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Cobbe Portrait of William Shakespeare
Tag Archives: King John
“We look back at Shakespeare and regret our absence from him because it seems an absence from reality.”
Conclusion to The Play’s The Thing Part Two By Dennis Abrams ———————————- Honestly, I can’t believe it’s over. For two and half years, We’ve been reading and talking and thinking about Shakespeare. And to help bring this to a close, … Continue reading
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Tagged A Midsummer Night's Dream, All's Well That Ends Well, Antony and Cleopatra, As You Like It, Comedy, Coriolanus, Cymbeline, drama, Falstaff, Hamlet, Henry IV, Henry IV Part I, Henry IV Part II, Henry V, Henry VI Parts One Two and Three, Henry VIII, Julius Caesar, king henry iv, King John, King Lear, language, Love's Labour's Lost, Macbeth, Measure for Measure, Much Ado About Nothing, Othello, Pericles, Prince Hal, problem play, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Richard II, Richard III, Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare, sonnet, The Comedy of Error, The Merchant of Venice, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Taming of the Shrew, The Tempest, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Two Noble Kinsmen, The Winter's Tale, Timon of Athens, titus andronicus, tragedy, Troilus and Cressidas, Twelfh Night, Victor Hugo, William Shakespeare, writing
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“Cymbeline is a pungent self-parody on Shakespeare’s part: we revisit King Lear, Othello, The Comedy of Errors, and a dozen other plays, but we see them now through a distorting lens.”
Cymbeline Act Two, Part Two By Dennis Abrams ————————————————- To continue with Harold Bloom, who strongly disagrees with Tanner’s admiration of the play: “Shakespeare gives a very vivid instance of antithetical technique in Act II, set in Imogen’s bedchamber, where … Continue reading
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Tagged Cymbeline, John Falstaff, King Cymbeline, King John, Lord Cloten, Shakespeare
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“How I came by the crown, O God, forgive! And grant it may with thee in true peace live.”
Henry IV Part Two Act Four By Dennis Abrams ————————— Act Four: York, Mowbray and Hastings, commanding the rebel forces in Gaultres Forest, are unimpressed by Northumberland’s flight to Scotland. When they address their grievances to Hal’s brother, Prince John … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Four, Bolingbroke, Comedy, crown, drama, Falstaff, Faulconbridge, Henry IV, Henry IV Part Two, history play, John of Gaunt, John of Lancaster, king henry iv, King John, language, literature, Prince Hal, renaissance humanism, Richard II, Shakespeare, William Shakespeare
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“We have heard the chimes at midnight, Master Shallow,”
Henry IV Part Two Act Three By Dennis Abrams ———————————– Act Three: The pressures of kingship (as well as the guilt of the usurpation) are obviously taking their toll on King Henry. Unable to sleep, he reflects ruefully with Warwick … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Three, Bolingbroke, Chimes at Midnight, Comedy, Doll Tearsheet, drama, Falstaff, Hal, Henry IV, Henry IV Part Two, history, history play, Hotspur, king henry iv, King John, language, literature, Mistress Quickly, Poins, politics, Prince Hal, renaissance humanism, Richard II, Shakespeare, uneasy lies the head, William Shakespeare
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“Falstaff understands everything and so is never serious.” — Mark Van Doren
Henry IV, Part One Act Five, Part Three By Dennis Abrams ———————- As we finish up our reading of Henry IV, Part One, a few odds and ends, a couple of other ways to view the play: First picking up … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Five, Bolingbroke, Comedy, drama, Falstaff, Henry IV, Henry V, Hotspur, Jan Kott, king henry iv, King John, language, literature, Mark Van Doren, politics, Prince Hal, quotes, renaissance humanism, Richard II, Richard III, Shakespeare, society, William Shakespeare
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“I am amazed, methinks, and lose my way/Among the thorns and dangers of this world.”
King John Act Five By Dennis Abrams ———————– Act Five: John gives in to the Pope’s wish, but Pandolf is unable to call off the Dauphin. As war breaks out, news arrives that the French reinforcements have been shipwrecked. Suffering … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Five, drama, Falconbridge, Faulconbridge, history play, King John, language, literature, politics, religion, renaissance humanism, Robin Hood, Shakespeare, shire
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“Grief fills the room up of my absent child, /Lies in his bed, walks up and down with me,/Puts on his pretty looks, repeats his words,/Stuffs out his vacant garments with his form;/Then have I reason to be fond of grief.”
King John Act Four By Dennis Abrams —————————– Act Four: Back in England, Hubert visits the cell where Arthur is being held, but, ultimately, cannot bring himself to use red hot irons to burn out young Arthur’s eyes. At court, … Continue reading
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Tagged Angiers, Arthur, blood, Constance, drama, Eleanor of Aquitaine, England, Falconbridge, Faulconbridge, France, history play, Hubert, imminent downfall, King John, language, literature, mother-son, Pandulph, peter of pomfret, politics, Prince Arthur, renaissance humanism, right, rivalary, Shakespeare, torture, William Shakespeare
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“Yet indiscretion thereby grows direct,/And falsehood falsehood cures, as fire cools fire/Within the scorched veins of one new burned.
King John Act Three By Dennis Abrams ——————————– Act Three: After the wedding, Constance berates King Philip and the Duke of Austria for their weakness but is interrupted by the arrival of Cardinal Pandolf, the papal legate. The Cardinal tells … Continue reading
“And now he feasts, mousing the flesh of men/In undetermined difference of kings.”
King John Act Two By Dennis Abrams ——————————- ACT TWO: The two armies confront each other at Angers. The French claim the city for Arthur; King John demands it as his. A citizen, acting as spokesman, vows loyalty to the … Continue reading
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Tagged Act Two, commodity, Falconbridge, Faulconbridge, King John, language, literature, politics, renaissance humanism, Shakespeare, William Shakespeare
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“But from the inward motion to deliver/Sweet, sweet, sweet poison for the age’s tooth:/Which, though I will not practice to deceive,/Yet, to avoid deceit, I mean to learn;”
King John Act One By Dennis Abrams —————— MAJOR CHARACTERS King John of England, brother of deceased Richard (of the lion’s heart) I Queen Eleanor (of Aquitaine), their mother. Prince Henry, John’s son (later King Henry III of England) Lady … Continue reading
The Play's The Thing 