Mojo, The Bard, & Me

 

That which upholdeth him that thee upholds,

His honour: O, thine honour, Lewis, thine honour!  

-Constance

King John               Act III, Scene i, Line 315

Whilst this line looks a little bit convoluted and hard to understand when taken by itself, let’s put it in context and see if it doesn’t make a bit more sense.

In this scene we have pretty much all the principles including the kings of England and France and also the Dauphin, the son of the king of France. The two women present are Blanch (king John’s niece who’s just been married off to the Dauphin as part of a political deal), and Constance (King John’s sister-in-law, a widow, and mother to a prospective heir to the throne of England). Everyone was getting along until John decides to defy the Pope, at which point he gets excommunicated. So now all the French are ready to storm out and get ready to go back to war against the English. That means that Blanch’s new husband (a Frenchie) will be fighting on the other side; not a pleasant prospect for her. Constance, on the other hand, is pretty sure that her son is going to get screwed out of his rightful title to the throne, and she doesn’t really care who kills who. Blanch gives a ten-line plea to her husband not to go to war. Constance tells him to do what he needs to do (go to war). Blanch responds with the question

Now shall I see my love: what motive may

Be stronger with thee than the name of wife?

In other words, what motive for going to war can be greater than your own wife’s plea not to. And Constance answers

That which upholdeth him that thee upholds,

His honour: O, thine honour, Lewis, thine honour!  

Honour. Constance says that his honour must compel him to go to war irrespective of his wife’s wishes. In fact, she manages to use the word  honour three times in one line, just to be sure that no one misses it. I guess it's an important word, or concept. By the way, the Dauphin’s first name is Lewis. I guess Constance and he are on a first name basis. Don’t ask me why.

Anyway, I think a lot of us nowadays might be better served by being upheld by our honour. Actually, all of us would.

Okay, I know that I said that I would post every day with, or without a pic, and then I didn't post yesterday and now I'm posting today with a silly pic. Well, old habits die hard. 

Anyway, this is my pants label. I'm trying to find these pants because I want another pair or two. And when I get them I can assure they will not be upheld with honour. they will be upheld with my belt. That's a pretty bad dad joke, huh? Sorry.