King John Family Quotes

Whenever there's a debate about who should be the monarch in one of Shakespeare's history plays, it usually boils down to family conflict. That's because the title of king was traditionally passed down from fathers to oldest sons. Here, we find out that Arthur should have been crowned king because he's the son of Geoffrey, who was King John's older brother.

Queen Eleanor wants her son (John) to remain king. Eleanor's daughter-in-law, Constance, wants her own son (Arthur) to become king. Uh oh. Look out, because these two mama bears will do anything to help their sons achieve their political goals.

About two seconds after King John finds out that the legitimacy of his kingship is being challenged by his nephew, he's asked to settle a legal dispute between two brothers fighting over who should get to inherit their fathers' land. Gee, Shakespeare. Just beat us over the head with this whole family inheritance issue, why don't you? Here, we find out that Robert Falconbridge doesn't think his older brother Philip should get to inherit his dead dad's land because Philip is a "bastard," which should disqualify him from getting anything.

In Shakespeare's own day, this was usually the case. Since a man's wealth, land, and titles usually went to his oldest (legitimate) son, that meant that younger sons, daughters, and illegitimate kids got shafted in the family will. In the play King Lear, Edmund begs the gods to "stand up for bastards!"(King Lear, 1.2). By the way, the gods do no such thing in King Lear. But what's interesting about this play is that the gods really do stand up for bastards. Keep reading and we'll tell you why...

In the previous passage, we explained how in Shakespeare's own time, "bastard" children usually got shafted when it came to inheriting anything from their dads. But in King John, Philip the Bastard actually gets to inherit his adoptive father's land because of a law that says that once a woman is married, her husband is technically considered the legal baby-daddy of any child she bears. That's pretty shocking because this stuff never happens in Shakespeare's other plays.

Even crazier is the fact that Philip the Bastard ends up turning down his inheritance for the opportunity to become a member of King John's posse. The effect of this is pretty interesting because it allows the Bastard's "illegitimate" status to be associated with the crown. Does that make King John somehow illegitimate by association? Hmm.

Hey, what you know. More talk about "bastards." In this famous scene, Eleanor and Constance each accuse each other of giving birth to illegitimate children. (King John and Arthur, respectively.) Truth be told, neither one of these women is a cheating wife. (Not in Shakespeare's play, anyway.) So, why sling such nasty accusations? Since both Eleanor and Constance each argue that their own precious little boy is the rightful heir to the throne, they're trying to discredit each other's son by name calling.

If you thought Eleanor and Constance were out of control for accusing each other of sleeping around, get a load of this. Here, the Bastard voices a common cultural anxiety when he says he knows for sure who his mom is but doubts who his father is. By the way, we notice that Eleanor doesn't like it when the Bastard questions his mom's fidelity, but she herself has no problem insulting Constance. What's up with that?

Okay. We know that Eleanor wants her son (John) to be king, even if Arthur has a better claim to the throne. After all, John is her son. But wait a minute. Arthur is Eleanor's grandson, the child of her older son, Geoffrey. So, basically, Grandma Eleanor is trying to screw her own flesh and blood right out of his right to be king. This is the point Constance makes in this passage when she uses a mocking baby voice to imitate Eleanor, who is obviously manipulating little Arthur when she speaks sweetly to him.

Yikes! This is where King John orders his nephew's execution. This is the creepiest line from the play, don't you think? And yeah, we know that it looks like 5 different lines but this exchange between John and Hubert is meant to be spoken rapidly, as one continuous sentence, which has the effect of making the whole conversation about killing little Arthur even more sinister. By the way, King John isn't the only Shakespearean uncle to order the execution of a nephew. In the play Richard III, King Richard has the Young Princes snuffed out because they could make a claim to the throne. The point? Family members can rarely be trusted, especially when political power is at stake.

Constance is pretty devastated that her son Arthur has been taken prisoner by King John. So devastated, in fact, that she just assumes he's already dead (or will be shortly). What's interesting about this passage is the way she makes a reference to Cain, Adam and Eve's firstborn son in the Book of Genesis—you know, the guy who killed his little brother Abel and then tried to deny it. Whenever Shakespeare makes a reference to Cain in a history play, you can bet he wants us to think about family violence. In this case, the shout-out to Cain reminds us of the fact that Arthur's own uncle (that would be King John) has just ordered his execution.

Here, a messenger (conveniently named "Messenger") delivers the news that both Constance and Eleanor are dead. Up until this point, these two powerful women have driven a lot of the action in the play—each pushing for her own son to be king. What's super interesting about Eleanor's death is that once she's gone, her son John seems to turn into a weak-willed wimp who can't seem to make a good decision about how to defend his crown and kingdom. Same goes for Arthur, who makes the bad decision to jump from the castle walls when his mom isn't around to tell him what to do. Basically, moms are really important figures (even though Shakespeare gets rid of them halfway through the play).