![]() This grief is misinterpreted, criticised and even mocked by the people around Constance – they tell her she holds “too heinous a respect of grief” and that she utters “madness and not sorrow”. The kidnapping (and ultimate death) of Arthur is what propels Constance into a deep state of grief. King Phillip, seeing a more profitable alliance with John, abandons Constance, and in a battle between King John’s forces and their opposition, Arthur, Constance’s son, is kidnapped. Without the support of her allies, there is little she can do for Arthur, and eventually this problem comes to a head. Though ambitious and resourceful, Constance is limited by her agency as a female in the time of this play’s setting. These alliances cause tension in the Kingdom, and Constance begins to make herself some powerful enemies. To do this, she enlists the help of various other monarchs: King Phillip of France and the Duke of Austria. So Constance must fight to reclaim the crown for her son, Arthur. This desire is where Constance meets her first obstacle: for instead of the crown passing to Arthur’s husband, Geoffrey, it instead went to the titular character of the play, John. She wishes for her son Arthur to become King of England, and she believes the crown is his by right. What is essential to understand about the foundation of her character is the fact that she is ambitious. Contextīefore we meet Constance in this scene, we need to know a bit of background about how she has landed in this tragic situation. TRIGGER WARNING: This speech deals with highly emotional content, including mental illness, and grief of a lost child. This is one mammoth speech, let’s dive in. It is a master-challenge for an actor, as they must find the perfect balance between emotional expression and resisting the temptation to play the victim. In it, we find a character who has lost their son who must persevere through adversity to prove their own sanity. And her speech in Act 3, scene 4, has to be one of the most powerful and gut-wrenching speeches in Shakespeare’s whole canon. Though hidden in one of Shakespeare’s least performed plays, Constance is a character all actors wishing to tackle high stakes emotional text should seek to perform. ![]()
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