between the world of the court and Falstaff's world. Crane shows how Hal moves easily from one world to the other. Crane also analyzes Hotspur's speech, arguing that he speaks the best verse in the play. In the second excerpt, Ronald R. MacDonald explores the use and manipulation of language in Henry IV, Part One. He shows how the use of oaths indicates the moral superiority of characters in the play and how the exploitation of language has become a necessity in the world created when Henry usurped Richard II.