King John at Drury Lane Theatre, Illustrated London News, 1865. Courtesy Wikimedia Commons.
The Life and Death of King John is a history play by William Shakespeare
Overview[]
The play dramatizes the reign of John, King of England (ruled 1199-1216), son of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine and father of Henry III of England. It is believed to have been written in the mid-1590's but was not published until it appeared in the First Folio in 1623.
Characters[]
- King John
- Prince Henry, son to the King (who succeeds as Henry III)
- Arthur I, nephew to the King
- Earl of Pembroke
- Earl of Essex
- Lord Bigot
- Hubert de Burgh
- Robert Faulconbridge, son of Sir Robert Faulconbridge
- Philip the Bastard, his half-brother (also called Richard)
- James Gurney, servant to Lady Faulconbridge
- Peter of Pomfret, a prophet
- Philip, King of France
- Lewis (or Louis) the Dauphin
- Lymoges, Duke of Austria
- Cardinal Pandulph (or Pandolph), the legate of Pope Innocent III
- Melune, a French Lord
- Chatillion, ambassador from France to King John
- Queen Elinor, widow of Henry II, mother to King John
- Constance, widow of Geffrey (John's elder brother) and mother to Arthur
- Blanche of Spain, daughter to Alfonso, King of Castile, niece to King John
- Lady Faulconbridge, widow of Sir Robert Faulconbridge
- Lords, heralds, etc.
Synopsis[]
"Prince Arthur and Hubert". Engraving by Laslett John Pott, from Imperial Edition of The Works of Shakespere (1873-76). Courtesy Emory University.
King John is visited by an emissary from France, demanding that he hand his throne over to his nephew Arthur, whom the French King Philip believes is the rightful heir to the throne. If John refuses to abdicate, war is threatened.
John oversees a land dispute between Robert Faulconbridge and his older brother Philip (known as "the Bastard"), during which it becomes apparent that Philip is the illegitimate son of King Richard I. Queen Elinor, mother to both Richard and John, recognises the family resemblance and suggests that he renounce his claim to the Faulconbridge land in exchange for a knighthood. John knights the Bastard under the name Richard.
In France, King Philip and his forces besiege the English-ruled town of Angiers, threatening attack unless its citizens support Arthur. Philip is in turn supported by Austria, who is believed to have killed King Richard. The English contingent arrives, and Elinor and Arthur's mother Constance trade insults. Kings Philip and John stake their claims in front of Angiers' citizens, but to no avail – their representative says that they will support the rightful king, without committing themselves as to who that might be.
The Bastard proposes that both England and France unite to quell the rebellious citizens of Angiers, at which point they propose an alternative: Philip's son, Louis the Dauphin, should marry John's niece Blanche, a scheme that gives John a stronger claim to the throne, while Louis gains territory for France. Though a furious Constance accuses Philip of abandoning Arthur in favour of this new scheme, Louis and Blanche are married.
Cardinal Pandulph arrives from Rome bearing a formal accusation that John has disobeyed the pope and appointed an archbishop contrary to his desires. John refuses to recant, whereupon he is excommunicated. Pandulph pledges his support for Louis, though Philip is hesitant, as he has just established family ties with John. Pandulph brings him round by pointing out that his links to the church are older and firmer.
War breaks out, Austria is beheaded by the Bastard (in revenge for his father's death), and both Angiers and Arthur are captured by the English. Elinor is left in charge of English possessions in France, while the Bastard is sent to collect funds from English monasteries. John orders Hubert de Burgh to kill Arthur. Pandulph points out to Louis that he now has as strong a claim to the English throne as Arthur (and indeed John), and Louis agrees to invade England.
Hubert finds himself unable to kill Arthur. John's nobles urge Arthur's release. John agrees, but is wrong-footed by Hubert's announcement that Arthur is dead. The nobles believe he was murdered, and defect to Louis' side. The Bastard reports that the monasteries are unhappy about John's attempt to seize their gold. Hubert has a furious argument with John, during which he reveals that Arthur is still alive. John, delighted, sends him to report the news to the nobles.
Arthur is killed after falling from a castle wall. The nobles believe he was murdered by John, and refuse to believe Hubert's entreaties. John attempts to make a deal with Pandulph, swearing allegiance to the Pope in exchange for Pandulph negotiating with the French on his behalf. John orders the Bastard, one of his few remaining loyal subjects, to lead the English army against France.
While John's former noblemen swear allegiance to Louis, Pandulph explains John's scheme, but Louis refuses to be taken in by it. The Bastard arrives with the English army and threatens Louis, but to no avail. War breaks out with substantial losses on each side, including Louis' reinforcements, who are drowned during the sea crossing. Many English nobles return to John's side after a dying French nobleman, Melun, warns them that Louis plans to kill them after his victory.
John is poisoned by a disgruntled monk. His nobles gather around him as he dies. The Bastard plans the final assault on Louis' forces, until he is told that Pandulph has arrived with a peace treaty. The English nobles swear allegiance to John's son Prince Henry, and the Bastard reflects that this episode has taught that internal bickering could be as perilous to England's fortunes as foreign invasion.
Sources[]
Shakespeare's play has a close relationship to another history play, The Troublesome Reign of King John (ca. 1589). The consensus among modern scholars is that this other play was earlier and provided a source and model for Shakespeare.[1] There is, however, a strong line of oppositional criticism that argues for the priority of Shakespeare's play, beginning with Peter Alexander and continuing with the work of E. A. J. Honigmann.[2]
Other probable sources of note include Holinshed's Chronicles, John Foxe's Acts and Monuments and Matthew Paris's Historia Maior.
Date and text[]
Facsimile of the first page of King John from the First Folio, published in 1623
Stanley Wells and Gary Taylor, editors of the Oxford edition of The Complete Works, date the play to 1595 or 1596.[3] The play was in existence by 1598, as it is mentioned by Francis Meres in his list of Shakespearean plays published in that year, Palladis Tamia. It was 1st published in the First Folio in 1623. No early performances, however, are recorded.
Performance[]
17th and 18th centuries[]
Numerous 17th-century references to King John testify to the play's popularity, but the earliest recorded performance did not take place until 1737, when John Rich staged a production at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.
In 1745, the year of the Jacobite rebellion, competing productions were staged by Colley Cibber at Covent Garden and David Garrick at Drury Lane.
19th century[]
Charles Kemble staged a production in 1823, notable for inaugurating the 19th century tradition of striving for historical accuracy in Shakespearean production. Other successful productions of the play were staged by William Charles Macready (1842) and Charles Kean (1846). In the Victorian era, King John was 1 of Shakespeare's most frequently staged plays, in part because its spectacle and pageantry were congenial to Victorian audiences.
20th century[]
King John decreased in popularity in the 20th century; it is now one of Shakespeare's least-known plays and stagings of it are very rare.[4] It has been staged 4 times on Broadway, the last time in 1915.[5]
20th century revivals include Robert B. Mantell's 1915 Broadway production and Peter Brook's 1945 staging, featuring Paul Scofield as the Bastard.
It has also been staged 4 times from 1953 to 2010 at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.[6]
Recognition[]
Film and television[]
Herbert Beerbohm Tree made a silent film version in 1899 entitled King John'. It is a short film consisting of the King's death throes in Act V, Scene vii, and is the earliest surviving film adaptation of a Shakespearean play.
King John has been made for television]] twice: in 1951 with Donald Wolfit and in 1984 with Leonard Rossiter.[7]
See also[]
- Illegitimacy in fiction
References[]
- Wells, Stanley, and Gary Taylor, eds. 1988. The Complete Works. By William Shakespeare. Compact ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198711905.
Notes[]
- ↑ Hunter, G. K. English Drama 1586–1642: The Age of Shakespeare (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1997): 223.
- ↑ King John, ed. Honigmann (London: Methuen and Co., 1981): xi–lix.
- ↑ Wells and Taylor (1988, 397).
- ↑ Dickson, Alexander (2008). "King John". The Rough Guide to Shakespeare (2 ed.). London: Rough Guides. p. 173. ISBN 978-1-85828-443-9.
- ↑ http://www.ibdb.com/show.php?id=5063
- ↑ Stratford Shakespeare Festival production history
- ↑ Charles Boyce, Shakespeare A to Z, Roundtable Press (1990).
External links[]
- Text
- King John at MIT
- The life and death of King John – HTML
- Books
- King John at Project Gutenberg
- Life and Death of King John at Amazon.com
- About
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