Monologue

Sejanus Monologue from Sejanus His Fall

From Sejanus His Fall by Ben Jonson

male · dark · 1:34 min

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No. They are too great, and that too faint a blow To give them now; it would have serv’d at first, When with the weakest touch their knot had burst. But, now, your care must be, not to detect The smallest cord, or line of your suspect; For such, who know the weight of prince’s fear, Will, when they find themselves discover’d, rear Their forces, like seen snakes, that else would lie Roll’d in their circles, close: nought is more high, Daring, or desperate, than offenders found; Where guilt is, rage and courage both abound. The course must be, to let them still swell up, Riot, and surfeit on blind fortune’s cup; Give them more place, more dignities, more style, Call them to court, to senate; in the while, Take from their strength some one or twain, or more, Of the main factors, (it will fright the store,) And, by some by-occasion. Thus, with slight You shall disarm them first; and they, in night Of their ambition, not perceive the train, Till in the engine they are caught and slain.

About this piece

Sejanus contemplates the precarious nature of power and the dangers of ambition, strategizing how to deal with potential threats without revealing his own intentions.

30s · fear · power · betrayal · ambition · deception

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