Monologue

Goneril Monologue from King Lear

From King Lear by William Shakespeare

female · defiant · 1:31 min

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Did my father strike my gentleman for chiding of his fool? (OSWALD: Ay, madam.) By day and night, he wrongs me; every hour He flashes into one gross crime or other, That sets us all at odds; I’ll not endure it: His knights grow riotous, and himself upbraids us On every trifle. When he returns from hunting, I will not speak with him; say I am sick. If you come slack of former services, You shall do well; the fault of it I’ll answer. (Horns within.) (OSWALD: He’s coming, madam; I hear him.) Put on what weary negligence you please, You and your fellows; I’d have it come to question: If he distaste it, let him to our sister, Whose mind and mine, I know, in that are one, Not to be overruled. Idle old man, That still would manage those authorities That he hath given away! Now, by my life, Old fools are babes again; and must be us’d With checks as flatteries, when they are seen abus’d. Remember what I have said.

About this piece

Goneril expresses her contempt for her aging father, King Lear, and his inability to relinquish control, revealing her ruthless ambition and desire for power.

40s · anger · power · betrayal · family · madness

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