King John Theme of Betrayal

There's more backstabbing in King John than in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. And that's saying a lot because Julius Caesar literally gets stabbed in the back... about a gajillion times.)

From beginning to end, King John is rife with all manner of political double-crosses. Actually, they're usually more like triple-crosses, or even more. For example, King Philip betrays Constance and Arthur when he thinks he can secure a good deal for his son Louis; but then he betrays his new alliance with King John when Cardinal Pandolf brings the pressure of the Church to bear on him.

Even more complicated are the betrayals in the second half of the play. The English noblemen betray King John because they think he has murdered Arthur; but after joining forces with Louis the Dauphin and making war on King John, they learn from Count Melun (who is betraying Louis by revealing this information) that Louis plans to betray them by executing them after the war's over; so then they betray Louis and join back up with King John.

Sounds like a political soap opera, right? In general, the betrayals follow the pattern put forward by the Bastard: in nearly every case, they come about because of "commodity" (self-interest), which outweighs a person's sense of loyalty to someone else.

There are exceptions to this rule, of course: the most notable of these is when Hubert betrays King John by failing to kill Arthur. Hubert doesn't have any reason for doing this other than love and pity for Arthur: even though Arthur ends up dying, anyway, we can say that Hubert's case shows us that betrayal isn't always bad. This is typical of the way that Shakespeare prevents us from finding easy answers to moral questions.

1. Nearly everyone betrays everyone else in this play. Does that betrayal is okay in this play?
2. If betrayal is only acceptable under certain circumstances, what are those circumstances in King John?
3. The Bastard says that the main reason people betray each another is "commodity" (self-interest). Do you agree with him?

Louis is right: on the whole, in King John, it's once traitor, always a traitor.

The Bastard is right about "commodity" (self-interest) inspiring people to betray one another, but only up to a point. Hubert betrays King John out of love and pity for Arthur, which prevents him from killing the child.