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Constance

King John: Act 3, Scene 1

Monologue

Gone to be married! gone to swear a peace!

False blood to false blood join'd! gone to be friends!

Shall Lewis have Blanch, and Blanch those provinces?

It is not so; thou hast misspoke, misheard:

Be well advised, tell o'er thy tale again:

It cannot be; thou dost but say 'tis so:

I trust I may not trust thee; for thy word

Is but the vain breath of a common man:

Believe me, I do not believe thee, man;

I have a king's oath to the contrary.

Thou shalt be punish'd for thus frighting me,

For I am sick and capable of fears,

Oppress'd with wrongs and therefore full of fears,

A widow, husbandless, subject to fears,

A woman, naturally born to fears;

And though thou now confess thou didst but jest,

With my vex'd spirits I cannot take a truce,

But they will quake and tremble all this day.

What dost thou mean by shaking of thy head?

Why dost thou look so sadly on my son?

What means that hand upon that breast of thine?

Why holds thine eye that lamentable rheum,

Like a proud river peering o'er his bounds?

Be these sad signs confirmers of thy words?

Then speak again; not all thy former tale,

But this one word, whether thy tale be true.

Scored Monologue

Each row of the following table represents one line of the monologue. The first column indicates the number of syllables in that line of text. The second column is scored text, meaning that boldfaced text indicates where emphasis should be placed when performing the monologue. The third column represents a beat, or section, of the monologue. The third column is only used to indicate the beginning of a beat and its meaning, or the end of a beat.

Number of syllables Scored text Meaning of beat
10 Gone to be marr ied! Gone to swear a peace ! [Beginning of beat 1] to interrogate
10

False blood to false blood join'd ! gone to be friends !
10 Shall Lewis have Blanch , and Blanch those prov inc es ? [End of beat 1]
10 It is not so ; thou hast mis spoke , mis heard : [Beginning of beat 2] to attack
10 Be well ad vised , tell o'er thy tale a gain :
10 It can not be ; thou dost but say 'tis so:
10 I trust I may not trust thee; for thy word
10 Is but the vain breath of a comm on man :
10 Be lieve me, I do not be lieve thee, man ;
10 I have a king's oath to the con tra ry .
10 Thou shalt be puni sh'd for thus fright ing me ,
10 For I am sick and ca pa ble of fears ,
10 Op press'd with wrongs and there fore full of fears,
10

A wid ow, hus bandl ess , sub ject to fears,

10 A wom an, nat u ral ly born to fears;
10 And though thou now con fess thou didst but jest,
10 With my vex'd s pirits I can not take a truce ,
10 But they will quake and trem ble all this day . [End of beat 2]
10 What dost thou mean by shak ing of thy head ? [Beginning of beat 3] to question
10 Why dost thou look so sad ly on my son ?
10 What means that hand u pon that breast of thine ?
10

Why holds thine eye that lam en tab le rheum ,
10 Like a proud riv er peer ing o'er his bounds ?
10 Be these sad signs con firm ers of thy words ?
10 Then speak a gain ; not all thy form er tale ,
10

But this one word , wheth er thy tale be true .

 [End of beat 3]

Definitions from David & Ben Crystal / Shakespeare's Words are under copyright, and may not be used without their express permission. All other definitions are from sources in the public domain.
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