William Shakespeare, King John

Virginia Mason Vaughan (Clark University)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.03: English Writing and Culture: Renaissance (Elizabethan and Jacobean periods) , 1485-1625.
Vol. editors: William M. Hamlin (Washington State University), J A Roe (University of York), Virginia Mason Vaughan (Clark University), Ema Vyroubalova (Trinity College Dublin)

Dates

First circulation or publication c. 1591 - c. 1595

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Historical
Play

Resources

The dating of Shakespeare's King John depends upon its relationship to the anonymous Troublesome Raigne of King John, a polemical historical drama printed in two parts in 1591. While the plot and sequence of the Troublesome Raigne's scenes are similar to those of King John, the two plays share few linguistic parallels. Those who identify the Troublesome Raigne as Shakespeare's principal source comfortably date King John in the mid 1590s, sometime between the conclusion of the first historical tetralogy and the composition of Richard II. A minority of scholars consider the Troublesome Raigne to be a bad quarto of King John and d…

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2205 words

Citation: Vaughan, Virginia Mason. "King John". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 08 March 2001; last revised 27 January 2019. [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4236, accessed 20 April 2024.]

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