Constance
Play
Summary
Constance, Duchess of Brittany and mother of Prince Arthur, is the passionate advocate for her son's rightful claim to the English throne. When the political powers of France and England strike a convenient peace that sacrifices Arthur's cause, her grief erupts into some of Shakespeare's most sustained and powerful lamentations. She is one of his great mourning mothers — alongside Hecuba and Volumnia — whose grief becomes almost impersonal in its cosmic scale.
Notable Quotations
"Grief fills the room up of my absent child, / Lies in his bed, walks up and down with me, / Puts on his pretty looks, repeats his words, / Remembers me of all his gracious parts, / Stuffs out his vacant garments with his form." *(3.4)*
"I am not mad: this hair I tear is mine; / My name is Constance; I was Geoffrey's wife; / Young Arthur is my son, and he is lost!" *(3.4)*
"No, I defy all counsel, all redress, / But that which ends all counsel, true redress: / Death, death; O amiable lovely death!" *(3.4)*