Source: "Shakespeare: The Comedies," in Shake. speare's Prose, The University of Chicago Press, 1951, pp, 66-127.

[Crane examines the use of prose and verse in the play and shows how the two modes of speech differentiate between the two worlds of the play-the world of the court and Falstaff's world. Crane demonstrates how Falstaff mimics the play's serious action through his use of prose. Falstaff's world, argues Crane, is in complete opposition to the world of the court; therefore it is appropriate that he never speaks in verse, the language of the court. Crane also shows how Hal moves easily from one world to the other, speaking prose in the tavern and verse in court. Crane analyzes Hotspur's speech as well, arguing that he speaks the best verse in the play.]

Nowhere in Shakespeare are the boundaries of two worlds so clearly delimited by the use of prose...