Grand Inquisitor Monologue from Don Carlos: A Play

From Don Carlos: A Play by Friedrich Schiller

male · anguished · 1:22 min

What did this man Want with you? What new thing could he adduce, You did not know before? And are you versed So ill with fanatics and innovators? Does the reformer's vaunting language sound So novel to your ears? If the firm edifice Of your conviction totters to mere words, Should you not shudder to subscribe the fate Of many thousand poor, deluded souls Who mount the flaming pile for nothing worse? (KING: I sought a human being. These Domingos----) How! human beings! What are they to you? Cyphers to count withal--no more! Alas! And must I now repeat the elements Of kingly knowledge to my gray-haired pupil? An earthly god must learn to bear the want Of what may be denied him. When you whine For sympathy is not the world your equal? What rights should you possess above your equals? KING (throwing himself into a chair). I'm a mere suffering mortal, that I feel; And you demand from me, a wretched creature, What the Creator only can perform.

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