Shakespeare Alive!: 2-minute Speeches And Monologues For Study, Audition, And Performance

by Olster, Fredi

• ISBN13: 9781575254180
• ISBN10: 1575254182
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-07-30
• Publisher: Smith & Kraus Pub Inc

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(30)
THE MONOLOGUES
All's Well That Ends Well
Helena: Act 1 scene 1, I think not on my father. What was he like?	31	(2)
Parolles: Act 1 scene 1, Are you meditating on virginity?	33	(2)
Helena: Act 1 scene 3, I confess, Here on my knee, before high heaven and you	35	(2)
Helena: Act 3 scene 2, `Till I have no wife I have nothing in France.'	37	(2)
Parolles: Act 4 scene 1, Ten o'clock. Within these three hours `twill be time enough to go home	39	(2)
Diana: Act 4 scene 2, Ay, so you serve us till we serve you;	41	(2)
Parolles: Act 4 scene 3, He will steal, sir, an egg out of a cloister	43	(2)
As You Like It
Duke Senior: Act 2 scene 1, Now, my co-mates and brothers in exile	45	(2)
Orlando: Act 2 scene 7, Speak you so gently? Pardon me, I pray you ---	47	(2)
Rosalind: Act 3 scene 2, Love is merely a madness	49	(2)
Phebe: Act 3 scene 5, I would not be thy executioner	51	(2)
Rosalind: Act 3 scene 5, And why, I pray you? Who might be your mother	53	(2)
Touchstone: Act 5 scene 1, Then learn this of me: to have, is to have!	55	(2)
Cymbeline
Imogen: Act 3 scene 2, `Dearest of creatures, take notice that I am in Cambria	57	(2)
Hamlet
Bernardo/Marcellus/Horatio: Act I scene 1, It was about to speak, when the cock crew	59	(2)
Horatio: Act 1 scene 2, Two nights together had these gentlemen	61	(2)
Ophelia: Act 2 scene 1, My lord, as I was sewing in my closet	63	(2)
Hamlet: Act 4 scene 3, At supper. Not where he eats, but where he is eaten	65	(2)
Gentleman: Act 4 scene 5, She is importunate, indeed distract	67	(2)
Gertrude: Act 4 scene 7, One woe doth tread upon another's heel	69	(2)
Hamlet: Act 5 scene 2, Give me your pardon, sir, I have done you wrong;	71	(2)
Henry IV, Part 1
Prince: Act 1 scene 2, I know you all, and will a while uphold	73	(2)
Hotspur: Act 1 scene 3, My liege, I did deny no prisoners	75	(2)
Hotspur: Act 1 scene 3, I'll keep them all!	77	(2)
Lady Percy: Act 2 scene 3, O my good lord, why are you thus alone?	79	(2)
Prince: Act 3 scene 2, God forgive them that so much have swayed	81	(2)
Henry IV, Part 2
Lady Percy: Act 2 scene 3, Oh, yet, for God's sake, go not to these wars!	83	(2)
Henry VI, Part 1
Third Messenger: Act 1 scene 1, My gracious lords, to add to your laments	85	(2)
Joan la Pucelle: Act 1 scene 2, I am by birth a shepherd's daughter	87	(2)
Henry VI, Part 2
York: Act 1 scene 1, Anjou and Maine are given to the French;	89	(2)
Queen: Act 1 scene 3, Not all these lords do vex me half so much	91	(2)
Queen: Act 3 scene 1, Can you not see? Or will ye not observe	93	(2)
York: Act 3 scene 1, Now, York, or never, steel thy fearful thoughts	95	(2)
Warwick: Act 3 scene 2, See how the blood is settled in his face	97	(2)
Cade: Act 4 scene 2, We, John Cade, so termed of our supposed father---	99	(2)
York: Act 5 scene 1, How now! Is Somerset at liberty?	101	(2)
Julius Caesar
Marullus: Act 1 scene 1, Wherefore rejoice? What conquest brings he home?	103	(2)
Cassius: Act 1 scene 2, I cannot tell what you and other men think	105	(2)
Brutus: Act 1 scene 2, Into what dangers would you lead me, Cassius	107	(2)
Caesar: Act 1 scene 2, Let me have men about me that are fat	109	(2)
Casca: Act 1 scene 2, Why, there was a crown offered him;	111	(2)
Casca: Act 1 scene 3, Are not you moved, when all the sway of earth	113	(2)
Brutus: Act 2 scene 1, It must be by his death	115	(2)
Portia: Act 2 scene 1, Y'have ungently, Brutus, Stole from my bed	117	(2)
Portia: Act 2 scene 1, Brutus is wise and, were he not in health	119	(2)
Calpurnia: Act 2 scene 2, What mean you, Caesar? Think you to walk forth?	121	(2)
Servant: Act 3 scene 1, Thus, Brutus, did my master bid me kneel;	123	(2)
Antony: Act 3 scene 1, O mighty Caesar! dost thou lie so low?	125	(2)
King John
Bastard: Act 2 scene 1, By heaven, these scroyles of Angiers flout you, kings	127	(2)
Constance: Act 3 scene 1, Gone to be married! Gone to swear a peace!	129	(2)
Blanche: Act 3 scene 1, The sun's o'ercast with blood. Fair day, adieu!	131	(2)
Constance: Act 3 scene 4, O that my tongue were in the thunder's mouth!	133	(2)
Arthur: Act 4 scene 1, Must you with hot irons burn out both mine eyes?	135	(2)
King John: Act 4 scene 2, It is the curse of kings to be attended	137	(2)
Bastard: Act 5 scene 1, But wherefore do you droop? Why look you sad?	139	(2)
Lewis: Act 5 scene 2, Your grace shall pardon me; I will not back	141	(2)
King Lear
Cordelia: Act 1 scene 1, Nothing, my lord Nothing	143	(2)
France: Act 1 scene 1, Fairest Cordelia, that art most rich, being poor;	145	(2)
Edmond: Act 1 scene 2, Thou, Nature, art my goddess ---	147	(2)
Goneril: Act 1 scene 3, By day and night, he wrongs me!	149	(2)
Albany: Act 4 scene 2, O Goneril, you are not worth the dust which the rude wind	151	(2)
Cordelia: Act 4 scene 7, O my dear father! Restoration hang	153	(2)
Edmond: Act 5 scene 1, To both these sisters have I sworn my love;	155	(2)
Love's Labour's Lost
Berowne: Act 1 scene 1, I can but say their protestation over	157	(2)
Berowne: Act 4 scene 3, Have at you then, affection's men-at-arms!	159	(2)
Macbeth
Captain: Act 1 scene 2, Doubtful it stood, as two spent swimmers	161	(2)
Macbeth: Act 1 scene 3, Two truths are told	163	(2)
Lady Macbeth: Act 1 scene 5, The raven himself is hoarse	165	(2)
Lady Macbeth: Act 1 scene 7, What beast was't then	167	(2)
Lady Macbeth: Act 1 scene 7, We fail?---But screw your courage to the sticking place	169	(2)
Macbeth: Act 2 scene 3, Who can be wise, amazed temp'rate and furious	171	(2)
Macbeth: Act 3 scene 1, Ay, in the catalogue ye go for men;	173	(2)
Macbeth: Act 3 scene 2, We have scorched the snake, not killed it	175	(2)
Macbeth: Act 3 scene 2, Ere the bat hath flown	177	(2)
The Merchant of Venice
Portia: Act 1 scene 2, If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do	179	(2)
Portia: Act 3, scene 2, I pray you tarry; pause a day or two	181	(2)
Portia: Act 3 scene 2, You see me, Lord Bassanio, where I stand	183	(2)
Portia: Act 3 scene 4, I'll hold thee any wager	185	(2)
Portia: Act 4 scene 1, A pound of that same merchant's flesh is thine	187	(2)
Lorenzo: Act 5 scene 1, The moon shines bright, In such a night as this	189	(2)
Lorenzo: Act 5 scene 1, How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank!	191	(2)
A Midsummer Night's Dream
Lysander: Act 1 scene 1, I am, my lord, as well derived as he	193	(2)
Lysander: Act 1 scene 1, Ay me! for aught that I could ever read	195	(2)
Hermia: Act 1 scene 1, My good Lysander	197	(2)
Helena: Act 1 scene 1, Call you me fair? That ``fair'' again unsay	199	(2)
Helena: Act 1 scene 1, How happy some o'er other some can be!	201	(2)
Puck: Act 2 scene 1, The king doth keep his revels here tonight	203	(2)
Titania: Act 2 scene 1, These are the forgeries of jealousy!	205	(1)
Titania: Act 2 scene 1, Set your heart at rest	206	(3)
Demetrius: Act 2 scene 1, I love thee not, therefore pursue me not	209	(2)
Puck: Act 2 scene 2, Through the forest have I gone	211	(2)
Helena: Act 2 scene 2, O, I am out of breath in this fond chase	213	(2)
Lysander: Act 2 scene 2, Content with Hermia? No. I do repent	215	(2)
Helena: Act 2 scene 2, Wherefore was I to this keen mockery born?	217	(2)
Hermia: Act 2 scene 2, Help me, Lysander, help me;	219	(2)
Bottom: Act 3 scene 1, Masters, you ought to consider with yourselves---	221	(2)
Titania: Act 3 scene 1, Out of this wood do not desire to go	223	(2)
Hermia: Act 3 scene 2, Now I but chide, but I should use thee worse	225	(2)
Helena: Act 3 scene 2, O spite! O hell! I see you all are bent	227	(2)
Helena: Act 3 scene 2, Lo, she is one of this confederacy!	229	(2)
Oberon: Act 3 scene 2, Thou seest these lovers seek a place to fight	231	(2)
Demetrius: Act 4 scene 1, My lord, fair Helen told me of their stealth	233	(2)
Much Ado About Nothing
Don John: Act 1 scene 3, I wonder that thou --- being, as thou say'st thou art	235	(2)
Beatrice: Act 2 scene 1, Lord, I could not endure a husband with a beard on his face!	237	(2)
Benedick: Act 2 scene 3, I do much wonder that one man	239	(2)
Benedick: Act 2 scene 3, This can be no trick	241	(2)
Hero: Act 3 scene 1, Nature never framed a woman's heart	243	(2)
Beatrice: Act 4 scene 1, You dare easier be friends with me than fight with mine enemy	245	(2)
Othello
Iago: Act 1 scene 1, 'Tis the curse of service	247	(2)
Desdemona: Act 1 scene 3, Most gracious Duke	249	(2)
Cassio: Act 2 scene 3, Drunk! And speak parrot! And squabble!	251	(2)
Desdemona: Act 3 scene 3, Good my lord, if I have any grace or power to move you	253	(1)
Othello: Act 3 scene 3, Ha! ha! false to me?	254	(3)
Desdemona: Act 4 scene 2, Alas, Iago, What shall I do to win my lord again?	257	(2)
Emilia: Act 4 scene 3, I do think it is their husbands' faults	259	(2)
Richard II
Mowbray: Act 1 scene 1, Myself I throw, dread sovereign, at thy foot	261	(2)
Richard: Act 3 scene 2, For God's sake let us sit upon the ground	263	(2)
Richard: Act 3 scene 3, What must the King do now? Must he submit?	265	(2)
Richard: Act 5 scene 1, Northumberland, thou ladder wherewithal	267	(2)
York: Act 5 scene 2, As in a theatre the eyes of men	269	(2)
Richard III
Anne: Act 1 scene 2, Set down, set down your honorable load	271	(2)
Richard: Act 1 scene 3, They do me wrong, and I will not endure it!	273	(2)
Clarence: Act 1 scene 4, O, I have passed a miserable night	275	(2)
Second Murderer: Act 1 scene 4, I'll not meddle with it;	277	(2)
Richard: Act 4 scene 4, Look, what is done cannot be now amended	279	(2)
Richmond: Act 5 scene 3, More than I have said, loving countrymen	281	(2)
Romeo and Juliet
Chorus: Prologue, Two households, both alike in dignity	283	(2)
Romeo: Act 1 scene 5, What lady's that, which doth enrich the hand	285	(2)
Romeo: Act 2 scene 2, But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?	287	(2)
Juliet: Act 2 scene 2, O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?	289	(2)
Friar: Act 2 scene 3, O, mickle is the powerful grace that lies	291	(2)
Juliet: Act 2 scene 5, The clock struck nine when I did send the nurse;	293	(2)
Mercutio: Act 3 scene 1, Thou art like one of these fellows that	295	(2)
Romeo: Act 3 scene 1, This gentleman, the Prince's near ally	297	(2)
Benvolio: Act 3 scene 1, Tybalt, here slain, whom Romeo's hand did slay	299	(2)
Juliet: Act 3 scene 2, O, what a beast was I to chide at him!	301	(2)
Romeo: Act 3 scene 3, Ha, banishment? Be merciful, say `death'	303	(2)
Juliet: Act 4 scene 1, Tell me not, friar, that thou hearest of this	305	(2)
The Taming of the Shrew
Lucentio: Act 1 scene 1, Tranio, since for the great desire I had	307	(2)
Petruchio: Act 2 scene 1, Now, by the world, it is a lusty wench!	309	(2)
Petruchio: Act 4 scene 1, Thus have I politicly begun my reign	311	(2)
Kate: Act 4 scene 3, The more my wrong, the more his spite appears	313	(2)
The Tempest
Ariel: Act 1 scene 2, All hail, great master! Grave sir, hail!	315	(2)
Ferdinand: Act 3 scene 1, Admired Miranda!	317	(2)
Miranda: Act 3 scene 1, I do not know one of my sex	319	(2)
Twelfth Night
Viola: Act 2 scene 2, I left no ring with her. What means this lady?	321	(2)
Sebastian: Act 4 scene 3, This is the air; that is the glorious sun;	323	(2)
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
Julia: Act 1 scene 2, And yet I would I had o'erlooked the letter	325	(2)
Speed: Act 2 scene 1, Marry, by these special marks	327	(2)
Valentine: Act 2 scene 4, I have done penance for contemning Love	329	(2)
Proteus: Act 2 scene 4, Even as one heat another heat expels	331	(2)
Julia: Act 2 scene 7, Counsel, Lucetta; gentle girl, assist me	333	(2)
Silvia: Act 4 scene 3, O Eglamour, thou art a gentleman	335	(2)
Silvia: Act 5 scene 4, By thy approach thou mak'st me most unhappy	337	(2)
The Two Noble Kinsmen
Jailer's Daughter: Act 2 scene 4, Why should I love this gentleman?	339