SOURCE: “The Scribbled Form of Authority in King John,” in Shakespeare the Historian, Macmillan Press, 1996, pp. 77-101.

In the following excerpt, Pugliatti reexamines King John in light of Elizabethan politics, arguing that Shakespeare intended it as a commentary on the political crisis in England.

Lily Campbell opens her discussion of King John by quoting the Bastard's final speech and a parallel passage from Holinshed on the disruptive effects of treason and rebellion. The fragment records an event far removed from the story of John, since it concerns what was argued in 1581 during the trial for treason of Edward Campion:

This little Lland, God having so bountifullie bestowed his blessings upon it, that except it proove false within it selfe, no treason whatsoever can prevaile against it. … Secret rebellion must be stirred here at home among our selves, the harts of the people must be obdurated against God and...