Hotly. That's right, Ivan, thank you. But who told you, sir, that our Rosa is beautiful? It is not true--don't laugh, it isn't true, she is as ugly as deadly sin. She is as filthy as a dog that has just crawled out of the coal-hole of a ship; her face is furrowed by smallpox and it looks like a field where people dig lime and sand; there is on her right eye a cataract as large as on an old horse. Look at her hair--it is like faded wool, half torn away by birds; and when she walks, she stoops,--I swear to you, she stoops when she walks! If you take her, everybody will laugh at you, everybody will spit at you, the street urchins will give you no rest.... (ANATHEMA: Surprised. But, madam Leizer, I have heard--) Sorrowfully. You have heard nothing! I swear to you, you have heard nothing. (ANATHEMA: But you yourself--) Imploringly. Have I said anything? My God, women are so talkative, sir; and they love their children so dearly that they always consider them beautiful. Rosa--beautiful! ((Laughs.)) Just think of it, Purikes,--Rosa is beautiful! She laughs. Rosa comes over from the direction of the city. Her hair is disheveled, almost covering her black, flashing eyes; her face is smeared with something black, and she is dressed wretchedly. She walks with a youthful and stately gait, but on noticing the strange man, she stoops like an old woman.

Sarah Monologue from Anathema: A Tragedy in Seven Scenes

Rehearse Sarah's monologue