Is it time to reconsider Henry V?

Abstract

Abstract The average word length of the verse sections of Henry V is greater than that of the prose sections. Contrary to the assumption that word length primarily reflects literary medium (prose–verse), a more extended examination reveals that differences in word length can also reflect differences in authorship. Since 1998, a variety of stylistic analyses have pointed in the same direction: the verse of Henry V is not generally by Shakespeare who wrote the play’s prose.