In Henry IV Part 1, Shakespeare combines two very different tones: a “high” style and a “low” style. Shakespeare uses the “high” style for noble characters and their serious discussions of state-related matters. These aristocratic characters speak in blank verse, or unrhymed iambic pentameter, and their dialogue is suffused with classical references and layered metaphors that demonstrate their high level of education and contribute to the overall gravitas of their speech. For these characters, Shakespeare’s style is anything but casual or spontaneous; rather, they are important public figures, and they speak as if they know that their words will be recorded for all posterity.
Conversely, Shakespeare uses a “low” style for his “common” or low class characters who speak in prose—or, in other words, in ordinary language without any poetic meter. These characters occupy the inns, taverns, and streets of the play, drinking and singing and planning various criminal schemes. Their speech is written without any of the lofty grandeur of the play’s “high” characters, though that doesn’t mean that it is simple or dull. While the nobles employ elaborate metaphors that compare their circumstances to classical mythology, the play’s poor characters speak with equally complex puns and double entendres, often of a sexual nature.
