Monologue

Duchess Monologue from The Duchess of Padua

From The Duchess of Padua by Oscar Wilde

female · anguished · 58 sec

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Death, Why do you tarry, get to the upper chamber; The cold meats of my husband’s funeral feast Are set for you; this is a wedding feast. You are out of place, sir; and, besides, ’tis summer. We do not need these heavy fires now, You scorch us. Oh, I am burned up, Can you do nothing? Water, give me water, Or else more poison. No: I feel no pain— Is it not curious I should feel no pain?— And Death has gone away, I am glad of that. I thought he meant to part us. Tell me, Guido, Are you not sorry that you ever saw me?

About this piece

The Duchess, in a moment of existential reflection, grapples with the presence of death amidst her wedding feast, expressing her feelings of abandonment and longing for connection.

30s · despair · death · love · betrayal · isolation

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