King John
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- This article is about the Shakespearian play. For the English monarch, see John of England. For other kings named John see Kings named John'.'
King John is one of the so-called Shakespearean histories, plays written by William Shakespeare and based on the history of England. The play dramatises the reign of King John of England, son of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine and father of Henry III of England.
The play opens with a demand from the French King Phillip for King John to abdicate in favor of his nephew Arthur I, Duke of Brittany, son of his elder brother Geoffrey. The five acts then depict a dizzying change of alliances, a Papal excommunication and subsequent acceptance, and the play ends finally with King John's death at the hands of a monk.
Throughout the play, a character known as "The Bastard" delivers a sceptical commentary on nobility, "commodity" (self-interest) and English sovereignty.
It is sometimes considered odd that, in the entire play, Shakespeare never mentions the Magna Carta, since this is what King John is best remembered for today. It should be remembered though, that this event was not yet considered to be of any great moment in Shakespeare's time. Also, the focus of Shapespeare's play is on the quarrel over the succession, and he might not have thought it relevant to his story anyway.
Cast
- King John
- Prince Henry, son to the King (the future Henry III)
- Arthur, Duke of Britain, nephew to the King (Arthur I, Duke of Brittany)
- Earl of Pembroke (William Marshal)
- Earl of Essex (Geoffrey FitzPeter)
- 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 (Philip II of France)
- Louis, the Dauphin (future Louis VIII of France)
- Lymoges, Duke of Austria
- Cardinal Pandolph, the Pope's Legate
- Melune, a French Lord
- Chatillion, ambassador from France to King John
- Queen Elinor, widow of Henry II, mother to King John (Eleanor of Aquitaine)
- Constance, widow to Geffrey (John's elder brother), mother to Arthur (Constance, Duchess of Brittany).
- Blanch of Spain, daughter to the King of Castile, niece to King John (Blanche of Castile)
- Lady Faulconbridge, widow of Sir Robert Faulconbridge
- Lords, heralds, etc.
External links
- Complete Text of King John at MIT (http://the-tech.mit.edu/Shakespeare/john/full.html)
- King John (http://www.gutenberg.net/etext/2249) - plain vanilla text from Project Gutenberg
- The life and death of King John (http://william-shakespeare.classic-literature.co.uk/the-life-and-death-of-king-john/) - HTML version of this title.