King John

:This article is about the Shakespearean play. For the English monarch, see John of England. For other kings named John see Kings named John'.'

Related Topics:
John of England - Kings named John

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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.

Related Topics:
Shakespearean histories - Play - William Shakespeare - History of England - John of England - Henry II of England - Eleanor of Aquitaine - Henry III of England

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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.

Related Topics:
French King - Phillip - Arthur I, Duke of Brittany - Alliance - Excommunication - Death - Monk

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Throughout the play, a character known as "The Bastard" delivers a sceptical commentary on nobility, "commodity" (self-interest) and English sovereignty.

Related Topics:
Character - Nobility - Self-interest - Sovereignty

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It is sometimes considered odd that the Magna Carta is never mentioned in the play, since this is what King John is best remembered for today. However, the Magna Carta was not considered to be of any great moment in Shakespeare's time. Also, the focus of the play is on the quarrel over the succession, and Shakespeare would not have thought the Magna Carta relevant to his story. Despite this, it was common for Victorian productions of the play to interpolate a spectacular tableau of the signing of the Magna Carta into the middle of the play.

Related Topics:
Magna Carta - Victorian - Tableau

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