Monologue

Stranger Monologue from To Damascus

From To Damascus by August Strindberg

male · melancholic · 1:08 min

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Very strange. (There is a silence.) I remember you were always dreaming of someone you called your Toreador, which I translated by 'horse butcher.' You eventually got him, but he gave you no children, and no bread; only beatings! A toreador's always fighting. (Silence.) Once I let myself be tempted into trying to compete with the toreador. I started to bicycle and fence and do other things of the kind. But you only began to detest me for it. That means that the husband mayn't do what the lover may. Later you had a passion for page boys. One of them used to sit on the Brussels carpet and read you bad verses.... My good ones were of no use to you. Did you get your page boy?

About this piece

The Stranger reflects on a past relationship filled with unfulfilled dreams and emotional pain, revealing the complexities of love and betrayal.

30s · sadness · betrayal · love · identity · isolation

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