Monologue

Edgar Monologue from King Lear

From King Lear by William Shakespeare

male · anguished · 1:20 min

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Y’are much deceiv’d: in nothing am I chang’d But in my garments. (GLOUCESTER: Methinks you’re better spoken.) Come on, sir; here’s the place. Stand still. How fearful And dizzy ’tis to cast one’s eyes so low! The crows and choughs that wing the midway air Show scarce so gross as beetles. Half way down Hangs one that gathers samphire—dreadful trade! Methinks he seems no bigger than his head. The fishermen that walk upon the beach Appear like mice; and yond tall anchoring bark, Diminish’d to her cock; her cock a buoy Almost too small for sight: the murmuring surge That on th’unnumber’d idle pebble chafes Cannot be heard so high. I’ll look no more; Lest my brain turn, and the deficient sight Topple down headlong. (GLOUCESTER: Set me where you stand.) Give me your hand. You are now within a foot of th’extreme verge. For all beneath the moon would I not leap upright.

About this piece

Edgar stands at the edge of a cliff, grappling with the overwhelming fear and disorientation of looking down into the abyss, reflecting on the precariousness of life and the insignificance of human existence.

20s · fear · madness · isolation · death · fate

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