PLOTS

F 1.1: line 1

There are no metatheatrical occurences (such as a Masque, a Play, or a disguised character ) in this play. But there are textual references to the theatre.

Of the Folio’s rather bizarre Act III division, the Oxford editors write:

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• (1237 [rip 1245] 1252)

This is yet another of Shakespeare’s dramatic exercises having for principal theme the succession of kings and the mutability of worldly affairs.

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To the consternation of Constance, King Philip will agree to the marriage of his son the DOLPHIN with John’s niece BLANCH thus making his peace with England . But this peace will be short lived since the Pope’s legate, CARDINAL PANDOLPH, will excommunicates King John for defying the church. Pandolph thus declares something of a crusade against the English monarch.

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And so, in the course of this play, KING JOHN apparently has two opponents: ARTHUR & ROME. But, in the end, it is (as should be expected) FRANCE that is the real opponent (“succession” & “religion” being mere pretexts for war with England).

METATHEATRE

NOTE that In the following SUBDIVISION of ACTS & SCENES, the prefix “F” refers to the FOLIO’s subdivisions. Whereas the prefix “Stand.” refers to the STANDARD one (established by Dyce in 1857). The absence of any prefix indicates agreement between the two (F & Stand.)

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THE LIFE AND DEATH OF KING JOHN (ca 1594–96)

The First Folio is the sole authority for this play. The print house copy appears to have been a scribal transcript of Shakespeare’s foul papers.

X AXIS (abscisses): 2729 lines

The division of ACTS & SCENES is — more or less — that of the FOLIO. There is some little confusion at the beginning of the play, but from 3.2 onward the Standard division mostly follows F.

The Folio has a rather bizarre subdivision for ACT III (F Histories, p.9), which is apparently slipped into the very middle of a scene (the standard 3.1). F also gives two “Actus quartus” (pp. 13 & 18), the second being an error for “Actus quintus”.

In the following subdivision of ACTS & SCENES, the prefix “F” indicates the FOLIO’s subdivisions whereas the prefix “Stand.” Refers to the Standard subdivision. Absence of prefix indicates agreement between the two (F & Stand.)

1.1: line 1

F 1.2 / Stand. 2.1: line 291

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F 2.1 / Stand. 3.1: line 920

F 3.1: line 997 / Stand. No scene break

3.2: line 1282

Stand. 3.3: line 1297

F 3.3 / Stand. 3.4: line 1381

4.1: line 1569

4.2: line 1716

4.3: line 1995

5.1: line 2165

5.2: line 2249

5.3: line 2438

5.4: line 2458

5.5: line 2523

5.6: line 2549

5.7: line 2603

FINIS @ line 2729

On F’ Act III division, the Oxford editors write:

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“F’s second act is a mere 76 lines long, and its third act almost certainly begins without there being a scene-break in the accepted sense of a cleared stage. The marking in the transcript of the controversial act division must have been intended to create a theatrical break where the original text provided continuous action. … The short act preceding 3.1 is usually explained as a printing-house error: an annotation for the second scene of Act 2 misinterpreted as the beginning of Act 2. If so, the mistake was rectified by altering the heading which originally began the second act, to SCOENA SECUNDA … This whole procedure is especially odd as the two headings were set by different compositors, one working forwards through the text, the other backwards”.

(TEXTUAL COMPANION, p.318)

It is therefore also possible (given the number of “printing-house errors”) that F’s Act III is simply fallacious. And might have been an easy way for the two compositors to “join” their respective ends.

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Y AXIS: ENTRANCES & EXITS

Entrances & exits of Characters

According to their order of appearance.

• (2,13) reads “enters at line 2, exits at line 13″.

• (1237[rip 1245] 1252)

reads “enters at line 1237, dies on line 1245, corpse exits on line 1252”. RIP at the end a character’s list indicates (or confirms) his/her decease. And [RIP 1839] indicates that we learn of the character’s death at that line.

• PRINCIPAL CHARACTERS are capitalized.

KING JOHN

(2,191) (379,607) (646,881) (998,1281) (1288,1296) (1297,1380) (1717,1994) (2166,2248) (2439,2457) (2634 [rip 2668] 2729) RIP

QUEEN ELINOR of Aquitaine

(2,191) (379,607) (646,881) (998,1281) (1297,1380) [RIP 1839]

PEMBROKE

(2,36) (379,607) (646,881) (1717,1820) (998,1281) (1288,1296) (1297,1380) (1717,1994) (2166,2248) (2439,2457)

SUDBURY

(2,191) (921,1281) (1717,1820) (2007,2118) (2250,2437) (2459,2522) (2610 2729)

Essex

(2,191)

Chatillon (French ambassador)

(3,36) (343,607) (646,881)

Sheriff

(50,191)

Robert Faulconbridge

(57,191)

BASTARD son of Richard I

(57,290) (379,607) (646,919) (998,1272) (1283,1296) (1297,1380) (1851,1898) (2018,2164) (2197,2248) (2371,2437) (2550,2602) (2658,2729)

Lady Faulconbridge

(232,290)

James Gurney

(232,245)

KING PHILIP of France

(292,607) (646,881) (998,1281) (1382,1568)

DOLPHIN

(292,607) (646,881) (998,1281) (1382,1568) (2250,2437) (2524,2548)

CONSTANCE (mother of Arthur)

(293,607) (921,1281) (1399,1568) [RIP 1841]

ARTHUR (nephew to John & pretendant to the throne)

(293,607) (921,1281) (1288,1296) (1297,1380) (1579,1715) (1996 [rip 2006] 2164) RIP

Austria (ally of the French)

(293,607) (646,881) (998,1281) [RIP 1283]

BLANCH (niece of King John)

(379,607) (646,881) (998,1281)

Citizen / HUBERT (ally of King John)

(505,881) (1288,1296) (1298,1380) (1570,1715) (1784,1880) (1905,1994) (2073,2164) (2439,2457) (2550,2602)

French Herald

(608,881)

English Herald

(622,881)

Cardinal PANDOLPH (legate of the Pope)

(1061,1281) (1382,1568) (2166,2248) (2315,2437)

Executioners

(1570,1578) (1648,1662)

Messenger

(1821,1903) (2444,2457) (2533,2548)

Peter Pomfret

(1851,1880)

Bigot

(2007,2118) (2250,2437) (2459,2522) (2604,2729)

MELUNE (a French lord)

(2250,2437) (2455,2522) RIP

PRINCE HENRY (later King Henry III)

(2604,2729)

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PLOTS & COLOURING

This is yet another of Shakespeare’s dramatic exercises having for its theme the succession of kings and the mutability of worldly affairs.

Young ARTHUR, being the son of Geoffrey (2nd son of Henry II) has a more legitimate direct claim to the throne of England than does KING JOHN (3rd son of Henry II). Arthur’s mother, CONSTANCE of Brittanie, therefore allies herself with French KING PHILIP to secure Arthur’s claim.

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To the consternation of Constance, King Philip will agree to the marriage of his son the DOLPHIN with John’s niece BLANCH thus making his peace with England . But this peace will short lived since the Pope’s legate, CARDINAL PANDOLPH, will excommunicates King John for defying the church. Pandolph thus declares something of a crusade against the English monarch.

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In the war that ensues, Arthur is captured but susequently dies while trying to esacpe. The death of Arthur so upsets the English nobles (PEMBROKE, SALISBURY & BIGOT) that they rise up against John and join the French army. But John, finally making amends with Rome, de-legitimises the French war against him (even as the demoralized French are routed by John’s staunchest supporter, the BASTARD son of Richard Lionheart). The English lords thus make their peace with King John who (poisoned by a monk) is succeeded by HENRY (whose claim to the throne is now rock solid).

So, in the course of this play, KING JOHN has apparently two principal opponents: ARTHUR & ROME. But, in the end, it is (as should be expected) FRANCE that is the real opponent (“succession” & “religion” being mere pretexts for France to war with England and vice versa).

• The war of SUCCESSION basically goes from the beginning of the play to Arthur’s death (lines 1 to 2006).

Those allied with KING JOHN in this struggle are:

ELINOR

BASTARD

BLANCH

PEMBROKE

SALISBURY

ESSEX

Those who are allied against him in favour of ARTHUR are:

CONSTANCE

KING PHILIP (until line 856)

DOLPHIN (until line 856)

AUSTRIA (until line 856)

CHATILLON

• The war of RELIGION is, at first, somewhat mixed with the struggle over succession. Hence this second war goes from the entrance of Cardinal PANDOLPH to the same cardinal’s failed attempt at making peace between France and England (1061,2380)

Those allied with KING JOHN in this struggle are:
ELINOR

BASTARD

HUBERT

PEMBROKE (until line 2116)

SALISBURY (until line 2116)

BIGOT (until line 2116)

Those who are allied with ROME against John are:

PANDOLPH (until line 2166)

DOLPHIN

AUSTRIA

MELUN

PEMBROKE (from lines 2250 to 2522)

SALISBURY (from lines 2250 to 2522)

BIGOT (from lines 2250 to 2522)

The rise of John’s son HENRY, who is un-touched by either conflict, will enable the English lords to return to their proper ENGLISH affiliation (against the FRENCH).

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ACTION SEQUENCES

Angiers: (608,645) (1283,1297)

Field of battle in England: (2439,2522)

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METATHEATRE

There are no metatheatrical occurences (such as Masque, a Play, or a disguised character ) in this play. But there are textual references to the theatre.

By heaven, these scroyles of Angiers flout you, kings,

And stand securely on their battlements,

As in a theatre, whence they gape and point

At your industrious scenes and acts of death.

2.1.373–6 / TLN 687–90