King John

"King John" (1595-97?) is a surprisingly modern play. King John ruled from 1199 to 1216, a time of feudal rule where monarchs were supposed to be God's representatives. Although the reign of King John did not have the same level of political relevance as the story of the establishment of the Tudor dynasty for an Elizabethan audience, there is a favorable mythical version of King John. He stands for England against papal tyranny in Protestant ideology. In this respect, he is reminiscent of King Henry VIII. In spite of functioning as an efficient ruler, John had two very telling nicknames: "Lackland" for his lack of inheritance as the youngest son and for losing territory to the French; "Softsword" for his military ineptitude. John's reputation for being unscrupulous has led some medieval scholars to compare him to Richard Nixon. Shakespeare's play portrays John as a defeated usurper, where the most promising heir is murdered and the hero is the Bastard Falconbridge, a purely dramatic invention.

  King Richard I, the Lionheart, is dead. His brother John has ascended the throne but the French argue the throne should belong to Arthur, the son of John's deceased older brother Geoffrey. John refuses to step down and France threatens war. Meanwhile, Philip Falconbridge, hereafter referred to as "the Bastard", disputes land ownership with a younger brother. King John rules that the Bastard has the right to the lands because a wife's offspring becomes a father's heir, no matter who the actual father is. It is discovered the Bastard is the illegitimate son of Richard I. Eleanor, King John's mother, suggests that he leave his lands to his younger brother to join her armies under the name of the Bastard of Richard the Lionhearted. He consents, and is knighted.

  In Act II, King Philip of France and his forces attack the English-held town of Angiers. France and England end up stalled, since they are equally matched and no one wins. The Bastard possesses a self-conscious theatricality (he invites spectators to share his space) and compares the citizens watching the battlefield to actors simulating warriors: "As in a theatre, whence they gape and point/ At your industrious scenes and acts of death" (II. i. 382-83). The citizens propose an alternative: why not marry King Philip's son Louis, the Dauphin, to John's beautiful niece Blanche? Then peace can be settled. The marriage would strengthen John's ties to the throne, and gain Louis English-held territories.
- Hide quoted text -

Louis and Blanche are married and a legate from the pope, Pandulph, arrives, announcing John is to be excommunicated because he disobeyed the pope in the posting of an archbishop. Pandulph charges Louis with the duty of overthrowing John. The ambassador convinces the King of France to break from John.

Meanwhile, John sends the Bastard to collect the finances of the English monasteries, an act which will infuriate the people, and dispatches his servant Hubert to look after Arthur and find a way to kill him. Louis agrees to attack England under the persuasion of Pandulph. The logic is that since Louis has married into the English family, he can lay the same claim to the throne as Arthur.

Act IV has a famous scene, much loved by the Victorians, in which Hubert is menacing Prince Arthur's eyes with red-hot irons. He is so moved by Arthur's innocence, however, that he is unable to execute a potential heir to the throne. Arthur is held captive in a tower, because Hubert must pretend to John that Arthur is dead. Arthur tries to escape the building by leaping off a castle wall, and falls to his death. The nobles witness the dead body and are convinced Arthur was assassinated. They leave to swear allegiance to the Dauphin. John wildly blames Herbert's ugliness for convincing him to decree such an ugly deed. John is the kind of ruler who refuses to take the blame, and in the process, aids the decline of the medieval world. The Bastard has returned from his assignment and cannot decide who is telling the truth. He reflects, "I am amazed, methinks, and lose my way/ Among the thorns and dangers of this world./ …The life, the right, and truth of all this realm/ Is fled to heaven: and England now is left/ To tug and scamble and to part by th'teeth/ The unowed interest of proud-swelling state" (V.i. 146-53).

John makes a deal with Pandulph. He agrees to honor the pope if Pandulph will turn away the French armies. Pandulph tries to dissuade Louis from attacking but Louis is too power hungry to listen to anyone. A wounded French nobleman, Melun tells the English lords that Louis plans to behead them if the French win. The English lords leave to join John's forces. Meanwhile, the Bastard meets Hubert, who reports that John has been poisoned by a monk at the monastery. King John dies. A peace treaty arrives from Louis. The Bastard and the lords swear allegiance to John's son, Henry, and the Bastard gives the prophetic last speech: "This England never did, nor never shall,/ Lie at the proud foot of a conqueror,/ But when it first did help to wound itself" (V. vii. 116-18).

"King John" explores the questions of legitimacy and inheritance in a system that rests legitimacy on bloodlines instead of on personal merit and treats power as a commodity. The great concern of the play is what it might mean to speak for England. Shakespeare leaves out the single lasting deed of King John's reign, the Magna Carta, most likely to the dramatic themes as listed above. In history, in addition to John's excommunication, the Pope decreed that no christening or marriage would be legal until he said so. Later on, he also said anyone who desired to overthrow John could do so without legal repercussions.

A powerful study on national identity in unstable times, under uncertain rule, "King John" was wildly popular in the Victorian era, surpassing Hamlet. Unfortunately, it has rarely been performed on the stage in the twentieth century and is now considered one of Shakespeare's least performed plays. 1899 was the year of Herbert Beerbohm Tree's silent movie adaptation of the play, which holds the honor of being the earliest film adaptation of a Shakespeare play. In 1951 and 1984, "King John" was filmed for television.