Monologue

The Burglar Monologue from Heartbreak House

From Heartbreak House by Bernard Shaw

male · sarcastic · 1:39 min

Well, it's no use my telling you a lie: I can take in most captains, but not Captain Shotover, because he sold himself to the devil in Zanzibar, and can divine water, spot gold, explode a cartridge in your pocket with a glance of his eye, and see the truth hidden in the heart of man. But I'm no burglar. (CAPTAIN SHOTOVER: Are you an honest man?) I don't set up to be better than my fellow-creatures, and never did, as you well know, Captain. But what I do is innocent and pious. I enquire about for houses where the right sort of people live. I work it on them same as I worked it here. I break into the house; put a few spoons or diamonds in my pocket; make a noise; get caught; and take up a collection. And you wouldn't believe how hard it is to get caught when you're actually trying to. I have knocked over all the chairs in a room without a soul paying any attention to me. In the end I have had to walk out and leave the job. (RANDALL: When that happens, do you put back the spoons and diamonds?) Well, I don't fly in the face of Providence, if that's what you want to know.

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