Monologue

Acres Monologue from The Rivals

From The Rivals by Richard Brinsley Sheridan

male · comedic · 1:11 min

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(Practising a dancing-step.) Sink, slide--coupee.--Confound the first inventors of cotillions! say I--they are as bad as algebra to us country gentlemen--I can walk a minuet easy enough when I am forced!--and I have been accounted a good stick in a country-dance.--Odds jigs and tabors! I never valued your cross-over to couple--figure in--right and left--and I'd foot it with e'er a captain in the county!--but these outlandish heathen allemandes and cotillions are quite beyond me!--I shall never prosper at 'em, that's sure--mine are true-born English legs--they don't understand their curst French lingo!--their pas this, and pas that, and pas t'other!--damn me! my feet don't like to be called paws! no, 'tis certain I have most Antigallican toes! (Enter SERVANT.) SERVANT Here is Sir Lucius O'Trigger to wait on you, sir.

About this piece

Acres expresses his frustration with the complexities of fashionable dances, feeling out of place and overwhelmed by the expectations of high society.

30s · disgust · identity · cultural conflict · social expectations · humor

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