ShakespeareDrama

King John

Name: King John
Author: William Shakespeare
ISBN: 9781982167462

William Shakespearec. 1596

Where it ranks

#151of 194Overall #26of 38Shakespeare

Influence14th pct

Popularity23rd pct

Shakespeare

Read this if you…

want an underrated Shakespeare history
like the quote "To gild refined gold, to paint the lily, to add a color to the rainbow"

Skip this if you…

aren't willing to go slow, read notes, look up analyses of famous passages (only way to "get" shakespeare)
foolishly think shakespeare is overrated
haven't already read his higher ranked histories

Why It Matters

An early history play about a weak king stuck between powerful factions, a story of England tearing itself apart through ambition, incompetence, and betrayal. It's better political drama than most critics give it credit for, with a clear-eyed sense of how power vacuums turn into chaos. It laid the groundwork for the great history plays that came after.

The Take

Way better than expected, awesome language as always. To gild gold, to paint the lily, to add a color to the rainbow is an all time verse. All the scheming and changing allegiances and the church demanding allegiance and acting as a meta state was interesting

Gallery

Depicted in Art

Hubert clutches his head in anguish over the order to blind young Arthur, who clings to him pleading; attendants stand by with a hot iron.
James Northcote, 1790

Black-and-white line illustration of a scene from the play, rendered for a Polish edition of Shakespeare's collected works.
Henry Courtney Selous, 1895

Actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree in full royal costume as King John, scowling beneath the crown.
Charles A. Buchel, 1900

Editions

Recommended Editions

#1Top Pick$9.99$9.31

Folger Shakespeare Library

2000

Folger's the readable one. Text on one page, notes on the facing page, written in plain English instead of textbook-speak. Catches every word and reference you'd otherwise Google, without breaking the scene to do it.

Buy on Bookshop

SparkNotes (No Fear Shakespeare)

2003

Arden Shakespeare

2018

$22.95Buy

Please support us by purchasing through these links, at no extra cost to you!

Deep Dive

What It's About

King John has inherited the English throne, but his claim is challenged: young Arthur of Brittany (son of John's older brother Geoffrey) may have a better right
Philip II of France backs Arthur's claim — less from justice than from political advantage against England
The Bastard (Philip Faulconbridge): an illegitimate son of Richard the Lionheart. Brash, witty, energetic — the play's most vivid character and moral center
Commodity (self-interest) drives everything: "That smooth-faced gentleman, tickling Commodity" — the Bastard's great speech on how everyone follows profit, not principle
John and Philip negotiate, then fight, then negotiate again. Alliances shift with dizzying speed
The papal legate Pandulph forces Philip to break his treaty with John by threatening excommunication — religion as political leverage
John captures Arthur. Orders Hubert to blind and kill the boy. Hubert can't do it — Arthur lives, but later dies falling from a wall trying to escape
The English nobles, horrified by Arthur's death, defect to the French side. John's kingdom crumbles
John submits to the Pope to save his throne — surrenders England as a papal fief
The French invade. But Pandulph (having gotten what the Pope wanted) negotiates peace. The French nobility switch sides again
John is poisoned by a monk. He dies at Swinstead Abbey in agony
John's young son becomes Henry III. The Bastard delivers the final speech: "This England never did, nor never shall, / Lie at the proud foot of a conqueror" — unless the English fight among themselves
The play's real theme: political legitimacy is a fiction maintained by power, not right

Spoiler warning

This summary gives away plot details.

Notable Quotes

“To gild refined gold, to paint the lily, To throw a perfume on the violet, To smooth the ice, or add another hue Unto the rainbow, or with taper-light To seek the beauteous eye of heaven to garnish, Is wasteful and ridiculous excess.”
— Salisbury, Act IV, Scene 2

“This England never did, nor never shall, / Lie at the proud foot of a conqueror.”
— The Bastard

More by William Shakespeare

11A Midsummer Night’s Dream William Shakespeare~1595ShakespeareGruelingShort2042481ComedyEnglish
13Hamlet William Shakespeare~1600ShakespeareGruelingMedium3429795TragedyEnglish
20Othello William Shakespeare~1603ShakespeareGruelingMedium3148875TragedyEnglish
23King Lear William Shakespeare~1605ShakespeareGruelingMedium3849572TragedyEnglish
26Macbeth William Shakespeare~1606ShakespeareGruelingShort2239487TragedyEnglish
40Richard II William Shakespeare~1595ShakespeareGruelingShort3522225History PlayEnglish
41Twelfth Night William Shakespeare~1601ShakespeareGruelingShort2722059ComedyEnglish
49Romeo and Juliet William Shakespeare~1595ShakespeareGruelingShort2878799TragedyEnglish
51The Tempest William Shakespeare~1611ShakespeareGruelingShort2598761RomanceEnglish
56Love's Labour's Lost William Shakespeare~1594ShakespeareGruelingShort291818ComedyEnglish
67All's Well That Ends Well William Shakespeare~1604ShakespeareGruelingShort2821519ComedyEnglish
69Much Ado About Nothing William Shakespeare~1598ShakespeareGruelingShort2461960ComedyEnglish
75Julius Caesar William Shakespeare~1599ShakespeareGruelingShort2882261TragedyEnglish
76King Henry IV, Part 1 William Shakespeare~1596ShakespeareGruelingShort2742324History PlayEnglish
78The Merchant of Venice William Shakespeare~1596ShakespeareGruelingShort2882160ComedyEnglish
79Measure for Measure William Shakespeare~1604ShakespeareGruelingShort3361919ComedyEnglish
90As You Like It William Shakespeare~1599ShakespeareGruelingShort3202058ComedyEnglish
108Antony and Cleopatra William Shakespeare~1606ShakespeareGruelingShort4002133TragedyEnglish
116Richard III William Shakespeare~1593ShakespeareGruelingMedium3692358History PlayEnglish
125Henry V William Shakespeare~1599ShakespeareGruelingMedium2922451History PlayEnglish
133The Winter's Tale William Shakespeare~1610ShakespeareGruelingShort2641717RomanceEnglish
134The Taming of the Shrew William Shakespeare~1591ShakespeareGruelingShort3041659ComedyEnglish
138Troilus and Cressida William Shakespeare~1602ShakespeareGruelingMedium4161818SatireEnglish
145The Comedy of Errors William Shakespeare~1594ShakespeareHardShort2721620ComedyEnglish
147Coriolanus William Shakespeare~1608ShakespeareGruelingMedium3421832TragedyEnglish
151King John William Shakespeare~1596ShakespeareGruelingShort3521423History PlayEnglish
158Timon of Athens William Shakespeare~1606ShakespeareGruelingShort3041014TragedyEnglish
168The Two Gentlemen of Verona William Shakespeare~1590ShakespeareGruelingShort400920ComedyEnglish
169Henry IV, Part Two William Shakespeare~1597ShakespeareGruelingMedium3381523History PlayEnglish
171Titus Andronicus William Shakespeare~1592ShakespeareGruelingShort2671215TragedyEnglish
172The Merry Wives of Windsor William Shakespeare~1597ShakespeareGruelingShort2631221ComedyEnglish
173Cymbeline William Shakespeare~1610ShakespeareGruelingMedium3841116RomanceEnglish
174Pericles William Shakespeare~1607ShakespeareGruelingShort4561116RomanceEnglish
175The Two Noble Kinsmen William Shakespeare~1613ShakespeareGruelingMedium384915RomanceEnglish
182Henry VI, Part 1 William Shakespeare~1592ShakespeareGruelingShort3521422History PlayEnglish
183King Henry VI, Part 2 William Shakespeare~1591ShakespeareGruelingMedium5121322History PlayEnglish
184King Henry VI, Part 3 William Shakespeare~1591ShakespeareGruelingShort3841321History PlayEnglish
193Henry VIII William Shakespeare~1613ShakespeareGruelingShort3521024History PlayEnglish
Shakespeare's Sonnets William Shakespeare1609PoetsModerateShort512——LyricEnglish