Original: If thou, that bid’st me be content, wert grim,
Modern: If you, who tell me to accept this situation, were ugly,

Original: Ugly and slanderous to thy mother’s womb,
Modern: So hideous that you were an insult to your mother who bore you,

Original: Full of unpleasing blots and sightless stains,
Modern: Covered with disgusting blemishes and unsightly marks,

Original: Lame, foolish, crooked, swart, prodigious,
Modern: Crippled, stupid, deformed, dark-skinned, monstrous,

Original: Patch’d with foul moles and eye-offending marks,
Modern: Spotted with ugly moles and marks that hurt to look at,

Original: I would not care, I then would be content,
Modern: I wouldn’t care about this—I could accept it then,

Original: For then I should not love thee, no, nor thou
Modern: Because then I wouldn’t love you, and you wouldn’t

Original: Become thy great birth nor deserve a crown.
Modern: Be worthy of your noble bloodline or deserve to be king.

Original: But thou art fair, and at thy birth, dear boy,
Modern: But you are beautiful, and when you were born, dear child,

Original: Nature and Fortune join’d to make thee great:
Modern: Nature and Fate worked together to make you magnificent:

Original: Of Nature’s gifts thou mayst with lilies boast,
Modern: You can brag about Nature’s gifts—you’re as pure as lilies,

Original: And with the half-blown rose. But Fortune, O,
Modern: And as beautiful as a rose in bloom. But Fate—oh,

Original: She is corrupted, changed and won from thee;
Modern: She has been corrupted, turned against you, and stolen from your side;

Original: She adulterates hourly with thine uncle John,
Modern: She betrays you constantly by siding with your uncle John,

Original: And with her golden hand hath pluck’d on France
Modern: And with her powerful influence has pulled France into this,

Original: To tread down fair respect of sovereignty,
Modern: To trample on the proper respect for rightful kingship,

Original: And made his majesty the bawd to theirs.
Modern: And made the French king act as a pimp for their schemes.

Original: France is a bawd to Fortune and King John,
Modern: France is a pimp serving both Fate and King John,

Original: That strumpet Fortune, that usurping John!
Modern: That whore Fate, that throne-stealing John!

Original: Tell me, thou fellow, is not France forsworn?
Modern: Tell me, you messenger, hasn’t France broken its oath?

Original: Envenom him with words, or get thee gone
Modern: Attack him with poisonous words, or leave

Original: And leave those woes alone which I alone
Modern: And leave me alone with these sorrows that only I

Original: Am bound to under-bear.
Modern: Am forced to endure.

In Act III, Scene 1 of “King John,” the scene takes place in France at the court of King Philip. Constance enters in great distress, having learned that her son Arthur’s claim to the English throne has been compromised by a political marriage alliance between England and France. King Philip has agreed to a peace with King John, sealed by the marriage of John’s niece Blanche to Lewis, the French Dauphin. Constance bitterly denounces this betrayal, accusing Philip of abandoning Arthur’s rightful claim and breaking his earlier oath to support her son. She rails against Austria and rails against the political expediency that has sacrificed Arthur’s inheritance for the sake of this convenient peace.

The scene’s dramatic tension escalates with the entrance of Cardinal Pandulph, the papal legate, who arrives to demand King John’s acceptance of the Pope’s chosen candidate, Stephen Langton, as Archbishop of Canterbury. When John refuses and defies papal authority, Pandulph excommunicates him and releases Philip from his newly-made alliance with England, commanding the French king to make war against John on behalf of the Church. This sudden reversal throws the political situation back into chaos. Philip is torn between his fresh oath to John and his duty to the Church, while the marriage that was meant to secure peace now stands as an obstacle to renewed war. The scene ends with the French reluctantly accepting that they must break their new alliance and return to hostilities against England.

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.