How we cite our quotes: (Act.Scene.Line)
Quote #4
KING JOHN
Sirrah, your brother is legitimate.
Your father's wife did after wedlock bear him,
And if she did play false, the fault was hers,
Which fault lies on the hazards of all husbands
That marry wives. Tell me, how if my brother,
Who as you say took pains to get this son,
Had of your father claimed this son for his?
In sooth, good friend, your father might have kept
This calf bred from his cow from all the world;
In sooth he might. Then if he were my brother's,
My brother might not claim him, nor your father,
Being none of his, refuse him. This concludes:
My mother's son did get your father's heir;
Your father's heir must have your father's land. (1.1.119-132)
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.
Quote #5
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
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
His father never was so true begot.
It cannot be, an if thou wert his mother.
QUEEN ELEANOR
There's a good mother, boy, that blots thy father.
CONSTANCE
There's a good grandam, boy, that would blot thee. (2.1.123-134)
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.
Quote #6
BASTARD
Most certain of one mother, mighty king—
That is well known—and, as I think, one father.
But for the certain knowledge of that truth
I put you o'er to heaven and to my mother.
Of that I doubt, as all men's children may.
QUEEN ELEANOR
Out on thee, rude man! thou dost shame thy
mother
And wound her honor with this diffidence. (1.1.60-67)
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?