Sinossi
A cura di Silvano Sabbadini
Introduzione di Nemi D’Agostino
Con testo originale a fronte
Giovanni Senzaterra, che regnò dal 1199 al 1216, è senz’altro il più ambiguo e sfuggente di tutti i re messi in scena da Shakespeare: celebrato come precursore di Enrico VIII nel suo opporsi al potere del papato e vituperato come assassino pronto al delitto per difendere il trono contesogli dal nipote; raffigurato come tiranno e usurpatore del fratello Riccardo Cuor di Leone nel ciclo leggendario di Robin Hood ed esaltato come fondatore della democrazia, in quanto firmatario, nel 1215, di quella Magna Charta che segna simbolicamente la fine dell’assolutismo monarchico in Inghilterra. La sua ascesa e caduta offrono lo spunto a Shakespeare, nel dramma composto tra il 1595 e il 1597, per una messa in discussione del carattere sacrale della sovranità e per una critica della politica come brutale e cinica espressione di un gioco di potere.
- ISBN: 8811815134
- Casa Editrice: Garzanti
- Pagine: 272
- Data di uscita: 17-09-2020
Recensioni
This is perhaps Shakespeare's worst play, and certainly the worst of the history plays. It has an interesting theme underlying all the conflicts--what are the legitimate sources of power and authority--but throughout the various struggles (between first-born illegitimate and second-born legitimate s Leggi tutto
King John is probably the history play I delved in the deepest (which means I read the whole introduction, most of the commentary and the appendix … can someone give me an award for turning into a scholar?) and so I'm able say it with my whole chest: John is a pathetic little ass. Let’s not kid ourse Leggi tutto
I decided to work through the least memorable or least beloved plays while I'm working through the more beloved histories, and frankly, I don't think this one was bad at all. Sure, there's no Magna Carta, even though it would have been signed one year before the King's death, but as it has been said Leggi tutto
What! No Magna Carta! 29 July 2015 Okay, I said this many times before but this time one of the commentators at the end of the book pointed out that reading some plays doesn't bring the play out the same way that watching it performed does, but the reason Sylvia Barnett made this comment is because t Leggi tutto
This is not the same King John you know from history. For one thing, there is no Runnymede and no Magna Carta in this play. Secondly, Richard the Lion-Hearted has already died, so there is no Robin Hood, Sheriff of Nottingham, or Guy of Gisbourne. No, The Life and Death of King John is about retaini Leggi tutto
It's been a while (high school!) since I've read Shakespeare, and the pleasures of his language and verse-flow were almost completely lost on me at that time. Like many youths who are required to read the Bard at an obscenely young age ( Julius Caesar and Romeo and Juliet were assigned in middle scho Leggi tutto
Perhaps the least successful of Shakespeare's plays so far. It feels like this was mostly written at the beginning of his career. Firstly, the women are caricatures. It's been fascinating reading him chronologically because after the completion of his early plays it became clear an immense admiratio Leggi tutto
Maybe I am just worn out with Shake's history plays or perhaps this one was read too close to the other excellent ones, particularly Henry V and Richard III. It isn't a poor play, we are talking about Shakespeare after all, but I didn't find the Bastard as interesting as the other bad guys (Bolingbr Leggi tutto
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