Monologue

Autolycus Monologue from The Winter's Tale

From The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare

male · dark · 1:30 min

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The king is not at the palace; he is gone aboard a new ship to purge melancholy and air himself: for, if thou beest capable of things serious, thou must know the king is full of grief. (SHEPHERD: So ’tis said, sir; about his son, that should have married a shepherd’s daughter.) If that shepherd be not in hand-fast, let him fly. The curses he shall have, the tortures he shall feel, will break the back of man, the heart of monster. (CLOWN: Think you so, sir?) Not he alone shall suffer what wit can make heavy and vengeance bitter; but those that are germane to him, though removed fifty times, shall all come under the hangman: which, though it be great pity, yet it is necessary. An old sheep-whistling rogue, a ram-tender, to offer to have his daughter come into grace! Some say he shall be stoned; but that death is too soft for him, say I. Draw our throne into a sheepcote! All deaths are too few, the sharpest too easy.

About this piece

Autolycus expresses his contempt and anger towards those who would seek to elevate a man he deems unworthy, contemplating the harsh consequences that should befall him and his kin.

any · anger · revenge · power · death · betrayal

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