How we cite our quotes: (Act.Scene.Line)
Quote #4
KING PHILIP
Good reverend father, make my person yours,
And tell me how you would bestow yourself.
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
Was deep-sworn faith, peace, amity, true love
Between our kingdoms and our royal selves; (3.1.234-242)
After Pandolf has tried to break up the alliance between King John and King Philip, King Philip shows that he values loyalty. It would be horrible for him, after he has just married his son Louis to John's niece Blanche, to have to go to war against his new family. Not too shabby, Philip, but the true test of loyalty is whether you stick together through thick and through thin. Will he? We'll just have to see. (We're not holding our breath.)
Quote #5
PANDULF
It is religion that doth make vows kept,
But thou hast sworn against religion
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,
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. (3.1.289-300)
These words come from the long, tricky, and complicated speech in which Pandolf tries to show King Philip that severing his alliance with King John is simply the right thing to do. We think it's pretty clear that Pandolf is being deliberately confusing in order to intellectually bludgeon his opponents into submission, but we think his speech can actually be broken like this: basically, Pandolf is saying that (a) you think you're behaving in a religious way by staying loyal to John; (b) but you forget that John is an enemy of the Church, and therefore an enemy of religion; (c) because you swore loyalty to the Church and to religion first, then you never should have gotten involved with John in the first place; (d) therefore, the most loyal thing to do is to break your alliance with John, because it lets you keep your original vow of loyalty to the Church. Do you agree with this logic? If you were King Philip and really wanted to keep your alliance with King John, what would you say to Pandolf at this point?
Quote #6
BLANCHE
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.
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.
Assured loss before the match be played. (3.1.341-351)
If you've already read the play, you know how things turn out in the three-way argument between John, Philip, and Cardinal Pandolf: Philip breaks his alliance with John, meaning that England and France must do battle against each other once again. It's at this point that Blanche makes the speech you see here. Because she is loyal to both sides—to John and his family through blood, and to Louis and his family through marriage (and, hence, by blood, too, according to the Christian tradition that a man and his wife become "one flesh")—there's no way that any battle can turn out well for her.