Original Text |
Translated Text |
| Source: Folger Shakespeare Library |
|
Enter, before Angiers, at one side, with Forces, Philip
King of France, Louis the Dauphin, Constance, Arthur,
and Attendants; at the other side, with Forces, Austria,
wearing a lion’s skin. DAUPHIN
Before Angiers well met, brave Austria.—
Arthur, that great forerunner of thy blood,
Richard, that robbed the lion of his heart
And fought the holy wars in Palestine,
By this brave duke came early to his grave. 5
And, for amends to his posterity,
At our importance hither is he come
To spread his colors, boy, in thy behalf,
And to rebuke the usurpation
Of thy unnatural uncle, English John. 10
Embrace him, love him, give him welcome hither. | Act Two starts in the city of Angiers, France, which is the property of the King of England. King Philip of France is getting ready to storm the city and take it by force. He is accompanied by Austria (a.k.a., Limoges, the Duke of Austria), Louis (the Prince of France, a.k.a. the "Dauphin"), Arthur (Duke of Brittany), Arthur's mom Constance, and the soldiers under their command. Creepy detail: the Duke of Austria is wearing the dead King Richard I's lion-skin coat. More on this in a minute. King Philip essentially tells young Arthur: "Listen, kid. We all know Austria killed your uncle, Richard the Lionheart. But it's time to forgive and forget, because we're all on the same side now." Brain Snack: In real life, Austria didn't kill Richard. The King was shot by some dude with a crossbow during the siege of a castle in France. |
ARTHUR
God shall forgive you Coeur de Lion’s death
The rather that you give his offspring life,
Shadowing their right under your wings of war.
I give you welcome with a powerless hand 15
But with a heart full of unstainèd love.
Welcome before the gates of Angiers, duke. DAUPHIN
A noble boy. Who would not do thee right? AUSTRIA, to Arthur
Upon thy cheek lay I this zealous kiss
As seal to this indenture of my love: 20
That to my home I will no more return
Till Angiers and the right thou hast in France,
Together with that pale, that white-faced shore,
Whose foot spurns back the ocean’s roaring tides
And coops from other lands her islanders, 25
Even till that England, hedged in with the main,
That water-wallèd bulwark, still secure
And confident from foreign purposes,
Even till that utmost corner of the West
Salute thee for her king. Till then, fair boy, 30
Will I not think of home, but follow arms. | Arthur forgives Austria and says that God forgives him, too, especially now that he's agreed to devote all his time and energy to making Arthur the king of England. Austria adds that heaven is totally on their side in this "just and charitable war." Hmm. We wonder what the people of Angiers think of this theory. |
CONSTANCE
O, take his mother’s thanks, a widow’s thanks,
Till your strong hand shall help to give him strength
To make a more requital to your love. AUSTRIA
The peace of heaven is theirs that lift their swords 35
In such a just and charitable war. KING PHILIP
Well, then, to work. Our cannon shall be bent
Against the brows of this resisting town.
Call for our chiefest men of discipline
To cull the plots of best advantages. 40
We’ll lay before this town our royal bones,
Wade to the marketplace in Frenchmen’s blood,
But we will make it subject to this boy. CONSTANCE
Stay for an answer to your embassy,
Lest unadvised you stain your swords with blood. 45
My lord Chatillion may from England bring
That right in peace which here we urge in war,
And then we shall repent each drop of blood
That hot rash haste so indirectly shed. Enter Chatillion. KING PHILIP
A wonder, lady! Lo, upon thy wish 50
Our messenger Chatillion is arrived.—
What England says say briefly, gentle lord.
We coldly pause for thee. Chatillion, speak. CHATILLION
Then turn your forces from this paltry siege
And stir them up against a mightier task. 55
England, impatient of your just demands,
Hath put himself in arms. The adverse winds,
Whose leisure I have stayed, have given him time
To land his legions all as soon as I.
His marches are expedient to this town, 60
His forces strong, his soldiers confident.
With him along is come the Mother Queen,
An Ate stirring him to blood and strife;
With her her niece, the Lady Blanche of Spain;
With them a bastard of the King’s deceased. 65
And all th’ unsettled humors of the land—
Rash, inconsiderate, fiery voluntaries,
With ladies’ faces and fierce dragons’ spleens—
Have sold their fortunes at their native homes,
Bearing their birthrights proudly on their backs, 70
To make a hazard of new fortunes here.
In brief, a braver choice of dauntless spirits
Than now the English bottoms have waft o’er
Did never float upon the swelling tide
To do offense and scathe in Christendom. 75 Drum beats. The interruption of their churlish drums
Cuts off more circumstance. They are at hand,
To parley or to fight, therefore prepare. KING PHILIP
How much unlooked-for is this expedition. AUSTRIA
By how much unexpected, by so much 80
We must awake endeavor for defense,
For courage mounteth with occasion.
Let them be welcome, then. We are prepared. | Constance, Arthur's mom, thanks Austria for sticking up for her little boy, who doesn't have the "strength" to stick up for himself. (Remember, Arthur's just a kid.) King Philip is about to let his soldiers open fire on Angers, but Constance stops him and asks him to wait and see if King John will give up the city peacefully. At that very moment, in walks Châtillon. He tells everyone that he had trouble leaving England because of bad weather. Oh, and by the time he was able to set sail, King John had his whole army in gear. In fact...you hear those drums? Yep. They're he-ere. |
Enter King John of England, Bastard, Queen
Eleanor, Blanche, Salisbury, Pembroke, and others. KING JOHN
Peace be to France, if France in peace permit
Our just and lineal entrance to our own. 85
If not, bleed France, and peace ascend to heaven,
Whiles we, God’s wrathful agent, do correct
Their proud contempt that beats his peace to heaven. KING PHILIP
Peace be to England, if that war return
From France to England, there to live in peace. 90
England we love, and for that England’s sake
With burden of our armor here we sweat.
This toil of ours should be a work of thine;
But thou from loving England art so far
That thou hast underwrought his lawful king, 95
Cut off the sequence of posterity,
Outfacèd infant state, and done a rape
Upon the maiden virtue of the crown.
Look here upon thy brother Geoffrey’s face.
He points to Arthur.
These eyes, these brows, were molded out of his; 100
This little abstract doth contain that large
Which died in Geoffrey, and the hand of time
Shall draw this brief into as huge a volume.
That Geoffrey was thy elder brother born,
And this his son. England was Geoffrey’s right, 105
And this is Geoffrey’s. In the name of God,
How comes it then that thou art called a king,
When living blood doth in these temples beat
Which owe the crown that thou o’ermasterest? KING JOHN
From whom hast thou this great commission, 110
France,
To draw my answer from thy articles? KING PHILIP
From that supernal judge that stirs good thoughts
In any breast of strong authority
To look into the blots and stains of right. 115
That judge hath made me guardian to this boy,
Under whose warrant I impeach thy wrong,
And by whose help I mean to chastise it. KING JOHN
Alack, thou dost usurp authority. KING PHILIP
Excuse it is to beat usurping down. 120 QUEEN ELEANOR
Who is it thou dost call usurper, France? CONSTANCE
Let me make answer: thy usurping son. QUEEN ELEANOR
Out, insolent! Thy bastard shall be king
That thou mayst be a queen and check the world. CONSTANCE
My bed was ever to thy son as true 125
As thine was to thy husband, and this boy
Liker in feature to his father Geoffrey
Than thou and John, in manners being as like
As rain to water or devil to his dam.
My boy a bastard? By my soul, I think 130
His father never was so true begot.
It cannot be, an if thou wert his mother. QUEEN ELEANOR, to Arthur
There’s a good mother, boy, that blots thy father. CONSTANCE
There’s a good grandam, boy, that would blot thee. | Right on cue, in walks the whole English crew. Some very formal and polite trash talk ensues. King John is all, "Peace to France...if they back the heck off and don't make any claims to my land or my crown." King Philip is all, "Hey, I totally love England. That's why I brought all these soldiers here with me. By the way, John, youdon'tlove England, because you stole the crown from its rightful king—little Arthur." Gee. It doesn't look like anyone's going to be signing a peace treaty in the near future, does it? A nasty little fight breaks out between Queen Eleanor and Constance, with each accusing the other of cheating on their husbands and giving birth to "bastards." |
AUSTRIA
Peace! 135 BASTARD
Hear the crier! AUSTRIA
What the devil art thou? BASTARD
One that will play the devil, sir, with you,
An he may catch your hide and you alone.
You are the hare of whom the proverb goes, 140
Whose valor plucks dead lions by the beard.
I’ll smoke your skin-coat an I catch you right.
Sirrah, look to ’t. I’ faith, I will, i’ faith! BLANCHE
O, well did he become that lion’s robe
That did disrobe the lion of that robe. 145 BASTARD
It lies as sightly on the back of him
As great Alcides’ shoes upon an ass.—
But, ass, I’ll take that burden from your back
Or lay on that shall make your shoulders crack. AUSTRIA
What cracker is this same that deafs our ears 150
With this abundance of superfluous breath? KING PHILIP
Louis, determine what we shall do straight. DAUPHIN
Women and fools, break off your conference.—
King John, this is the very sum of all:
England and Ireland, Anjou, Touraine, Maine, 155
In right of Arthur do I claim of thee.
Wilt thou resign them and lay down thy arms? KING JOHN
My life as soon! I do defy thee, France.—
Arthur of Brittany, yield thee to my hand,
And out of my dear love I’ll give thee more 160
Than e’er the coward hand of France can win.
Submit thee, boy. QUEEN ELEANOR
Come to thy grandam, child. CONSTANCE
Do, child, go to it grandam, child.
Give grandam kingdom, and it grandam will 165
Give it a plum, a cherry, and a fig.
There’s a good grandam. ARTHUR, weeping
Good my mother, peace.
I would that I were low laid in my grave.
I am not worth this coil that’s made for me. 170 QUEEN ELEANOR
His mother shames him so, poor boy, he weeps. CONSTANCE
Now shame upon you whe’er she does or no!
His grandam’s wrongs, and not his mother’s
shames,
Draws those heaven-moving pearls from his poor 175
eyes,
Which heaven shall take in nature of a fee.
Ay, with these crystal beads heaven shall be bribed
To do him justice and revenge on you. QUEEN ELEANOR
Thou monstrous slanderer of heaven and Earth! 180 CONSTANCE
Thou monstrous injurer of heaven and Earth,
Call not me slanderer. Thou and thine usurp
The dominations, royalties, and rights
Of this oppressèd boy. This is thy eldest son’s son,
Infortunate in nothing but in thee. 185
Thy sins are visited in this poor child.
The canon of the law is laid on him,
Being but the second generation
Removèd from thy sin-conceiving womb. KING JOHN
Bedlam, have done. 190 CONSTANCE
I have but this to say,
That he is not only plaguèd for her sin,
But God hath made her sin and her the plague
On this removèd issue, plagued for her,
And with her plague; her sin his injury, 195
Her injury the beadle to her sin,
All punished in the person of this child
And all for her. A plague upon her! QUEEN ELEANOR
Thou unadvisèd scold, I can produce
A will that bars the title of thy son. 200 CONSTANCE
Ay, who doubts that? A will—a wicked will,
A woman’s will, a cankered grandam’s will. KING PHILIP
Peace, lady. Pause, or be more temperate.
It ill beseems this presence to cry aim
To these ill-tunèd repetitions.— 205
Some trumpet summon hither to the walls
These men of Angiers. Let us hear them speak
Whose title they admit, Arthur’s or John’s. Trumpet sounds. | Austria yells for quiet, but things get all Jerry Springer when the Bastard jumps into the fray, and starts insulting Austria, who—remember—is wearing the lion-skin coat that belonged to the Bastard's biological dad. The Bastard threatens to kill Austria. Get your highlighters out, because this is important. King Philip repeats his demand to King John, except now he sounds like he plans to take control of England on Arthur's behalf. King John refuses and tells Arthur to swear allegiance to him. This prompts another war of words between Queen Eleanor and Constance about—you guessed it—bastards. (Psst! Go to "Symbols: Mothers" if you want to know what this is all about.) Finally, King Philip says that the people of Angiers should get to decide who should be their king: Arthur or John. |
Enter Citizens upon the walls. CITIZEN
Who is it that hath warned us to the walls? KING PHILIP
’Tis France, for England. 210 KING JOHN England, for itself.
You men of Angiers, and my loving subjects— KING PHILIP
You loving men of Angiers, Arthur’s subjects,
Our trumpet called you to this gentle parle— KING JOHN
For our advantage. Therefore hear us first. 215
These flags of France that are advancèd here
Before the eye and prospect of your town,
Have hither marched to your endamagement.
The cannons have their bowels full of wrath,
And ready mounted are they to spit forth 220
Their iron indignation ’gainst your walls.
All preparation for a bloody siege
And merciless proceeding by these French
Confronts your city’s eyes, your winking gates,
And, but for our approach, those sleeping stones, 225
That as a waist doth girdle you about,
By the compulsion of their ordinance
By this time from their fixèd beds of lime
Had been dishabited, and wide havoc made
For bloody power to rush upon your peace. 230
But on the sight of us your lawful king,
Who painfully with much expedient march
Have brought a countercheck before your gates
To save unscratched your city’s threatened cheeks,
Behold, the French, amazed, vouchsafe a parle. 235
And now, instead of bullets wrapped in fire
To make a shaking fever in your walls,
They shoot but calm words folded up in smoke
To make a faithless error in your ears,
Which trust accordingly, kind citizens, 240
And let us in. Your king, whose labored spirits
Forwearied in this action of swift speed,
Craves harborage within your city walls. KING PHILIP
When I have said, make answer to us both.
He takes Arthur by the hand.
Lo, in this right hand, whose protection 245
Is most divinely vowed upon the right
Of him it holds, stands young Plantagenet,
Son to the elder brother of this man,
And king o’er him and all that he enjoys.
For this downtrodden equity we tread 250
In warlike march these greens before your town,
Being no further enemy to you
Than the constraint of hospitable zeal
In the relief of this oppressèd child
Religiously provokes. Be pleasèd then 255
To pay that duty which you truly owe
To him that owes it, namely, this young prince,
And then our arms, like to a muzzled bear
Save in aspect, hath all offense sealed up.
Our cannons’ malice vainly shall be spent 260
Against th’ invulnerable clouds of heaven,
And with a blessèd and unvexed retire,
With unbacked swords and helmets all unbruised,
We will bear home that lusty blood again
Which here we came to spout against your town, 265
And leave your children, wives, and you in peace.
But if you fondly pass our proffered offer,
’Tis not the roundure of your old-faced walls
Can hide you from our messengers of war,
Though all these English and their discipline 270
Were harbored in their rude circumference.
Then tell us, shall your city call us lord
In that behalf which we have challenged it?
Or shall we give the signal to our rage
And stalk in blood to our possession? 275 CITIZEN
In brief, we are the King of England’s subjects.
For him, and in his right, we hold this town. KING JOHN
Acknowledge then the King and let me in. CITIZEN
That can we not. But he that proves the King,
To him will we prove loyal. Till that time 280
Have we rammed up our gates against the world. KING JOHN
Doth not the crown of England prove the King?
And if not that, I bring you witnesses,
Twice fifteen thousand hearts of England’s breed— BASTARD
Bastards and else. 285 KING JOHN
To verify our title with their lives. KING PHILIP
As many and as wellborn bloods as those— BASTARD
Some bastards too. KING PHILIP
Stand in his face to contradict his claim. CITIZEN
Till you compound whose right is worthiest, 290
We for the worthiest hold the right from both. | A citizen of Angiers comes out onto the wall to hear the kings' stories. King John speaks first. He says that, unlike the French, who really want to destroy Angiers and are only pretending to like it, he, John, wants to save it. Therefore, Angers should let him and his army inside the city ASAP. King Philip says nuh-uh. His cause is legitimate, because he is fighting on behalf of the rightful king, Arthur. And if Angiers doesn't accept Arthur as their king, the French army will completely destroy the city—even if the whole English army is inside it. At the end of the two speeches, the citizen says that Angiers will always be loyal to the King of England. The problem is, they don't know who the King of England is—John or Arthur—so right now, no one has their loyalty. Psych! |
KING JOHN
Then God forgive the sin of all those souls
That to their everlasting residence,
Before the dew of evening fall, shall fleet
In dreadful trial of our kingdom’s king. 295 KING PHILIP
Amen, amen.—Mount, chevaliers! To arms! BASTARD
Saint George, that swinged the dragon and e’er
since
Sits on ’s horseback at mine hostess’ door,
Teach us some fence! To Austria. Sirrah, were I at 300
home
At your den, sirrah, with your lioness,
I would set an ox head to your lion’s hide
And make a monster of you. AUSTRIA
Peace! No more. 305 BASTARD
O, tremble, for you hear the lion roar. KING JOHN, to his officers
Up higher to the plain, where we’ll set forth
In best appointment all our regiments. BASTARD
Speed, then, to take advantage of the field. KING PHILIP, to his officers
It shall be so, and at the other hill 310
Command the rest to stand. God and our right! They exit. Citizens remain, above. | The two kings are up for this. After trading some more insults, they head back to their armies The good people of Angers are just going to hang out and see what happens. They'll swear allegiance to whoever wins the battle. Soon, the English and the French are going toe-to-toe. |
Here, after excursions, enter the Herald of France, with
Trumpets, to the gates. FRENCH HERALD
You men of Angiers, open wide your gates,
And let young Arthur, Duke of Brittany, in,
Who by the hand of France this day hath made
Much work for tears in many an English mother, 315
Whose sons lie scattered on the bleeding ground.
Many a widow’s husband groveling lies
Coldly embracing the discolored earth,
And victory with little loss doth play
Upon the dancing banners of the French, 320
Who are at hand, triumphantly displayed,
To enter conquerors and to proclaim
Arthur of Brittany England’s king and yours. Enter English Herald, with Trumpet. ENGLISH HERALD
Rejoice, you men of Angiers, ring your bells!
King John, your king and England’s, doth approach, 325
Commander of this hot malicious day.
Their armors, that marched hence so silver bright,
Hither return all gilt with Frenchmen’s blood.
There stuck no plume in any English crest
That is removèd by a staff of France. 330
Our colors do return in those same hands
That did display them when we first marched forth,
And like a jolly troop of huntsmen come
Our lusty English, all with purpled hands,
Dyed in the dying slaughter of their foes. 335
Open your gates, and give the victors way. CITIZEN
Heralds, from off our towers we might behold
From first to last the onset and retire
Of both your armies, whose equality
By our best eyes cannot be censurèd. 340
Blood hath bought blood, and blows have answered
blows,
Strength matched with strength, and power
confronted power.
Both are alike, and both alike we like. 345
One must prove greatest. While they weigh so even,
We hold our town for neither, yet for both. | When the battle quiets down, the French herald appears in front of the walls and is all, "We just kicked the English army's butt. Time for you to surrender to Arthur." About two seconds later, the English herald shows up and tells the citizens of Angers to surrender to King John, becauseEnglandhas won the battle. The Citizen reappears on the city's battlements. He says something like, "Yeah, we can't figure out who just won the battle, so we're not declaring our loyalty to anybody just yet." |
Enter the two Kings with their Powers (including the
Bastard, Queen Eleanor, Blanche, and Salisbury;
Austria, and Louis the Dauphin), at several doors. KING JOHN
France, hast thou yet more blood to cast away?
Say, shall the current of our right roam on,
Whose passage, vexed with thy impediment, 350
Shall leave his native channel and o’erswell
With course disturbed even thy confining shores,
Unless thou let his silver water keep
A peaceful progress to the ocean? KING PHILIP
England, thou hast not saved one drop of blood 355
In this hot trial more than we of France,
Rather lost more. And by this hand I swear
That sways the earth this climate overlooks,
Before we will lay down our just-borne arms,
We’ll put thee down, ’gainst whom these arms we 360
bear,
Or add a royal number to the dead,
Gracing the scroll that tells of this war’s loss
With slaughter coupled to the name of kings. BASTARD, aside
Ha, majesty! How high thy glory towers 365
When the rich blood of kings is set on fire!
O, now doth Death line his dead chaps with steel,
The swords of soldiers are his teeth, his fangs,
And now he feasts, mousing the flesh of men
In undetermined differences of kings. 370
Why stand these royal fronts amazèd thus?
Cry havoc, kings! Back to the stainèd field,
You equal potents, fiery-kindled spirits.
Then let confusion of one part confirm
The other’s peace. Till then, blows, blood, and 375
death! KING JOHN
Whose party do the townsmen yet admit? KING PHILIP
Speak, citizens, for England. Who’s your king? CITIZEN
The King of England, when we know the King. KING PHILIP
Know him in us, that here hold up his right. 380 KING JOHN
In us, that are our own great deputy
And bear possession of our person here,
Lord of our presence, Angiers, and of you. CITIZEN
A greater power than we denies all this,
And till it be undoubted, we do lock 385
Our former scruple in our strong-barred gates,
Kings of our fear, until our fears resolved
Be by some certain king purged and deposed. | At this point, King John and King Philip each come back onstage, surrounded by their cronies. (For King John, this means Queen Eleanor, Blanche of Spain, and the Bastard; for King Philip, this means Louis and Austria. Now the two kings start arguing over who won. As you might expect, they don't agree. The Citizen continues to refuse to open the city gates. |
BASTARD
By heaven, these scroyles of Angiers flout you, kings,
And stand securely on their battlements 390
As in a theater, whence they gape and point
At your industrious scenes and acts of death.
Your royal presences, be ruled by me:
Do like the mutines of Jerusalem,
Be friends awhile, and both conjointly bend 395
Your sharpest deeds of malice on this town.
By east and west let France and England mount
Their battering cannon chargèd to the mouths,
Till their soul-fearing clamors have brawled down
The flinty ribs of this contemptuous city. 400
I’d play incessantly upon these jades,
Even till unfencèd desolation
Leave them as naked as the vulgar air.
That done, dissever your united strengths
And part your mingled colors once again; 405
Turn face to face and bloody point to point.
Then in a moment Fortune shall cull forth
Out of one side her happy minion,
To whom in favor she shall give the day
And kiss him with a glorious victory. 410
How like you this wild counsel, mighty states?
Smacks it not something of the policy? KING JOHN
Now by the sky that hangs above our heads,
I like it well. France, shall we knit our powers
And lay this Angiers even with the ground, 415
Then after fight who shall be king of it? BASTARD, to King Philip
An if thou hast the mettle of a king,
Being wronged as we are by this peevish town,
Turn thou the mouth of thy artillery,
As we will ours, against these saucy walls, 420
And when that we have dashed them to the ground,
Why, then, defy each other and pell-mell
Make work upon ourselves, for heaven or hell. KING PHILIP
Let it be so. Say, where will you assault? KING JOHN
We from the west will send destruction 425
Into this city’s bosom. AUSTRIA
I from the north. KING PHILIP
Our thunder from the south
Shall rain their drift of bullets on this town. BASTARD, aside
O, prudent discipline! From north to south, 430
Austria and France shoot in each other’s mouth.
I’ll stir them to it. — Come, away, away! | The Bastard now speaks up and suggests a solution. "Hey, King John! Hey, King Philip! Why don't you guys join forces and destroy this annoying city. Then, once you've done that, you can fight with each other and settle this once and for all." The two kings think this is an awesome idea and are about to go rearrange their armies, when they suddenly hear the Citizen calling out to them from the walls. |
CITIZEN
Hear us, great kings. Vouchsafe awhile to stay,
And I shall show you peace and fair-faced league,
Win you this city without stroke or wound, 435
Rescue those breathing lives to die in beds
That here come sacrifices for the field.
Persever not, but hear me, mighty kings. KING JOHN
Speak on with favor. We are bent to hear. CITIZEN
That daughter there of Spain, the Lady Blanche, 440
Is near to England. Look upon the years
Of Louis the Dauphin and that lovely maid.
If lusty love should go in quest of beauty,
Where should he find it fairer than in Blanche?
If zealous love should go in search of virtue, 445
Where should he find it purer than in Blanche?
If love ambitious sought a match of birth,
Whose veins bound richer blood than Lady
Blanche?
Such as she is, in beauty, virtue, birth, 450
Is the young Dauphin every way complete.
If not complete of, say he is not she,
And she again wants nothing, to name want,
If want it be not that she is not he.
He is the half part of a blessèd man, 455
Left to be finishèd by such as she,
And she a fair divided excellence,
Whose fullness of perfection lies in him.
O, two such silver currents when they join
Do glorify the banks that bound them in, 460
And two such shores to two such streams made one,
Two such controlling bounds shall you be, kings,
To these two princes, if you marry them.
This union shall do more than battery can
To our fast-closèd gates, for at this match, 465
With swifter spleen than powder can enforce,
The mouth of passage shall we fling wide ope
And give you entrance. But without this match,
The sea enragèd is not half so deaf,
Lions more confident, mountains and rocks 470
More free from motion, no, not Death himself
In mortal fury half so peremptory
As we to keep this city. King Philip and Louis the Dauphin
walk aside and talk. BASTARD, aside
Here’s a stay
That shakes the rotten carcass of old Death 475
Out of his rags! Here’s a large mouth indeed
That spits forth death and mountains, rocks and
seas;
Talks as familiarly of roaring lions
As maids of thirteen do of puppy dogs. 480
What cannoneer begot this lusty blood?
He speaks plain cannon fire, and smoke, and
bounce.
He gives the bastinado with his tongue.
Our ears are cudgeled. Not a word of his 485
But buffets better than a fist of France.
Zounds, I was never so bethumped with words
Since I first called my brother’s father Dad. QUEEN ELEANOR, aside to King John
Son, list to this conjunction; make this match.
Give with our niece a dowry large enough, 490
For by this knot thou shalt so surely tie
Thy now unsured assurance to the crown
That yon green boy shall have no sun to ripe
The bloom that promiseth a mighty fruit.
I see a yielding in the looks of France. 495
Mark how they whisper. Urge them while their
souls
Are capable of this ambition,
Lest zeal, now melted by the windy breath
Of soft petitions, pity, and remorse, 500
Cool and congeal again to what it was. | The Citizen has an even better idea. He thinks that Blanche of Spain, King John's niece, should marry Louis, King Philip's son. According to the old custom of political marriages, this would create an alliance between France and England. Queen Eleanor encourages King John to go for the deal. She hints that, if King Philip's son stands to benefit from the marriage, he won't be that interested in helping young Arthur pick a fight with King John. |
CITIZEN
Why answer not the double majesties
This friendly treaty of our threatened town? KING PHILIP
Speak England first, that hath been forward first
To speak unto this city. What say you? 505 KING JOHN
If that the Dauphin there, thy princely son,
Can in this book of beauty read “I love,”
Her dowry shall weigh equal with a queen.
For Anjou and fair Touraine, Maine, Poitiers,
And all that we upon this side the sea— 510
Except this city now by us besieged—
Find liable to our crown and dignity,
Shall gild her bridal bed and make her rich
In titles, honors, and promotions,
As she in beauty, education, blood, 515
Holds hand with any princess of the world. KING PHILIP
What sayst thou, boy? Look in the lady’s face. DAUPHIN
I do, my lord, and in her eye I find
A wonder or a wondrous miracle,
The shadow of myself formed in her eye, 520
Which, being but the shadow of your son,
Becomes a sun and makes your son a shadow.
I do protest I never loved myself
Till now infixèd I beheld myself
Drawn in the flattering table of her eye. 525 He whispers with Blanche. BASTARD, aside
“Drawn in the flattering table of her eye”?
Hanged in the frowning wrinkle of her brow
And quartered in her heart! He doth espy
Himself love’s traitor. This is pity now,
That hanged and drawn and quartered there should 530
be
In such a love so vile a lout as he. BLANCHE, aside to Dauphin
My uncle’s will in this respect is mine.
If he see aught in you that makes him like,
That anything he sees which moves his liking 535
I can with ease translate it to my will.
Or if you will, to speak more properly,
I will enforce it eas’ly to my love.
Further I will not flatter you, my lord,
That all I see in you is worthy love, 540
Than this: that nothing do I see in you,
Though churlish thoughts themselves should be
your judge,
That I can find should merit any hate. | After some more prodding from the Citizen, King John speaks up. He tells King Philip that he is willing to offer Blanche's hand in marriage. To sweeten the deal, he offers to throw in, as dowry, some territories he owns: Anjou, Touraine, Maine, and Poitiers—the very same territories that King Philip was demanding for Arthur. King Philip seems interested; he asks Louis to take a look at Blanche and sum her up. Louis takes a look and likes what he sees—himself, reflected in Blanche's eyes. As for Blanche, she says that while Louis doesn't exactly knock her socks off, she doesn't see any reason hate him. (Um...is that a compliment?) |
KING JOHN
What say these young ones? What say you, my 545
niece? BLANCHE
That she is bound in honor still to do
What you in wisdom still vouchsafe to say. KING JOHN
Speak then, Prince Dauphin. Can you love this lady? DAUPHIN
Nay, ask me if I can refrain from love, 550
For I do love her most unfeignedly. KING JOHN
Then do I give Volquessen, Touraine, Maine,
Poitiers and Anjou, these five provinces
With her to thee, and this addition more:
Full thirty thousand marks of English coin.— 555
Philip of France, if thou be pleased withal,
Command thy son and daughter to join hands. KING PHILIP
It likes us well.—Young princes, close your hands. AUSTRIA
And your lips too, for I am well assured
That I did so when I was first assured. 560
Dauphin and Blanche join hands and kiss. KING PHILIP
Now, citizens of Angiers, ope your gates.
Let in that amity which you have made,
For at Saint Mary’s Chapel presently
The rites of marriage shall be solemnized.—
Is not the Lady Constance in this troop? 565
I know she is not, for this match made up
Her presence would have interrupted much.
Where is she and her son? Tell me, who knows. DAUPHIN
She is sad and passionate at your Highness’ tent. KING PHILIP
And by my faith, this league that we have made 570
Will give her sadness very little cure.—
Brother of England, how may we content
This widow lady? In her right we came,
Which we, God knows, have turned another way
To our own vantage. 575 KING JOHN
We will heal up all,
For we’ll create young Arthur Duke of Brittany
And Earl of Richmond, and this rich, fair town
We make him lord of.—Call the Lady Constance.
Some speedy messenger bid her repair 580
To our solemnity. Salisbury exits. I trust we
shall,
If not fill up the measure of her will,
Yet in some measure satisfy her so
That we shall stop her exclamation. 585
Go we as well as haste will suffer us
To this unlooked-for, unpreparèd pomp. All but the Bastard exit. | With some prodding from King John, Louis and Blanche agree to the match. King Philip commands the citizens of Angiers to open their gates to let in the wedding party. Just as they are about to go in, King Philip realizes that Constance has disappeared. Louis tells him that she is off crying. King Philip figures that it must be because he broke his promise to young Arthur. Hearing this, King John offers to patch things up: he will make Arthur Duke of Britain (that is, Brittany, in Northern France), and Earl of Richmond, and he will give him Angiers. After these words, everybody heads inside the town. The only one left onstage in the Bastard. |
BASTARD
Mad world, mad kings, mad composition!
John, to stop Arthur’s title in the whole,
Hath willingly departed with a part; 590
And France, whose armor conscience buckled on,
Whom zeal and charity brought to the field
As God’s own soldier, rounded in the ear
With that same purpose-changer, that sly devil,
That broker that still breaks the pate of faith, 595
That daily break-vow, he that wins of all,
Of kings, of beggars, old men, young men, maids—
Who having no external thing to lose
But the word “maid,” cheats the poor maid of
that— 600
That smooth-faced gentleman, tickling Commodity,
Commodity, the bias of the world—
The world, who of itself is peisèd well,
Made to run even upon even ground,
Till this advantage, this vile-drawing bias, 605
This sway of motion, this Commodity,
Makes it take head from all indifferency,
From all direction, purpose, course, intent.
And this same bias, this Commodity,
This bawd, this broker, this all-changing word, 610
Clapped on the outward eye of fickle France,
Hath drawn him from his own determined aid,
From a resolved and honorable war
To a most base and vile-concluded peace.
And why rail I on this Commodity? 615
But for because he hath not wooed me yet.
Not that I have the power to clutch my hand
When his fair angels would salute my palm,
But for my hand, as unattempted yet,
Like a poor beggar raileth on the rich. 620
Well, whiles I am a beggar, I will rail
And say there is no sin but to be rich;
And being rich, my virtue then shall be
To say there is no vice but beggary.
Since kings break faith upon Commodity, 625
Gain, be my lord, for I will worship thee! He exits. | The Bastard makes a cynical speech—he can't believe these scumbag politicians. He goes on about how King John was willing to give away part of his kingdom in order to keep Arthur from getting all of it—and how King Philip was willing to stop helping Arthur in order to secure a good deal for his son. These acts of betrayal go to show that "commodity" is what makes the world go round. And by "commodity," the Bastard means self-interest, the desire for personal gain. He rounds off his speech by saying that he is only complaining about the corrupt ways of the world because he hasn't gotten rich yet. Once he's rich, he'll think ill of the poor instead. (At least he knows he's a hypocrite, right?) |