King John (The Pelican Shakespeare) [Paperback]

William Shakespeare (Author), A. R. Braunmuller (Editor), Stephen Orgel (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2000

Edited by the eminent A.R. Braunmuller, this thorough edition of King John--the first scholarly edition in almost fifteen years--makes a significant contribution to the study of Shakespeare's works. Braunmuller offers a wide-ranging critical introduction, which focuses on the play's political relevance in Elizabethan England, its relationship to legal issues of the day, its treatment of women and families, and its overall aesthetic importance in Shakespeare's early career. He also provides a richly detailed stage history, full annotations that are especially sensitive to the play's language and staging, and an ample bibliographical study of the Folio (1623) text. The most comprehensive and up-to-date edition of King John currently available, this book is an invaluable resource for Shakespearean scholars, students, and theatergoers alike.

About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

`The Oxford Shakespeare is an admirably scholarly edition, immaculately presented, offering close attention to possibilities of staging as well as meaning.' Dr D. Sedge, Exeter University

`This edition offers the most substantial and one of the most penetrating discussions of the play to date. A remarkable scholarly achievement.' Dr Rene J.A. Weis, Department of English, University College, London

`a most impressive and illuminating edition' R. N. Alexander, Queen Mary Westfield, London

`The major strength of Professor Braunmuller's edition is its introduction. He offers a sane review of such difficult questions as the date of the play, and such controversial ones as its relation to "The Troublesome Reign". The evidence is marshalled in a lucid manner and sensible conclusions drawn ... This is a significant contribution to the (now quickly developing) debate on "King John", and a good demonstration that investigations of Shakespeare as a political dramatist (as opposed to a moral sage) need not be critically reductive.' The Review of English Studies

`By its 'conventionally ordered introduction' (p.1), A.R. Braunmuller's Oxford King John signals that it is, indeed what the dustjacket claims, 'the most thorough scholarly edition now available' ... his edition foregrounds technical material important to scholars over more general interests ... Braunmuller's approach to editing is as fair-minded and scholarly as his introduction ... the King John that sets out the issues most fully and fairly, the edition I want in my study, is Braunmuller's 'conventionally ordered', scholarly text.' Virginia Mason Vaughan, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts, Yearbook of English Studies, 1992

'Stanley Wells' OUP Complete Works of Shakespeare is now eight years old and has spawned a new Oxford Shakespeare which appears now in splendidly affordable volumes in that nonpareil of libraries of good reading The World's Classics.' The Oxford Times --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Book Description

John Dover Wilson's New Shakespeare, published between 1921 and 1966, became the classic Cambridge edition of Shakespeare's plays and poems until the 1980s. The series, long since out-of-print, is now reissued. Each work contains a lengthy and lively introduction, main text, and substantial notes and glossary. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (August 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140714596
• ISBN-13: 978-0140714593
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,736,514 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Shakespeare's First Falstaff, September 27, 2008

By 

James M. Rawley - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: King John: The Oxford Shakespeare (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

KING JOHN has one of Shakespeare's best death scenes and a character, Faulconbridge the bastard son of Richard the Lion Hearted, who is a first draft for Falstaff -- and better integrated into the play's main action than Falstaff is. It's unique among Shakespeare's works in being about Realpolitik in a genuine historical context -- as if a modern American playwright should write a play about George Washington's political compromises, complete with a presentation of the real historical situations that led up to them. Faulconbridge is there to make cynical comments, and yet remain loyal to King John, who almost, but not quite, becomes a child murderer in the course of the action. Earlier, the complexities of wartime politics are revealed when a town refuses to admit either the King of England or the King of France as its rightful ruler until the two kings have fought out the question first -- whereupon the two kings decide to agree on a truce, just long enough to wipe the town out together, then go back to fighting one another. The play is a wonderful mix of history and ironic commentary, one of two plays of Shakespeare's that is entirely in verse (the other one is RICHARD II, which he wrote just before KING JOHN), and it's tragically poetic and satiric in equal measure. Shakespeare never wrote anything else quite like it. If he wrote better plays, they were also different kinds of plays: this one is unique. The Folger edition has excellent notes for beginning students; the Oxford edition is for more advanced students, and also exceptionally good.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fine play, well edited, December 11, 2009

By 

Christopher H. (Cambridge, MA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: King John: The Oxford Shakespeare (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

King John is one of Shakespeare's least popular plays--unjustly! The play is almost entirely in grand, stately verse, featuring a political struggle intricate and sometimes difficult to follow, and starring a fairly complex though ill-fated villain, the failed King John of England. This annotated edition is excellent: the notes are usually incisive and the several appendices deal in meticulous depth with the play's textual cruces. The introduction is an involved but worthwhile read, and the editor's writing style, though dense, is not unpleasant to read.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not Bad, But Not Great Either, March 12, 2000

By 

Sean Ares Hirsch - See all my reviews

This review is from: King John (Arkangel Complete Shakespeare) (Audio Cassette)

This is a good play, but it does not match Shakespeare's other history plays. In my opinion too much of the play revolves around a doting mother who wants to see her underage son on the throne even though he is very incapable of ruling. Furthermore, any intelligent observer can see that the King of France only wants Arthur on the crown because a child would be a lot easier to manipulate than the shrewd King John. Remember, John WAS NOT a usurper. Richard the Lionhearted named John as the heir to the crown! On the positive side, Richard I's illegitimate son is a powerful and convincing character. John is an interesting 3 dimensional character. At times he comes off as harsh and cruel. But he also shows himself at times to be to be a strong and competent king. And at times we can feel sorry for him. Shakespeare also manages to squeeze some comical touches in. I feel that to appreciate this play as much as possible, you must realize that Richard I named John the heir to the crown. I also feel you must understand that John did prove himself to be a competent king. (Unlike his unfairly blackened reputation in "Robin Hood.")