Yes, the dialogue in Deadwood does two things for me.
One is that it apes the actual style of the period, adjusted for a modern sensibility. It creates a sense of genuine historical period. So if you watch Ken Burns' The West or The Civil War documentaries and listen to the quotes, you can recognise that formalised, convoluted manner of expression. It's slightly theatrical, but it creates a very particular universe for the series, one with real historical flavour but also a certain matter-of-fact eloquence.
Secondly it reflects the relative status of the characters. Civilised folk like Alma speak in a formalised way without obscenity. Swearengen meanwhile apes the same formalised sentence structure, but un-self-consciously peppers it with the most foul obscenities, without any awareness that there's a discrepancy between the two modes of speaking. He's a pompous lowlife who is aspiring to a certain kind of respectability; we're left slightly smiling at the justaposition of genuine eloquence, faux respectability, and innate earthiness. Farnum of course is the Fool to Swearengen's King, only without any hidden wisdom: he sees what Swearengen's speaking style is about, but lacks the education to mimic it. Then lastly you have people like Jane who just speak plainly and obscenely with little formalisation.
It's not only relatively true to the period, it's also interesting and amusing in equal measure. There's a definite pleasure to be had in seeing Al launch into a sentence of Shakespearean ambition while sat in a seedy backroom and peppering his language with brutality and obscenity.
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One is that it apes the actual style of the period, adjusted for a modern sensibility. It creates a sense of genuine historical period. So if you watch Ken Burns' The West or The Civil War documentaries and listen to the quotes, you can recognise that formalised, convoluted manner of expression. It's slightly theatrical, but it creates a very particular universe for the series, one with real historical flavour but also a certain matter-of-fact eloquence.
Secondly it reflects the relative status of the characters. Civilised folk like Alma speak in a formalised way without obscenity. Swearengen meanwhile apes the same formalised sentence structure, but un-self-consciously peppers it with the most foul obscenities, without any awareness that there's a discrepancy between the two modes of speaking. He's a pompous lowlife who is aspiring to a certain kind of respectability; we're left slightly smiling at the justaposition of genuine eloquence, faux respectability, and innate earthiness. Farnum of course is the Fool to Swearengen's King, only without any hidden wisdom: he sees what Swearengen's speaking style is about, but lacks the education to mimic it. Then lastly you have people like Jane who just speak plainly and obscenely with little formalisation.
It's not only relatively true to the period, it's also interesting and amusing in equal measure. There's a definite pleasure to be had in seeing Al launch into a sentence of Shakespearean ambition while sat in a seedy backroom and peppering his language with brutality and obscenity.