I read this for Tea & Ink Society’s 2025 Shakespeare in a Year Challenge.

I’d never heard of King John before seeing it on the reading list. Because I had no idea what it was about, I read a summary and looked at the cast list and tried to keep all the characters straight.

I listened to the play (the excellent Arkangel production) and just let it wash over me. I didn’t worry too much about keeping track of every twist and turn. As always, I’m surprised by how much there is here.

King John doesn’t get staged all that often these days, but the political intrigue, shifting alliances, and backstabbing sure do feel relevant.

Like so many of Shakespeare’s plays, this one deals with the question “Who am I?” Am I a king? If so, why? How come that other guy isn’t king instead? He’s illegitimate—what does that mean? Do I even want to be king? Am I fit? Also, who are my friends? Why are they my friends and not my enemies? What does that say about me?

I could go on.

Also, this idea of Who Is in Charge? Who is running England? We see many forces at work that demonstrate it’s not always King John who is calling the shots. At the end, we see nature swoop in and throw a wrench in both the French and English forces. Who is in charge? Could it be an almighty God, or is it random chance? The fact that a unnamed monk (who never even makes it onstage) poisons John (for reasons unclear) and forces the nation into a new era of leadership—it shows that the levers that shift the world aren’t always the big ones. Just because you are a king doesn’t mean you’re powerful. Also, our nations aren’t as strong as we think they are. They can fall apart a lot easier than we think. Just pull a few threads, and the seams rip.

We also see appearance vs. reality, especially with the death of poor little Arthur. What the nobles “see” as reality isn’t reality at all. But nobody is interested in working to uncover the truth about what happened to him.

Alliance and allegiance are big themes, too. Who will the kings and nobles ally themselves with and why? Who do they want close to them and why? What makes England a country? Under what circumstances are we willing to compromise or even collude with our enemies? Why not just let France take over because what is England anyway? Boundary lines change constantly in the play, and most of the motivations are self-centered and not moral. The one scene where we see a moral victory over a political one is when Hubert refuses to kill Arthur.

The women in the play suffer. There are several strong moms, but they suffer. One gal is wedded to the Dauphin as a bargaining chip. Arthur’s mom goes mad. It’s not easy being a woman in this play, for sure.