King John - Hardcover

Shakespeare, William

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1605125695 ISBN 13: 9781605125695

Publisher: Akasha Classics, 2010

Synopsis

One of Shakespeare's lesser-known plays, King John reaches far back in English history to the struggle for the throne that ensued after the death of Richard Coeur de Lion. Supported by their conniving mother Queen Eleanor, his younger brother John assumes the crown, but immediately there is a rival claim from his nephew Arthur. When John hears that the King of France supports Arthur's claim, John declares war. His plans are thrown off course by the arrival of the pope's ambassador come to excommunicate him. Lacking the heroism of his deceased brother, and possessed of a shifty temperament, John doesn't shy away from cold-blooded savagery. Filled with political intrigue, backroom deals and shifting alliances, King John is a rarely performed and often under- rated masterpiece.

About this title

Review:

One of Shakespeare's most unpopular history plays, King John deals with the life and death of King John, who reigned from 1199 to 1216. This is as early as Shakespeare goes in his treatment of English history, concentrating more successfully on the later 14th and 15th centuries in the plays which stretch from Richard II to Henry VI. As a result King John suffers from being so historically distant in time, as well as offering a rather weak and vacillating king, who lacks the charisma and authority of Richard III or Henry V. The play begins with King John struggling to retain his throne, under attack from rebellious courtiers and Philip, the king of France. As the quarrel escalates into war with France, the play begins to take on a contemporary Elizabethan flavour--the feared invasion from a foreign (Catholic) nation, and the extent to which such an invasion is based on the questionable paternity of King John (like Queen Elizabeth, John is accused of being a bastard and is excommunicated). The play is saved from its rather colourless political machinations by Philip the Bastard, John's favourite, a dramatic forerunner of dubious but charismatic malcontents like Edmund in King Lear. It is also Philip who is given the most powerful and patriotic lines, when he claims that "This England never did, nor never shall,/Lie at the proud foot of a conqueror". King John's mysterious and anticlimactic death through illness at the end of the play deflates expectations - something that could be said of the play as a whole. --Jerry Brotton

Review:

"Advanced students and scholars working with King John and its text will find the edition invaluable."--Choice "Advanced students and scholars working with King John and its text will find the edition invaluable."--Choice "Advanced students and scholars working with King John and its text will find the edition invaluable."--Choice "Advanced students and scholars working with King John and its text will find the edition invaluable."--Choice

About this edition

• Publisher: Akasha Classics
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1605125695
• ISBN 13: 9781605125695
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 120