Original: So makest thou faith an enemy to faith;
Modern: So you’re making one promise the enemy of another promise;

Original: And like a civil war set’st oath to oath,
Modern: And like a civil war, you’re setting one vow against another vow,

Original: Thy tongue against thy tongue. O, let thy vow
Modern: Your own word against your own word. Oh, let the vow

Original: First made to heaven, first be to heaven perform’d,
Modern: You first made to heaven be the first one you keep,

Original: That is, to be the champion of our church!
Modern: That is, to be the defender of our church!

Original: What since thou sworest is sworn against thyself
Modern: What you’ve sworn since then is sworn against yourself

Original: And may not be performed by thyself,
Modern: And cannot be kept by you,

Original: For that which thou hast sworn to do amiss
Modern: Because that which you’ve sworn to do wrongly

Original: Is not amiss when it is truly done,
Modern: Is not actually wrong when it’s properly completed,

Original: And being not done, where doing tends to ill,
Modern: And by not doing it, when doing it would lead to evil,

Original: The truth is then most done not doing it:
Modern: The truth is best served by not doing it:

Original: The better act of purposes mistook
Modern: The better action when you’ve made a mistake in your intentions

Original: Is to mistake again; though indirect,
Modern: Is to reverse that mistake; though it seems roundabout,

Original: Yet indirection thereby grows direct,
Modern: Yet this indirect path actually becomes the direct one,

Original: And falsehood falsehood cures, as fire cools fire
Modern: And one false oath cancels another false oath, just as fire cools fire

Original: Within the scorched veins of one new-burn’d.
Modern: In the burned veins of someone who’s just been burned.

Original: It is religion that doth make vows kept;
Modern: It is religion that makes vows worth keeping;

Original: But thou hast sworn against religion,
Modern: But you have sworn an oath against religion,

Original: By what thou swear’st against the thing thou swear’st,
Modern: By swearing against the very thing you’re swearing by,

Original: And makest an oath the surety for thy truth
Modern: And you’re making an oath the guarantee for your honesty

Original: Against an oath: the truth thou art unsure
Modern: Against another oath: the truth you’re uncertain about

Original: To swear, swears only not to be forsworn;
Modern: When swearing, only swears not to break your word;

Original: Else what a mockery should it be to swear!
Modern: Otherwise what a joke it would be to make vows!

Original: But thou dost swear only to be forsworn;
Modern: But you only make vows in order to break them;

Original: And most forsworn, to keep what thou dost swear.
Modern: And you’d be most oath-breaking by keeping what you’ve sworn.

Original: Therefore thy later vows against thy first
Modern: Therefore your later vows made against your first ones

Original: Is in thyself rebellion to thyself;
Modern: Are you rebelling against yourself;

Original: And better conquest never canst thou make
Modern: And you can never make a better conquest

Original: Than arm thy constant and thy nobler parts
Modern: Than to strengthen your steadfast and nobler qualities

Original: Against these giddy loose suggestions:
Modern: Against these reckless and foolish temptations:

Original: Upon which better part our prayers come in,
Modern: To support that better part of you, our prayers are offered,

Original: If thou vouchsafe them. But if not, then know
Modern: If you will accept them. But if not, then know

Original: The peril of our curses light on thee
Modern: The danger of our curses will fall upon you

Original: So heavy as thou shalt not shake them off,
Modern: So heavily that you won’t be able to shake them off,

Original: But in despair die under their black weight.
Modern: But will die in despair crushed under their dark weight.

In Act III, Scene 1 of King John, the scene opens in the French King’s pavilion where King Philip of France, Lewis the Dauphin, Pandulph (the papal legate), and attendants are present. Constance enters in a distracted state, expressing her profound grief over the capture of her son Arthur by King John. She refuses to be comforted by King Philip and responds to his attempts at consolation with increasingly frantic declarations of her sorrow. Pandulph tries to reason with her about the nature of grief and madness, but Constance eloquently defends her sanity while insisting that her grief is both reasonable and overwhelming. King Philip urges her to bind up her disheveled hair, but she refuses, using her loose hair as a physical manifestation of her internal anguish.

The scene continues as Constance describes her deep connection to Arthur and declares that she will never see joy again. She exits, and King Philip expresses concern that she may harm herself in her distress, sending attendants to follow her. Pandulph then turns the conversation to political matters, encouraging Lewis the Dauphin to consider his claim to the English throne through his marriage to Blanche, King John’s niece. Pandulph predicts that King John will likely have Arthur killed, which would make Blanche the heir and give Lewis a strong claim to England. The scene ends with Pandulph crafting a plan for Lewis to pursue the English crown, urging him to act on this opportunity while King John is vulnerable and hated for his defiance of the Church.

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.