Monologue

Leontes Monologue from The Winter's Tale

From The Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare

male · dark · 1:11 min

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It shall be possible. Swear by this sword Thou wilt perform my bidding. (ANTIGONUS: I will, my lord.) Mark, and perform it, seest thou? for the fail Of any point in’t shall not only be Death to thyself, but to thy lewd-tongu’d wife, Whom for this time we pardon. We enjoin thee, As thou art liegeman to us, that thou carry This female bastard hence, and that thou bear it To some remote and desert place, quite out Of our dominions; and that there thou leave it, Without more mercy, to it own protection And favour of the climate. As by strange fortune It came to us, I do in justice charge thee, On thy soul’s peril and thy body’s torture, That thou commend it strangely to some place Where chance may nurse or end it. Take it up.

About this piece

Leontes, consumed by jealousy and rage, orders the abandonment of his newborn child, reflecting his emotional turmoil and the consequences of his actions.

30s · anger · betrayal · power · family · jealousy

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