How we cite our quotes: (Act.Scene.Line)
Quote #7
BLANCHE
My uncle's will in this respect is mine.
If he see aught in you that makes him like,
That any thing he sees, which moves his liking
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,
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. (2.1.533-544)
In these lines, Blanche shows off her intelligence. On the one hand, she recognizes that she has no real power; as a woman, she will have to knuckle under and go with whatever her uncle decides. Still, she succeeds in working into her speech a subtle dig at Louis by saying that the best she can say about him is that nothing about him "should merit any hate." Yeah, real big compliment there, and she just dropped that bomb in public.
Quote #8
CONSTANCE
Thou shalt be punished for thus frighting me,
For I am sick and capable of fears,
Oppressed with wrongs and therefore full of fears,
A widow, husbandless, subject to fears,
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. (2.2.12-19)
Here, Constance sums up her general sense of powerlessness when she learns that King Philip is going to marry his son Louis to King John's niece Blanche, thus ending his support for Arthur's bid for the kingship. It's striking how many of Constance's problems relate to her position as a woman. As a "widow" who is "husbandless," she lacks the person who is supposed to defend her, according to the social customs of the day. On top of that, she describes herself as a "woman, naturally born to fears." What do you think she means by this? Is it a commentary on the inherent nature of women, or on the situation that women inevitably find themselves in, in a society such as hers, particularly when they're involved in power struggles? Would you want to live with the kind of violence and backstabbing these people lived with?
Quote #9
PANDULF
You hold too heinous a respect of grief.
CONSTANCE
He talks to me that never had a son.
KING PHILIP
You are as fond of grief as of your child.
CONSTANCE
Grief fills the room up of my absent child,
Lies in his bed, walks up and down with me,
Puts on his pretty looks, repeats his words,
Remembers me of all his gracious parts,
Stuffs out his vacant garments with his form;
Then, have I reason to be fond of grief? (3.4.92-100)
Constance's madness could be viewed in terms of traditional stereotypes about women as irrational and prone to violent emotion. But Shakespeare gives Constance some strong comebacks to criticism of this sort. Her first comeback is against Pandolf, who, as a clergyman, really can't know what it's like to have children and in her opinion should therefore refrain from judging her. Her second comeback is against King Philip, and it comes when she gives a detailed account of how her grieving fills up the space left by her "absent child." Her account is so powerful that, at the end of it, she's even able to defend herself by saying that she has "reason to be fond of grief." Thus, in her view, her irrational behavior is actually rational. Do you find Constance's arguments here convincing?