the hazards of all husbands/ That marry wives (1.1.118-20). No one contradicts either of them. Additionally, when Constance and Queen Eleanor begin to argue, they accuse each other of infidelity and call each others sons bastards. All of this shows that in King John, women were assumed to be less faithful than men.Despite the fact that wives adultery undermines the entire family structure by calling a mans heirs legitimacy into doubt, the main characters in King John seem to take it in stride. This is concurrent with prevailing attitudes in early modern times. Elizabethans regarded women as weak creatures, unable to deny either their baser instincts or their persuasive lovers. In fact, the Bastard uses this logic when he exonerates his mother. He tells her,Needs must you lay your heart at his dispose,Subjected tribute to commanding love,Against whose fury and unmatchd forceThe aweless lion could not wage the fight,Nor keep his princely heart from Richards hand.He that perforce robs lions of their heartsMay easily win a womans (1.1.263-69).The characters rather lenient attitudes towards adultery can also be seen in King Johns ruling. He proclaims that although Philip is not Lord Faulconbridges son, he is still legitimate because he was conceived in wedlock (1.1.116-7).None of the characters in King John ever protest, or even question, this male-dominated family hierarchy. Constance uses it, and the men in her life, to fulfill her royal ambit⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪&#...
