How we cite our quotes: (Act.Scene.Line)
Quote #10
MELUN
I say again, if Louis do win the day,
He is forsworn if e'er those eyes of yours
Behold another day break in the East.
But even this night, whose black contagious breath
Already smokes about the burning crest
Of the old, feeble, and day-wearied sun,
Even this ill night, your breathing shall expire,
Paying the fine of rated treachery
Even with a treacherous fine of all your lives,
If Louis by your assistance win the day. (5.4.31-40)
In these lines, Melun reveals Louis's secret plan to have his English allies executed, once their war against John is completed. Why would he want to do this? Could be because he thinks: "Once a traitor, always a traitor." That is, if Salisbury, Pembroke, and Lord Bigot broke their loyalty to King John, wouldn't Louis always have to fear that they would break their loyalty to him? Look at Salisbury's speech from the previous quotation. Would he have been better off if he had kept his mouth shut? Or would Louis just want to betray them, anyway? In any case, the irony is that, once the word gets out that Louis plans to betray the guys who betrayed John, those guys just up and betray him by joining up with King John again. What goes around comes around, apparently.