King John: Analysis of Setting
"King John: Analysis of Setting" explores the various locations featured in the play "King John," primarily set in England and France. The English settings encompass King John's castle, a battlefield, and an orchard near Swinstead Abbey. However, these locations serve as mere backdrops for the central conflicts among the characters, particularly the rivalry between King John and the Bastard. The analysis emphasizes that the essence of the play lies more in character interactions and dramatic episodes than in the specific settings themselves. In France, the play includes sites like the king's pavilion and the Dauphin's camp, which primarily highlight the political tensions and international diplomacy of the time. The text argues that intricate scenic details could detract from the play's momentum, as the political and personal disputes unfold rapidly. Overall, the settings are significant for their historical context rather than their physical descriptions. This perspective invites readers to appreciate the play's thematic elements over its geographical specifics.
King John: Analysis of Setting
First published: 1623
First produced: c. 1596-1597
Type of work: Drama
Type of plot: Historical
Time of work: Early thirteenth century
Asterisk denotes entries on real places.
Places Discussed
*England
*England. The play’s English settings include King John’s castle, a battlefield, and an orchard near Swinstead Abbey. All these places are merely backdrops for the debates, declamations, disputes, and lamentations of the characters. The main focus is on the opposition between John and the Bastard, and it is this conflict rather than any setting or place which is crucial to the play’s shape. In fact, the play’s momentum would be retarded by more than passing reference to particular settings. It is character or episode rather than setting which makes a dramatic impression here, for this play is most vivid in such scenes as the King’s bellowing at the French ambassador as Elinor, his mother, is amused; the Bastard’s speech on Commodity; the blinding of young Arthur by Hubert; and John’s death by poisoning.
*France
*France. The play’s French settings—which include the king’s pavilion, the Dauphin’s camp at St. Edmundsbury, and the French camp—are significant only to mark the politics of international diplomacy. Once again, the play reveals that detailed settings would merely impede the momentum, for the political arguments occur at high speed. Some productions dispense almost totally with scenic elements, showing clearly that the only value of place in this play is that which comes from the fact that it is English history turned into a work for the stage.
Bibliography
Barroll, J. Leeds, ed. Shakespeare Studies. Vol. 1. Cincinnati, Ohio: University of Cincinnati, 1965. The first in a series of anthologies of Shakespearean criticism. “Shakespeare and the Double Image in King John,” by John R. Elliot, is principally concerned with the historical and literary sources of the play.
Honigmann, E. A. J., ed. The Arden Shakespeare: King John. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1962. In addition to the text of the play itself, this volume contains more than seventy pages of introductory material. The sources, the production history, and the text itself are considered. There are also appendices dealing with the sources and problems with the text.
Lloyd Evans, Gareth. The Upstart Crow: An Introduction to Shakespeare’s Plays. London: J. M. Dent and Sons, 1982. A comprehensive discussion of the dramatic works of William Shakespeare. While the major emphasis is on critical reviews of the plays, there are also discussions of sources as well as material on the circumstances which surrounded the writing of the plays.
Pierce, Robert B. Shakespeare’s History Plays: The Family and the State. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 1971. A general discussion of Shakespeare’s history plays. King John is considered as a transitional play between the early history plays and the later plays on Henry IV and V, which Pierce considers to be far greater works.
Ribner, Irving. The English History Play in the Age of Shakespeare. London: Methuen, 1965. A revised edition of the 1957 work first published in the United States by Princeton University Press. A discussion of history plays in the Elizabethan era of English drama, including a discussion of Shakespeare’s contributions in the field. The development of the form through the period is discussed, and its sources are considered.