SOURCE: "The Road to Swinstead Abbey: A Study of the Sense and Structure of King John" in ELH, Vol. 18, No. 4, December, 1951, pp. 253-74.

In the following essay, Bonjour takes issue with the traditional viewpoint that King John lacks unity, and argues instead that the structure of the play is given symmetry by the presence of two main characters, John and the Bastard.

In view of the revival of interest in Shakespeare's Histories evinced by the recent publication of three important books of respectable scope entirely devoted to the historical plays, it may not be unseasonable to reexamine the whole question of unity in King John—even at the risk of crossing swords with great modern Shakespearean scholars.

Though opinions widely differed as to determining who was the hero, or whether there was one, the traditional verdict on the structure of the play has long been undisputed. Thus, to...