Original Text |
Translated Text |
| Source: Folger Shakespeare Library |
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Enter Constance, Arthur, and Salisbury. CONSTANCE, to Salisbury
Gone to be married? Gone to swear a peace?
False blood to false blood joined? Gone to be friends?
Shall Louis have Blanche and Blanche those
provinces?
It is not so. Thou hast misspoke, misheard. 5
Be well advised; tell o’er thy tale again.
It cannot be; thou dost but say ’tis so.
I trust I may not trust thee, for thy word
Is but the vain breath of a common man.
Believe me, I do not believe thee, man. 10
I have a king’s oath to the contrary.
Thou shalt be punished for thus flighting me,
For I am sick and capable of fears,
Oppressed with wrongs and therefore full of fears,
A widow, husbandless, subject to fears, 15
A woman naturally born to fears.
And though thou now confess thou didst but jest,
With my vexed spirits I cannot take a truce,
But they will quake and tremble all this day.
What dost thou mean by shaking of thy head? 20
Why dost thou look so sadly on my son?
What means that hand upon that breast of thine?
Why holds thine eye that lamentable rheum,
Like a proud river peering o’er his bounds?
Be these sad signs confirmers of thy words? 25
Then speak again—not all thy former tale,
But this one word, whether thy tale be true. SALISBURY
As true as I believe you think them false
That give you cause to prove my saying true. CONSTANCE
O, if thou teach me to believe this sorrow, 30
Teach thou this sorrow how to make me die,
And let belief and life encounter so
As doth the fury of two desperate men
Which in the very meeting fall and die.
Louis marry Blanche?—O, boy, then where art 35
thou?—
France friend with England? What becomes of me?
Fellow, be gone. I cannot brook thy sight.
This news hath made thee a most ugly man. SALISBURY
What other harm have I, good lady, done 40
But spoke the harm that is by others done? CONSTANCE
Which harm within itself so heinous is
As it makes harmful all that speak of it. ARTHUR
I do beseech you, madam, be content. CONSTANCE
If thou that bidd’st me be content wert grim, 45
Ugly, and sland’rous to thy mother’s womb,
Full of unpleasing blots and sightless stains,
Lame, foolish, crooked, swart, prodigious,
Patched with foul moles and eye-offending marks,
I would not care; I then would be content, 50
For then I should not love thee; no, nor thou
Become thy great birth, nor deserve a crown.
But thou art fair, and at thy birth, dear boy,
Nature and Fortune joined to make thee great.
Of Nature’s gifts thou mayst with lilies boast, 55
And with the half-blown rose. But Fortune, O,
She is corrupted, changed, and won from thee;
Sh’ adulterates hourly with thine Uncle John,
And with her golden hand hath plucked on France
To tread down fair respect of sovereignty, 60
And made his majesty the bawd to theirs.
France is a bawd to Fortune and King John,
That strumpet Fortune, that usurping John.—
Tell me, thou fellow, is not France forsworn?
Envenom him with words, or get thee gone 65
And leave those woes alone which I alone
Am bound to underbear. | Constance, Arthur, and Salisbury are standing outside King Philip's tent. Constance is IRATE that King Philip betrayed her and her little boy. She keeps asking Salisbury if it's really true that there's going to be a peace treaty and a wedding. He tells her that it is. Constance starts to take her anger out on Salisbury, but when Arthur tells her to take a chill pill, she explodes at him. She says she wishes he were ugly, because then she wouldn't love him or care if he became king, since being hideous and deformed would be proof that he didn't deserve it. Brain Snack: When Shakespeare wrote this play, babies born with "monstrous" deformities were considered 1) a form of punishment from God and 2) a sign of evil. Go ask Shakespeare's famous "hunchback" Richard III if you don't believe us. After Constance's rant about babies born "ugly," "full of unpleasing blots," "lame, foolish, crooked," and full of "foul moles and eye-offending marks," she turns her attention to Fortune, that fickle goddess who destroys men's lives at the drop of a hat. According to Constance, this lousy turn of events is all Fortune's fault. She even accuses Fortune of being King John's prostitute, which is just her freaky way of saying that Fortune is being unfaithful and disloyal to Arthur. |
SALISBURY
Pardon me, madam,
I may not go without you to the Kings. CONSTANCE
Thou mayst, thou shalt, I will not go with thee. 70
I will instruct my sorrows to be proud,
For grief is proud and makes his owner stoop. She sits down. To me and to the state of my great grief
Let kings assemble, for my griefs so great
That no supporter but the huge firm Earth 75
Can hold it up. Here I and sorrows sit.
Here is my throne; bid kings come bow to it. | Salisbury tries to interrupt this rant. He's all, "Excuse me, ma'am, but you and I need to go see the kings." Constance refuses to see them and says she's staying right where she is. Then she throws herself on the ground and tells us she's so full of grief she needs the earth to prop her up. It doesn't stop there. Constance calls the earth her "throne" and says she'll be sitting in the dirt if anyone wants to come over and talk to her. So there. |
Enter King John, hand in hand with King Philip of
France, Louis the Dauphin, Blanche, Queen Eleanor,
Bastard, Austria, and Attendants. KING PHILIP, to Blanche
’Tis true, fair daughter, and this blessèd day
Ever in France shall be kept festival.
To solemnize this day the glorious sun 80
Stays in his course and plays the alchemist,
Turning with splendor of his precious eye
The meager cloddy earth to glittering gold.
The yearly course that brings this day about
Shall never see it but a holy day. 85 CONSTANCE, rising
A wicked day, and not a holy day!
What hath this day deserved? What hath it done
That it in golden letters should be set
Among the high tides in the calendar?
Nay, rather turn this day out of the week, 90
This day of shame, oppression, perjury.
Or if it must stand still, let wives with child
Pray that their burdens may not fall this day,
Lest that their hopes prodigiously be crossed.
But on this day let seamen fear no wrack; 95
No bargains break that are not this day made;
This day, all things begun come to ill end,
Yea, faith itself to hollow falsehood change! KING PHILIP
By heaven, lady, you shall have no cause
To curse the fair proceedings of this day. 100
Have I not pawned to you my majesty? CONSTANCE
You have beguiled me with a counterfeit
Resembling majesty, which, being touched and tried,
Proves valueless. You are forsworn, forsworn.
You came in arms to spill mine enemies’ blood, 105
But now in arms you strengthen it with yours.
The grappling vigor and rough frown of war
Is cold in amity and painted peace,
And our oppression hath made up this league.
Arm, arm, you heavens, against these perjured 110
kings!
A widow cries; be husband to me, God!
Let not the hours of this ungodly day
Wear out the days in peace, but ere sunset
Set armèd discord ’twixt these perjured kings. 115
Hear me, O, hear me! AUSTRIA
Lady Constance, peace. CONSTANCE
War, war, no peace! Peace is to me a war.
O Limoges, O Austria, thou dost shame
That bloody spoil. Thou slave, thou wretch, thou 120
coward,
Thou little valiant, great in villainy,
Thou ever strong upon the stronger side,
Thou Fortune’s champion, that dost never fight
But when her humorous Ladyship is by 125
To teach thee safety. Thou art perjured too,
And sooth’st up greatness. What a fool art thou,
A ramping fool, to brag and stamp and swear
Upon my party. Thou cold-blooded slave,
Hast thou not spoke like thunder on my side? 130
Been sworn my soldier, bidding me depend
Upon thy stars, thy fortune, and thy strength?
And dost thou now fall over to my foes?
Thou wear a lion’s hide! Doff it for shame,
And hang a calfskin on those recreant limbs. 135 AUSTRIA
O, that a man should speak those words to me! BASTARD
“And hang a calfskin on those recreant limbs.” AUSTRIA
Thou dar’st not say so, villain, for thy life! BASTARD
“And hang a calfskin on those recreant limbs.” | In walk all the shiny, happy people, holding hands. They're tickled with the arranged marriage they've, well...arranged, and King Philip makes a toast about what a wonderful, holy day it is. That gets Constance off her tuffet. She stands up and tells everybody within shouting distance that it's actually a "wicked day," not a "holy day." Major wedding faux pas. King Philip tells her to pipe down. After all, they gave Arthur a bunch of land so he could be Duke of One Place and Earl of Something Else. But Constance won't have it. Next she starts in on Austria, accusing him of being a coward. Austria is miffed, especially when the Bastard starts rubbing it in. |
KING JOHN
We like not this. Thou dost forget thyself. 140 Enter Pandulph. KING PHILIP
Here comes the holy legate of the Pope. PANDULPH
Hail, you anointed deputies of heaven!
To thee, King John, my holy errand is.
I, Pandulph, of fair Milan cardinal
And from Pope Innocent the legate here, 145
Do in his name religiously demand
Why thou against the Church, our holy mother,
So willfully dost spurn, and force perforce
Keep Stephen Langton, chosen Archbishop
Of Canterbury, from that Holy See. 150
This, in our foresaid Holy Father’s name,
Pope Innocent, I do demand of thee. KING JOHN
What earthy name to interrogatories
Can task the free breath of a sacred king?
Thou canst not, cardinal, devise a name 155
So slight, unworthy, and ridiculous
To charge me to an answer, as the Pope.
Tell him this tale, and from the mouth of England
Add thus much more, that no Italian priest
Shall tithe or toll in our dominions; 160
But as we under God are supreme head,
So, under Him, that great supremacy
Where we do reign we will alone uphold
Without th’ assistance of a mortal hand.
So tell the Pope, all reverence set apart 165
To him and his usurped authority. KING PHILIP
Brother of England, you blaspheme in this. KING JOHN
Though you and all the kings of Christendom
Are led so grossly by this meddling priest,
Dreading the curse that money may buy out, 170
And by the merit of vile gold, dross, dust,
Purchase corrupted pardon of a man
Who in that sale sells pardon from himself,
Though you and all the rest, so grossly led,
This juggling witchcraft with revenue cherish, 175
Yet I alone, alone do me oppose
Against the Pope, and count his friends my foes. | King John steps in to keep the peace, but is quickly distracted by Cardinal Pandulph, an ambassador from the Pope. Pandulph wants to know where King John gets off refusing to support the Pope's choice for the next Archbishop of Canterbury. King John says he's the king, and he'll do what he wants. He's not going to let some lame "Italian priest" (that would be the Pope) meddle in English affairs. King Philip goes, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, King John! You can't talk smack about the Pope!" But King John doesn't listen. He says the Church is corrupt, and he couldn't care less if he's booted out of the Church. |
PANDULPH
Then, by the lawful power that I have,
Thou shalt stand cursed and excommunicate;
And blessèd shall he be that doth revolt 180
From his allegiance to an heretic;
And meritorious shall that hand be called,
Canonizèd and worshiped as a saint,
That takes away by any secret course
Thy hateful life. 185 CONSTANCE
O, lawful let it be
That I have room with Rome to curse awhile!
Good father cardinal, cry thou “Amen”
To my keen curses, for without my wrong
There is no tongue hath power to curse him right. 190 PANDULPH
There’s law and warrant, lady, for my curse. CONSTANCE
And for mine, too. When law can do no right,
Let it be lawful that law bar no wrong.
Law cannot give my child his kingdom here,
For he that holds his kingdom holds the law. 195
Therefore, since law itself is perfect wrong,
How can the law forbid my tongue to curse? PANDULPH
Philip of France, on peril of a curse,
Let go the hand of that arch-heretic,
And raise the power of France upon his head 200
Unless he do submit himself to Rome. QUEEN ELEANOR
Look’st thou pale, France? Do not let go thy hand. CONSTANCE
Look to that, devil, lest that France repent
And by disjoining hands, hell lose a soul. AUSTRIA
King Philip, listen to the Cardinal. 205 BASTARD
And hang a calfskin on his recreant limbs. AUSTRIA
Well, ruffian, I must pocket up these wrongs,
Because— BASTARD
Your breeches best may carry them. KING JOHN
Philip, what sayst thou to the Cardinal? 210 CONSTANCE
What should he say, but as the Cardinal? DAUPHIN
Bethink you, father, for the difference
Is purchase of a heavy curse from Rome,
Or the light loss of England for a friend.
Forgo the easier. 215 BLANCHE
That’s the curse of Rome. CONSTANCE
O Louis, stand fast! The devil tempts thee here
In likeness of a new untrimmèd bride. BLANCHE
The Lady Constance speaks not from her faith,
But from her need. 220 CONSTANCE, to King Philip
O, if thou grant my need,
Which only lives but by the death of faith,
That need must needs infer this principle:
That faith would live again by death of need.
O, then tread down my need, and faith mounts up; 225
Keep my need up, and faith is trodden down. KING JOHN
The King is moved, and answers not to this. CONSTANCE, to King Philip
O, be removed from him, and answer well! AUSTRIA
Do so, King Philip. Hang no more in doubt. BASTARD
Hang nothing but a calfskin, most sweet lout. 230 | In response, Pandulph goes, "Fine. King John, you're excommunicated." Not only that, but Pandulph says that the Church will be super pleased with anybody who kills John. Brain Snack: This probably reminded the play's original audience of Shakespeare's monarch, Queen Elizabeth I. In 1570, Elizabeth was excommunicated by Pope Pius V, who wanted a Catholic monarch on England's throne. Then, in 1580, Pope Gregory XIII made a big announcement that if someone wanted to go ahead and kill Elizabeth, it wouldn't be a sin. Constance takes this as an opportunity to curse King John a bit more. Now Pandulph tells King Philip to break up his alliance with King John. There is some confusing back and forth, as different sides try to pull King Philip one way or the other. Louis, Austria, and Constance are trying to get him to break up his alliance with King John. Blanche, Eleanor, and King John want him to keep it. |
KING PHILIP
I am perplexed and know not what to say. PANDULPH
What canst thou say but will perplex thee more,
If thou stand excommunicate and cursed? KING PHILIP
Good reverend father, make my person yours,
And tell me how you would bestow yourself. 235
This royal hand and mine are newly knit,
And the conjunction of our inward souls
Married, in league, coupled, and linked together
With all religious strength of sacred vows.
The latest breath that gave the sound of words 240
Was deep-sworn faith, peace, amity, true love
Between our kingdoms and our royal selves;
And even before this truce, but new before,
No longer than we well could wash our hands
To clap this royal bargain up of peace, 245
God knows they were besmeared and overstained
With slaughter’s pencil, where revenge did paint
The fearful difference of incensèd kings.
And shall these hands, so lately purged of blood,
So newly joined in love, so strong in both, 250
Unyoke this seizure and this kind regreet?
Play fast and loose with faith? So jest with heaven?
Make such unconstant children of ourselves
As now again to snatch our palm from palm,
Unswear faith sworn, and on the marriage bed 255
Of smiling peace to march a bloody host
And make a riot on the gentle brow
Of true sincerity? O holy sir,
My reverend father, let it not be so!
Out of your grace, devise, ordain, impose 260
Some gentle order, and then we shall be blest
To do your pleasure and continue friends. PANDULPH
All form is formless, order orderless,
Save what is opposite to England’s love.
Therefore to arms! Be champion of our Church, 265
Or let the Church, our mother, breathe her curse,
A mother’s curse, on her revolting son.
France, thou mayst hold a serpent by the tongue,
A chafèd lion by the mortal paw,
A fasting tiger safer by the tooth, 270
Than keep in peace that hand which thou dost hold. KING PHILIP
I may disjoin my hand, but not my faith. PANDULPH
So mak’st thou faith an enemy to faith,
And like a civil war sett’st oath to oath,
Thy tongue against thy tongue. O, let thy vow 275
First made to God, first be to God performed,
That is, to be the champion of our Church!
What since thou swor’st is sworn against thyself
And may not be performèd by thyself,
For that which thou hast sworn to do amiss 280
Is not amiss when it is truly done;
And being not done where doing tends to ill,
The truth is then most done not doing it.
The better act of purposes mistook
Is to mistake again; though indirect, 285
Yet indirection thereby grows direct,
And falsehood falsehood cures, as fire cools fire
Within the scorchèd veins of one new-burned.
It is religion that doth make vows kept,
But thou hast sworn against religion 290
By what thou swear’st against the thing thou
swear’st,
And mak’st an oath the surety for thy truth
Against an oath. The truth thou art unsure
To swear swears only not to be forsworn, 295
Else what a mockery should it be to swear?
But thou dost swear only to be forsworn,
And most forsworn to keep what thou dost swear.
Therefore thy later vows against thy first
Is in thyself rebellion to thyself. 300
And better conquest never canst thou make
Than arm thy constant and thy nobler parts
Against these giddy loose suggestions,
Upon which better part our prayers come in,
If thou vouchsafe them. But if not, then know 305
The peril of our curses light on thee
So heavy as thou shalt not shake them off,
But in despair die under their black weight. | Philip has a hard time making up his mind. And so, he turns to Pandulph again, and makes a big speech about how his family and John's have just become one through the marriage of Louis and Blanche. Not to mention the fact that they were at war with each other until, oh, maybe an hour ago? Is Pandulph really asking them to give this all up and break the peace? Pandulph says, "You bet I am." Then he tells King Philip that, if he doesn't make war against King John ASAP, he's going to end up on the Church's list of enemies. When Philip protests, Pandulph beats him over the head with an extremely long and complicated speech. This speech basically boils down to saying: you swore loyalty to the Church first; you can't be loyal to King John without being disloyal to the Church; therefore, you should honor your original agreement and break your ties with John. This same basic idea gets repeated several times in the speech, only in different language. |
AUSTRIA
Rebellion, flat rebellion! BASTARD
Will ’t not be? 310
Will not a calfskin stop that mouth of thine? DAUPHIN
Father, to arms! BLANCHE
Upon thy wedding day?
Against the blood that thou hast marrièd?
What, shall our feast be kept with slaughtered men? 315
Shall braying trumpets and loud churlish drums,
Clamors of hell, be measures to our pomp?
She kneels.
O husband, hear me! Ay, alack, how new
Is “husband” in my mouth! Even for that name,
Which till this time my tongue did ne’er pronounce, 320
Upon my knee I beg, go not to arms
Against mine uncle. CONSTANCE, kneeling
O, upon my knee
Made hard with kneeling, I do pray to thee,
Thou virtuous Dauphin, alter not the doom 325
Forethought by heaven! BLANCHE, to Dauphin
Now shall I see thy love. What motive may
Be stronger with thee than the name of wife? CONSTANCE
That which upholdeth him that thee upholds,
His honor.—O, thine honor, Louis, thine honor! 330 DAUPHIN, to King Philip
I muse your Majesty doth seem so cold,
When such profound respects do pull you on. PANDULPH
I will denounce a curse upon his head. KING PHILIP, dropping King John’s hand
Thou shalt not need.—England, I will fall from
thee. | When Pandulph is done talking, Austria and Louis encourage Philip to make war against King John. Blanche is shocked at Louis's attitude: is he really going to make war against his bride's family on their wedding day? Meanwhile, Constance tries to persuade Philip to go for it. Finally, King Philip says fine, he won't be friends with King John anymore. |
CONSTANCE, rising
O, fair return of banished majesty! QUEEN ELEANOR
O, foul revolt of French inconstancy! KING JOHN
France, thou shalt rue this hour within this hour. BASTARD
Old Time the clock-setter, that bald sexton Time,
Is it as he will? Well, then, France shall rue. 340 BLANCHE, rising
The sun’s o’ercast with blood. Fair day, adieu.
Which is the side that I must go withal?
I am with both, each army hath a hand,
And in their rage, I having hold of both,
They whirl asunder and dismember me. 345
Husband, I cannot pray that thou mayst win.—
Uncle, I needs must pray that thou mayst lose.—
Father, I may not wish the fortune thine.—
Grandam, I will not wish thy wishes thrive.
Whoever wins, on that side shall I lose. 350
Assurèd loss before the match be played. DAUPHIN
Lady, with me, with me thy fortune lies. BLANCHE
There where my fortune lives, there my life dies. KING JOHN, to Bastard
Cousin, go draw our puissance together. Bastard exits. France, I am burned up with inflaming wrath, 355
A rage whose heat hath this condition,
That nothing can allay, nothing but blood—
The blood, and dearest-valued blood, of France. KING PHILIP
Thy rage shall burn thee up, and thou shalt turn
To ashes ere our blood shall quench that fire. 360
Look to thyself. Thou art in jeopardy. KING JOHN
No more than he that threats.—To arms let’s hie! They exit. | Blanche is pretty bummed—her divided loyalties mean that she will be grieving no matter how the battle turns out. (Does this sound familiar? It's basically how Juliet feels when her new husband Romeo kills her cousin Tybalt in Act 3, Scene 1 of Romeo and Juliet.) After King John and King Philip spout some horrible threats at each other, each king heads back to his own army in order to get ready for battle. Wow. That went south fast. |