SUGGESTED CLASSICAL MONOLOGUES (FEMALE)

SUGGESTED CLASSICAL MONOLOGUES (FEMALE)

1. Tamora ? Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare

Act 2 Scene 3

Tamora Have I not reason, think you, to look pale? These two have 'ticed me hither to this place: A barren detested vale you see it is. The trees though summer, yet forlorn and lean, O'ercome with moss, and baleful mistletoe; Here never shines the sun, here nothing breeds, Unless the nightly owl, or fatal raven: And when they show'd me this abhorred pit, They told me here at dead time of the night, A thousand fiends, a thousand hissing snakes, Ten thousand swelling toads, as many urchins, Would make such fearful and confused cries, As any mortal body hearing it, Should straight fall mad, or else die suddenly. No sooner had they told this hellish tale, But straight they told me they would bind me here, Unto the body of a dismal yew, And leave me to this miserable death. And then they call'd me foul adulteress, Lascivious Goth, and all the bitterest terms That ever ear did hear to such effect. And, had you not by wondrous fortune come, This vengeance on me had they executed: Revenge it, as you love your mother's life, Or be ye not henceforth call'd my children.

Suggested Classical Monologues ? June 2018 Page 1 of 16

2. Julia ? Two Gentlemen of Verona by William Shakespeare

Act 4 Scene 4

Julia And she shall thank you for't, if e'er you know her. A virtuous gentlewoman, mild, and beautiful I hope my master's suit will be but cold, Since she respects my mistress' love so much. Alas, how love can trifle with itself: Here is her picture: let me see, I think, If I had such a tire, this face of mine Were full as lovely as is this of hers; And yet the painter flatter'd her a little, Unless I flatter with myself too much. Her hair is auburn, mine is perfect yellow; If that be all the difference in his love, I'll get me such a colour'd periwig: Her eyes are grey as glass, and so are mine; Ay, but her forehead's low, and mine's as high: What should it be that he respects in her But I can make respective in myself If this fond Love were not a blinded god? Come, shadow, come, and take this shadow up, For 'tis thy rival: O thou senseless form, Thou shalt be worshipp'd, kiss'd, loved and adored! And were there sense in his idolatry, My substance should be statue in thy stead. I'll use thee kindly for thy mistress' sake, That used me so: or else by Jove, I vow, I should have scratch'd out your unseeing eyes, To make my master out of love with thee.

Suggested Classical Monologues ? June 2018 Page 2 of 16

3. Constance ? King John by William Shakespeare Act 3 Scene 1 CONSTANCE War! war! no peace! peace is to me a war: O Lymoges! O Austria! thou dost shame That bloody spoil; thou slave, thou wretch, thou coward, Thou little valiant, great in villany, Thou ever strong upon the stronger side; Thou Fortune's champion, that dost never fight But when her humorous ladyship is by To teach thee safety: thou art perjured too, And soothest up greatness. What a fool art thou, A ramping fool, to brag and stamp and swear Upon my party: Thou cold-blooded slave, Hast thou not spoke like thunder on my side? Been sworn my soldier, bidding me depend Upon thy stars, thy fortune and thy strength, And dost thou now fall over to my fores? Thou wear a lion's hide, doff it for shame, And hang a calf's-skin on those recreant limbs.

Suggested Classical Monologues ? June 2018 Page 3 of 16

4. Lady Percy ? King Henry IV Part 1 by William Shakespeare

Act 2 Scene 3

LADY PERCY O, my good lord, why are you thus alone? For what offence have I this fortnight been A banish'd woman from my Harry's bed? Tell me (sweet lord) what is't that takes from thee Thy stomach, pleasure, and thy golden sleep? Why dost thou bend thine eyes upon the earth? And start so often when thou sit'st alone? Why hast thou lost the fresh blood in thy cheeks? And given my treasures and my rights of thee To thick-eyed musing and cursed melancholy? In thy faint slumbers, I by thee have watch'd, And heard thee murmur tales of iron wars: Speak terms of manage to thy bounding steed, Cry courage to the field. And thou hast talk'd Of sallies, and retires; of trenches, tents, Of palisadoes, frontiers, parapets, Of basilisks, of cannon, culverin, Of prisoners' ransom and of soldiers slain, And all the currents of a heady fight. Thy spirit within thee hath been so at war And thus hath so bestirr'd thee in thy sleep, That beads of sweat have stood upon thy brow Like bubbles in a late-disturbed stream; And in thy face strange motions have appear'd, Such as we see when men restrain their breath On some great sudden hest. O, what portents are these? Some heavy business hath my lord in hand, And I must know it, else he loves me not.

Suggested Classical Monologues ? June 2018 Page 4 of 16

5. Helena ? All's Well That Ends Well by William Shakespeare

Act 3 Scene 2

HELENA Till I have no wife, I have nothing in France. Nothing in France until he has no wife: Thou shalt have none Rousillon, none in France, Then hast thou all again: Poor lord, is't I That chase thee from thy country, and expose Those tender limbs of thine, to the event Of the none-sparing war? and is it I, That drive thee from the sportive court, where thou Wast shot at with fair eyes, to be the mark Of smoky muskets? O you leaden messengers, That ride upon the violent speed of fire, Fly with false aim, move the still-peering air That sings with piercing, do not touch my lord: Whoever shoots at him, I set him there; Whoever charges on his forward breast, I am the caitiff that do hold him to't; And though I kill him not, I am the cause His death was so effected: better 'twere I met the ravin lion when he roar'd With sharp constraint of hunger: better 'twere That all the miseries which nature owes Were mine at once. No, come thou home Rousillon, Whence honour but of danger wins a scar, As oft it loses all. I will be gone: My being here it is, that holds thee hence: Shall I stay here to do't? no, no, although The air of paradise did fan the house And angels officed all: I will be gone, That pitiful rumour may report my flight, To consolate thine ear. Come night; end day, For with the dark (poor thief) I'll steal away.

Suggested Classical Monologues ? June 2018 Page 5 of 16

 ................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download