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King John

Chapter 2: Dramatis Personæ
By William Shakespeare
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The play follows a ruling monarch who confronts a dynastic claim by a young relative while facing diplomatic pressure from a foreign sovereign and the pope’s legate. Factional quarrels among nobles, legal argument, and personal rivalries — including a defiant illegitimate half-brother and a bereaved mother campaigning for her child — drive escalating conflict. Military contests and betrayals lead to the capture and disputed fate of the claimant, civil unrest, and the ruler’s isolation. The narrative closes with the ruler’s fortunes reversed, his death, and the succession of his heir.

The Project Gutenberg eBook of King John

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Title: King John

Author: William Shakespeare

Release date: October 1, 1998 [eBook #1511]
Most recently updated: September 18, 2025

Language: English

Credits: the PG Shakespeare Team, a team of about twenty Project Gutenberg volunteers

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KING JOHN ***

THE LIFE AND DEATH OF
KING JOHN

by William Shakespeare

Contents

ACT I
Scene I. Northampton. A Room of State in the Palace.
ACT II
Scene I. France. Before the walls of Angiers.
ACT III
Scene I. France. The French King’s tent.
Scene II. The same. Plains near Angiers
Scene III. The same.
Scene IV. The same. The French King’s tent.
ACT IV
Scene I. Northampton. A Room in the Castle.
Scene II. The same. A Room of State in the Palace.
Scene III. The same. Before the castle.
ACT V
Scene I. Northampton. A Room in the Palace.
Scene II. Near Saint Edmundsbury. The French Camp.
Scene III. The same. The Field of Battle.
Scene IV. The same. Another part of the same.
Scene V. The same. The French camp.
Scene VI. An open place in the neighborhood of Swinstead Abbey.
Scene VII. The orchard of Swinstead Abbey.

Dramatis Personæ

KING JOHN.
PRINCE HENRY, son to King John; afterwards KING HENRY III.
ARTHUR, Duke of Brittany, nephew to King John.
EARL OF PEMBROKE.
EARL OF ESSEX.
EARL OF SALISBURY.
ROBERT BIGOT, Earl of Norfolk.
HUBERT DE BURGH, Chamberlain to the King.
ROBERT FAULCONBRIDGE, son to Sir Robert Faulconbridge.
The BASTARD, PHILIP FAULCONBRIDGE, his half-brother, bastard son to King Richard I.
JAMES GURNEY, servant to Lady Faulconbridge.
PETER OF POMFRET, a prophet

KING PHILIP II., King of France.
LOUIS, the Dauphin; son to King Philip II.
DUKE OF AUSTRIA, also called Limoges.
MELUN, a French lord.
CHATILLION, Ambassador from France to King John.
CARDINAL PANDULPH, the Pope’s legate.

QUEEN ELEANOR, Mother to King John and Widow of King Henry II.
CONSTANCE, Mother to Arthur.
BLANCHE OF SPAIN, Daughter to Alphonso, King of Castile, and Niece to King John.
LADY FAULCONBRIDGE, Mother to the Bastard and Robert Faulconbridge.

Lords, Citizens of Angiers, Sheriff, Heralds, Officers, Soldiers, Executioners, Messengers and other Attendants.

SCENE: Sometimes in England, and sometimes in France.