Arthur
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Summary
Prince Arthur, son of Geoffrey Plantagenet and nephew to King John, is the rightful claimant to the English throne in the eyes of France and the rebellious barons. He is portrayed as an utterly innocent child, most memorable in his scene with Hubert where he pleads with simple childlike eloquence to be spared his eyes. He dies in a fall from the castle walls while attempting to escape captivity — his death triggering the baronial revolt that nearly destroys John.
Notable Quotations
"Have you the heart? When your head did but ache, / I knit my handkerchief about your brows, / The best I had, a princess wrought it me, / And I did never ask it you again; / And with my hand at midnight held your head, / And like the watchful minutes to the hour, / Still and anon cheer'd up the heavy time." *(4.1)*
"O heaven! that there were but a mote in yours, / A grain, a dust, a gnat, a wandering hair, / Any annoyance in that precious sense!" *(4.1)*