barons and people, but also internally, and again not only in the State, for the Church itself is rotten to its inmost core; the policy of both is immoral, selfish and pretentious, and therefore loosened from its true foundation. The church, too, is desirous only of outward splendour, authority and power; it has entirely mistaken its own nature and its true vocation, and has fallen as low as the secular power, owing to its disloyal, intriguing actions, and its sophistic perversion of the fundamental laws of all morality. ULRICI: Shakspeare's Dramatic Art. VIII. Lights and Shadows of the Play. So long as John is the impersonator of England, of defiance to the foreigner, and opposition to the Pope, so long is he a hero. But he is bold outside only, only politically; inside, morally, he is a coward, sneak, and skunk. See how his nature comes out in the hints for the murder of Arthur, his turning on Hubert when he thinks the murder will bring evil to himself, and his imploring Falconbridge to deny it. His death ought, of course, dramatically to have followed from some act of his in the play, as revenge for the murder of Arthur, or his plundering the abbots or abbeys, or opposing the Pope. The author of The Troublesome Raigne, with a true instinct, made a monk murder John out of revenge for his anti-Papal patriotism. But Shakspere, unfortunately, set this story aside, though there was some warrant for it in Holinshed, and thus left a serious blot on his drama which it is impossible to remove. The character which to me stands foremost in John is Constance, with that most touching expression of grief for the son she had lost. Reside her cry, the tender pleading of Arthur for his life is heard, and both are backt by the rough voice of Falconbridge, who, Englishman-like, deprecates his own motives at first, but is lifted by patriotism into a gallant soldier, while his deep moral nature shows itself in his heartfelt indignation at Arthur's supposed murder. The rhetoric of the earlier historical plays is kept up in King John, and also Shakspere's power of creating situations, which he had possesst from the first. FURNIVALL: The Leopold Shakspere. The play marks the transition from the chronicle play to the true drama; in which incidents and characters are selected for their dramatic significance, a dramatic motive introduced, dramatic movement traced, and a climax reached. The older playwrights, dealing with the events of a whole reign, would have given the play an epical or narrative quality; Shakespeare selected, compressed, foreshortened, and grouped events and figures in such a way as to secure connected action, the development of character, and a final catastrophe which is impressive, if not intrinsically dramatic. He instinctively omitted certain coarse scenes which were in the older play; he brought into clear light and consistency certain characters which were roughly sketched in the earlier work; in the scene between Hubert and Arthur he struck a new note of tenderness and pathos; while in giving marked prominence to the humour of Faulconbridge he opened the way for that blending of comedy with tragedy and history which is one of the marks, not only of his maturity, but of his greatness. The play has no hero, and is not free from the faults of the long line of dramas from which it descended and to which it belongs, but Shakespeare's creative energy is distinctly at work in it. MABIE: William Shakespeare: Poet, Dramatist and Man. DRAMATIS PERSONAE. KING JOHN. PRINCE HENRY, son to the king. ARTHUR, Duke of Bretagne, nephew to the king. The Earl of PEMBROKE. The Earl of Essex. The Earl of SALISBURY. The Lord BIGOT. HUBERT DE Burgh. ROBERT FAULCONBRIDGE, Son to Sir Robert Faulconbridge. JAMES GURNEY, servant to Lady Faulconbridge. PETER of POMFRET, a prophet. PHILIP, king of France. LEWIS, the Dauphin. Lymoges, Duke of AUSTRIA. CARDINAL PANDULPH, the Pope's legate. MELUN, a French lord. CHATILLON, ambassador from France to King John. QUEEN ELINOR, mother to King John. CONSTANCE, mother to Arthur. BLANCH of Spain, niece to King John. LADY FAULCONBRIDGE. Lords, Citizens of Angiers, Sheriff, Heralds, Officers, Soldiers, Messengers, and other Attendants. SCENE: Partly in England, and partly in France. The Life and Death of King John. ACT FIRST. Scene I. King John's palace. Enter King John, Queen Elinor, Pembroke, Essex, Salisbury, and others, with Chatillon. K. John. Now, say, Chatillon, what would France with us? Chat. Thus, after greeting, speaks the King of France The borrowed majesty, of England here. To Ireland, Poictiers, Anjou, Touraine, Maine, Which sways usurpingly these several titles, K. John. What follows if we disallow of this? ΤΟ |