John Bale, King Johan

David Coleman (The Nottingham Trent University)

Ed. by Hugh Magennis, Queen's University Belfast
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 1538 - 1539

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Play

Resources

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One of the earliest examples of a history play in English, Bale's

King Johan

is the first play to dramatise the reign of a historical English king, thereby opening the way for later sixteenth-century achievements in that genre. Yet it is by no means a straightforward history play; rather, it appropriates many of the conventions and techniques of morality drama. The plot is based on the historical King John's estrangement from the papacy, which Bale portrays as a precursor of Henry VIII's more decisive and substantial break with Rome. The historical plot initially appears to have been simply fastened on to a morality structure, as Johan interacts primarily with dramatic figures in the tradition of the conventional vices and virtues of the morality play. The second half of the play,…

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206 words

Citation: Coleman, David. "King Johan". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 02 October 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=4235, accessed 27 April 2024.]

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