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.