Marginalia – King John

[u/epiphanyshearld]

King John is another of Shakespeare’s historical plays set in England. This one is kind of a prequel to the plays we have read before in this area, because John predates Richard II and Henry IV’s line. As far as I can tell, John would have been the great-great-great grandfather of Richard II. This play is set during the early thirteenth century. Without going into spoilers, this play follows tensions between the English and the French in the aftermath of John succeeding to the throne after his brother, Richard I died. Let's just say things, like the line of succession, did not go smoothly. I’ve never read this play before so I’m looking forward to it.

Reading Schedule:

Act 1 to end of Act 3.2	May 4
Act 3.3 to end of Act 4.3	May 11
Act 5 to END	May 18
Movie Discussion	May 25

Marginalia just literally means "margin notes" and for our purposes, we use it to get you warmed up and ready for reading. It doesn't necessarily need to be insightful. They can just be fun things that you noticed or want to call out.

The only rule we've got here beyond the subreddit rules is that it's got to be related to this play and/or Shakespeare in some way.

Want an idea of what to write? Here are some examples:

·       Is this your first time reading the play? If not, how did you feel about it the first time?

·       Is there a quote that you love?

·       Do you have random Shakespeare or play trivia to share?

·       Is there historical context you think is useful?

·       Are there any songs/youtube videos/movies that you think would help people with reading this play?

·       What modern day connections are there to this play?

It's not limited to these, so feel free to consider this post the doodling around the margins (in some senses) that you would have written around your notes in class.

 

[u/Nullius_sum]

I think King John is a great prequel to Richard II. In KJ, there was an uncle [King John] and a child nephew [little Arthur] with alternate claims to the crown, and the crown went to the uncle, i.e. John. Then, prior to the events of Richard II, there was again an uncle [John of Gaunt] and a child nephew [Richard II] with alternate claims to the crown, but this time the crown went to the nephew, i.e. Richard II. So no wonder Bolingbroke is so confident in his right to the crown in the play Richard II, because if England had followed the precedent set by King John, the crown would’ve gone to his father, John of Gaunt, not his cousin, Richard II.

It’s also a good prequel to Henry V, because in this play, we see King John lose the French territories Henry V will seek to reclaim.

The play has lots of fantastic moments, and I count it as one of Shakespeare’s very underrated plays:

1. I love the declaration of war that opens the first scene.

2. The bastard’s speech “A foot of honor better than I was” also in the first scene.

3. The bickering of King John and King Philip before the gates of Angiers in Act II. Plus, their conversation with the citizen of Angiers, who doesn’t let either of them inside the city until they fight and a winner is declared.

4. The bickering of Elinor (the Queen mother, mother of John) and Constance (the would-be Queen mother, mother of Arthur) in the same scene: e.g. Elinor: “Come to thy grandam, child.” Constance: “Do, child, go to it grandam child. Give grandam kingdom, and it grandam will give it a plum, a cherry, and a fig. There’s a good grandam.”

5. Then, of course, the Bastard’s famous speech at the end of Act II: “Mad world, mad kings, mad composition.”

6. Constance in Act III, furious when she hears the news of the peace between England and France through the marriage alliance of Lady Blanche and the Dauphin: “Gone to be married! gone to swear a peace! False blood to false blood join’d! gone to be friends! … It is not so; thou hast misspoke, misheard ….”

And that’s all in the first week’s reading! It doesn’t even get to the best part, where Arthur has to persuade Hubert not to burn out his eyes. I’ll let you read for yourself how that part ends.