King John
King John is one of
Shakespeare's
history plays. The play details the history of Richard the Lionhearted's younger brother, King
John I of England.
The play opens with a demand from the French King that King John abdicate in favor of his elder brother, Geffery's son, Arthur. The five acts follow a dizzying change of alliances, Papal excommunication and subsequent acceptance, and ends finally with King John's death at the hands of a monk.
Throughout the play, a character known as "The Bastard" delivers a commentary on nobility, "commodity" and English sovereignty.
Cast
- King John
- Prince Henry, son to the King (the future Henry III)
- Arthur, Duke of Britain, nephew to the King (Arthur I, Duke of Brittany)
- Earl of Pembroke (William Marshal)
- Earl of Essex (Geoffrey FitzPeter)
- Lord Bigot
- Hubert de Burgh
- Robert Faulconbridge, son of Sir Robert Faulconbridge
- Philip the Bastard, his half-brother (also called Richard)
- James Gurney, servant to Lady Faulconbridge
- Peter of Pomfret, a prophet
- Philip, King of France (Philip II of France)
- Louis, the Dauphin (future Louis VIII of France)
- Lymoges, Duke of Austria
- Cardinal Pandolph, the Pope's Legate
- Melune, a French Lord
- Chatillion, ambassador from France to King John
- Queen Elinor, widow of Henry II, mother to King John (Eleanor of Aquitaine)
- Constance, widow to Geffrey (John's elder brother), mother to Arthur
- Blanch of Spain, daughter to the King of Castile, niece to King John
- Lady Faulconbridge, widow of Sir Robert Faulconbridge
- Lords, heralds, etc.
External Links
See also:
