Original: Then turn your forces from this paltry siege
Modern: So stop wasting your troops on this small, unimportant siege

Original: And stir them up against a mightier task.
Modern: And get them ready for a much bigger challenge.

Original: England, impatient of your just demands,
Modern: England, unwilling to wait for your reasonable demands,

Original: Hath put himself in arms: the adverse winds,
Modern: Has prepared his army for war: the unfavorable winds,

Original: Whose leisure I have stay’d, have given him time
Modern: Which I waited for, have given him enough time

Original: To land his legions all as soon as I;
Modern: To land all his armies at the same time as me;

Original: His marches are expedient to this town,
Modern: His troops are marching quickly toward this town,

Original: His forces strong, his soldiers confident.
Modern: His forces are powerful, his soldiers are self-assured.

Original: With him along is come the mother-queen,
Modern: Traveling with him is the queen mother,

Original: An Ate, stirring him to blood and strife;
Modern: A goddess of destruction, urging him toward violence and conflict;

Original: With her her niece, the Lady Blanch of Spain;
Modern: With her is her niece, Lady Blanch of Spain;

Original: With them a bastard of the king’s deceased,
Modern: With them is an illegitimate son of the dead king,

Original: And all the unsettled humours of the land,
Modern: And all the restless troublemakers of the country,

Original: Rash, inconsiderate, fiery voluntaries,
Modern: Reckless, thoughtless, hot-headed volunteers,

Original: With ladies’ faces and fierce dragons’ spleens,
Modern: With innocent faces but fierce, violent tempers,

Original: Have sold their fortunes at their native homes,
Modern: Have sold their possessions back in their homeland,

Original: Bearing their birthrights proudly on their backs,
Modern: Carrying their inheritances proudly on their backs,

Original: To make hazard of new fortunes here:
Modern: To gamble for new wealth here:

Original: In brief, a braver choice of dauntless spirits
Modern: In short, a more courageous group of fearless warriors

Original: Than now the English bottoms have waft o’er
Modern: Than the English ships have just carried across

Original: Did nearer float upon the swelling tide,
Modern: Never sailed closer on the rising waves,

Original: To do offence and scath in Christendom.
Modern: Ready to attack and cause destruction in the Christian world.

Original: The interruption of their churlish drums
Modern: The rude interruption of their war drums

Original: Cuts off more circumstance: they are at hand,
Modern: Cuts short further explanation: they are nearby,

Original: To parley or to fight; therefore prepare.
Modern: Either to negotiate or to fight; so get ready.

King John opens with King Philip of France supporting Arthur, the young son of John’s deceased brother Geoffrey, as the rightful heir to the English throne. John’s mother, Queen Eleanor, and the French court engage in heated disputes over legitimacy. Meanwhile, the Bastard (Philip Faulconbridge), illegitimate son of Richard the Lionheart, joins John’s cause after being legitimized. War breaks out between England and France, with the strategic town of Angiers caught between the two armies.

The conflict temporarily resolves when John’s niece Blanche marries the French Dauphin Lewis, uniting the two kingdoms. However, Cardinal Pandulph arrives from Rome and excommunicates John for refusing to accept Stephen Langton as Archbishop of Canterbury. The Cardinal persuades France to break the peace and resume war against the excommunicated English king. In the ensuing battle, Arthur is captured by John’s forces.

John orders Hubert to kill the young Arthur, but Hubert cannot bring himself to murder the child and instead hides him. When Arthur later dies attempting to escape from his prison tower, the English nobles believe John has murdered him and defect to join the invading French forces led by the Dauphin. As John faces rebellion from within and invasion from without, he submits to the Pope’s authority to regain legitimacy. However, he falls ill and is poisoned by a monk at Swinstead Abbey.

The Bastard rallies the remaining English forces and discovers that the French nobles plan to kill their English allies after victory. This intelligence helps reconcile the English lords to their king. John dies, and his young son Henry is crowned King Henry III. The Dauphin withdraws his forces, and Cardinal Pandulph negotiates peace. The play concludes with the Bastard delivering a patriotic speech about England’s strength when united against foreign threats.