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King John the play by William Shakespeare

Summary of the plot or story
Nearly all of the conflicts in the play result from unresolved disputes involving family members. The consequences of these disputes often result in murder. John is the weak son of King Henry II and brother of the late King Richard the Lion Heart. Queen Elinor is the domineering mother of John and Prince Henry is his son. Arthur, who is just a child, is the son of John's deceased brother, Richard the Lion Heart. Arthur's mother, Constance enters into a power struggle, aligning herself to the French King in order to claim the throne for her son. The countries go to war and there is also religious conflicts. Arthur is believed to be dead and Constance kills herself. Queen Elinor also dies. Arthur, in an attempt to escape imprisonment, falls onto rocks and dies. King John is poisoned. Cardinal Pandulph, the Pope's legate, forges a peace agreement between England and France, and John's son Henry becomes king.

Information provided about the play
William Shakespeare never published any of his plays and therefore none of the original manuscripts have survived. Eighteen unauthorised versions of his plays were, however, published during his lifetime in quarto editions by unscrupulous publishers (there were no copyright laws protecting Shakespeare and his works during the Elizabethan era). A collection of his works did not appear until 1623 (a full seven years after Shakespeare's death on April 23, 1616) when two of his fellow actors, John Hemminges and Henry Condell, posthumously recorded his work and published 36 of William’s plays in the First Folio. Some dates are therefore approximate other dates are substantiated by historical events, records of performances and the dates plays appeared in print.

Date first performed
It is believed that the play was first performed between 1596 and 1597. In the Elizabethan era
there was a huge demand for new entertainment and King John would have been produced immediately following the completion of the play.

Date first printed
It is believed that the drama was first printed in 1623 as part of the First Folio. As William Shakespeare clearly did not ant his work published details of the play would have therefore been noted, and often pirated without his consent, following a performance.

The settings for King John The settings are England and France The theme of King John The play is categorised as a History Number of words in King John The number of words in the script, according to the Complete Public Domain Text is 21,842.