Monologue

Ventidius Monologue from All for Love

From All for Love by John Dryden

male · anguished · 1:18 min

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Does the mute sacrifice upbraid the priest! He knows him not his executioner. Oh, she has decked his ruin with her love, Led him in golden bands to gaudy slaughter, And made perdition pleasing: She has left him The blank of what he was. I tell thee, eunuch, she has quite unmanned him. Can any Roman see, and know him now, Thus altered from the lord of half mankind, Unbent, unsinewed, made a woman's toy, Shrunk from the vast extent of all his honours, And crampt within a corner of the world? O Antony! Thou bravest soldier, and thou best of friends! Bounteous as nature; next to nature's God! Couldst thou but make new worlds, so wouldst thou give them, As bounty were thy being! rough in battle, As the first Romans when they went to war; Yet after victory more pitiful Than all their praying virgins left at home!

About this piece

Ventidius laments the transformation of Antony from a powerful leader to a diminished figure, reflecting on the impact of love and betrayal on his identity and honor.

40s · sadness · betrayal · identity · power · loss

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Run it out loud with a spotlight that follows your voice, line by line, until it's off the page. Free to start, no credit card.

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