The Bastard: The Play's Most Honest Man

Philip Faulconbridge (the Bastard) is Shakespeare's most interesting character in King John by a long way. He is the illegitimate son of Richard I, sharp-tongued, clear-sighted, and under no illusions about the court he serves.

He invents the concept of 'commodity' (self-interest dressed as principle) and applies it to everyone he sees, including himself. He is honest about the fact that he would behave the same way if he were in a position to benefit.

At the end, when everything has gone wrong, he is the one who holds England together. His final speech ('This England never did, nor never shall, lie at the proud foot of a conqueror') is the play's statement of stubborn patriotism from the one character who has earned the right to make it.