Monologue

Thersites Monologue from Troilus and Cressida

From Troilus and Cressida by William Shakespeare

male · sarcastic · 1:12 min

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Why, a’ stalks up and down like a peacock—a stride and a stand; ruminates like an hostess that hath no arithmetic but her brain to set down her reckoning, bites his lip with a politic regard, as who should say ‘There were wit in this head, and ’twould out’; and so there is; but it lies as coldly in him as fire in a flint, which will not show without knocking. The man’s undone for ever; for if Hector break not his neck i’ th’ combat, he’ll break’t himself in vainglory. He knows not me. I said ‘Good morrow, Ajax’; and he replies ‘Thanks, Agamemnon.’ What think you of this man that takes me for the general? He’s grown a very land fish, languageless, a monster. A plague of opinion! A man may wear it on both sides, like leather jerkin.

About this piece

Thersites observes and critiques the behavior of Ajax, expressing his disdain for Ajax's arrogance and lack of self-awareness in a mocking manner.

30s · disgust · identity · power · vanity · isolation

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