How we cite our quotes: (Act.Scene.Line)
Quote #4
KING PHILIP
Is not the Lady Constance in this troop?
I know she is not, for this match made up
Her presence would have interrupted much.
Where is she and her son? Tell me, who knows.
DAUPHIN
She is sad and passionate at your Highness' tent.
KING PHILIP
And, by my faith, this league that we have made
Will give her sadness very little cure.—
Brother of England, how may we content
This widow lady? In her right we came,
Which we, God knows, have turned another way
To our own vantage. (2.1.566-575)
In these lines, King Philip and Louis sheepishly acknowledge to each other that Constance is ticked off because they have betrayed her and Arthur. King Philip asks King John if he can do anything to minimize Constance's hurt feelings, but it's pretty clear that this damage control can't change the plain fact of betrayal.
Quote #5
BASTARD
And France, whose armor conscience buckled on,
Whom zeal and charity brought to the field
As God's own soldier, rounded in the ear
With that same purpose-changer, that sly devil,
That broker that still breaks the pate of faith,
That daily break-vow, he that wins of all,
Of kings, of beggars, old men, young men, maids—
Who, having no external thing to lose
But the word 'maid,' cheats the poor maid of
that—
That smooth-faced gentleman, tickling Commodity,
Commodity, the bias of the world—
[…]
And this same bias, this Commodity,
This bawd, this broker, this all-changing word,
Clapped on the outward eye of fickle France,
Hath drawn him from his own determined aid,
From a resolved and honorable war
To a most base and vile-concluded peace. (2.1.591-602; 609-614)
This is one of the most famous speeches in the play. In these lines, the Bastard identifies the main culprit behind the betrayal that has just taken place (King Philip has betrayed Arthur and Constance). In the Bastard's eyes, the culprit is "commodity," otherwise known as self-interest. When people are looking out for Number One, they have a tendency to break their promises to other people. Do you think the Bastard is right in his assessment? If he is, what is it that makes people keep their promises, as they sometimes do, even in this play?
Quote #6
KING PHILIP
By heaven, lady, you shall have no cause
To curse the fair proceedings of this day.
Have I not pawned to you my majesty?
CONSTANCE
You have beguiled me with a counterfeit
Resembling majesty, which, being touched and tried,
Proves valueless. You are forsworn, forsworn.
You came in arms to spill mine enemies' blood,
But now in arms you strengthen it with yours. (3.1.99-106)
In these lines, King Philip tries to make friends with Constance, telling her that she didn't come out so badly in the deal he cut with King John. (King John has offered to make Arthur Duke of Brittany.) But Constance isn't satisfied with this: she insists on telling it like it is, to King Philip's face, telling him he is "forsworn"—meaning that he broke his promise and betrayed her.