King John

A History

William Shakespeare

• Publisher: HarperPerennial Classics
• Year: 2014
• eBook ISBN: 9781443443388
• Topic: Literature
• Subtopic: Shakespeare Drama
• Index: Literature

Treachery and betrayal are the order of the day during the reign of King John of England (1199-1216.) After he is forced to recognize the illegitimate son of his dead brother, King Richard I, King John finds himself under siege by the French king, Philip. At the same time, his appointment of an archbishop without the pope's consent result in John's excommunication from the church, and his nobles' divided loyalties are revealed as they choose between the anointed King John and Louis the Dauphin of France.

Known as "The Bard of Avon," William Shakespeare is arguably the greatest English-language writer known. Enormously popular during his life, Shakespeare's works continue to resonate more than three centuries after his death, as has his influence on theatre and literature. Shakespeare's innovative use of character, language, and experimentation with romance as tragedy served as a foundation for later playwrights and dramatists, and some of his most famous lines of dialogue have become part of everyday speech.

HarperPerennialClassics brings great works of literature to life in digital format, upholding the highest standards in ebook production and celebrating reading in all its forms. Look for more titles in the HarperPerennial Classics collection to build your digital library.

ACT THREE

SCENE I. France. The French King’s camp.

Enter CONSTANCE, ARTHUR, and SALISBURY.

CONSTANCE Gone to be married! Gone to swear a peace!

False blood to false blood join’d! Gone to be friends!

Shall Lewis have Blanch, and Blanch those provinces?

It is not so; thou hast misspoke, misheard;

[5]

Be well advis’d, 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 shall be punish’d for thus frighting me,

For I am sick and capable of fears,

Oppress’d 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 vex’d 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!

Lewis marry Blanch! O boy, then where art thou?

[35]

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

But spoke the harm that is by others done?

[40]

CONSTANCE Which harm within itself so heinous is

As it makes harmful ail that speak of it.

ARTHUR I do beseech you, madam, be content.

CONSTANCE If thou that bid’st me be content wert grim,

Ugly, and sland’rous to thy mother’s womb,

[45]

Full of unpleasing blots and sightless stains,

Lame, foolish, crooked, swart, prodigious,

Patch’d with foul moles and eye-offending marks,

I would not care, I then would be content;

For then I should not love thee; no, nor thou

[50]

Become thy great birth, nor deserve a crown.

But thou art fair, and at thy birth, dear boy,

Nature and Fortune join’d to make thee great:

Of Nature’s gifts thou mayst with lilies boast,

And with the half-blown rose; but Fortune, O!

[55]

She is corrupted, chang’d, and won from thee;

Sh’ adulterates hourly with thine uncle John,

And with her golden hand hath pluck’d on France

To tread down fair respect of sovereignty,

And made his majesty the bawd to theirs.

[60]

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

And leave those woes alone which I alone

Am bound to under-bear.

[65]

SALISBURY Pardon me, madam,

I may not go without you to the kings.

CONSTANCE Thou mayst, thou shalt; I will not go with thee;

I will instruct my sorrows to be proud,

For grief is proud, and makes his owner stoop.

[70]

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

Can hold it up. [Seals herself on the ground.

Here I and sorrows sit;

Here is my throne, bid kings come bow to it.

Enter KING JOHN, KING PHILIP, LEWIS, BLANCH, ELINOR, the BASTARD, AUSTRIA, and Attendants.

[75]

KING PHILIP ’Tis true, fair daughter, and this blessed day

Ever in France shall be kept festival.

To solemnize this day the glorious sun

Stays in his course and plays the alchemist,

Turning with splendour of his precious eye

[80]

The meagre cloddy earth to glittering gold.

The yearly course that brings this day about

Shall never see it but a holiday.

CONSTANCE [Rising] A wicked day, and not a holy day!

What hath this day deserv’d? what hath it done

[85]

That it in golden letters should be set

Among the high tides in the calendar?

Nay, rather turn this day out of the week,

This day of shame, oppression, perjury;

Or, if it must stand still, let wives with child

[90]

Pray that their burdens may not fall this day,

Lest that their hopes prodigiously be cross’d;

But on this day let seamen fear no wreck;

No bargains break that are not this day made;

This day, all things begun come to ill end,

[95]

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.

Have I not pawn’d to you my majesty?

CONSTANCE You have beguil’d me with a counterfeit

[100]

Resembling majesty, which, being touch’d and tried,

Proves valueless; you are forsworn, forsworn;

You came in arms to spill mine enemies’ blood,

But now in arms you strengthen it with yours.

The grappling vigour and rough f...

Table of contents

• Contents
• King John
• Dramatis Personae
• Act One
• Act Two
• Act Three
• Act Four
• Act Five
• About the Author
• About the Series
• Copyright
• About the Publisher