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| Character | Queen Margaret | |
|---|---|---|
| Gender | Female | |
| Age Range(s) | Young Adult (20-35), Adult (36-50) | |
| Type of monologue / Character is | Persuasive, Lamenting | |
| Type | Dramatic | |
| Period | Renaissance | |
| Genre | Historical, Drama | |
| Description | Margaret expresses her frustrations to the king | |
| Location | ACT III, Scene 2 | |
Summary
The Duke of Gloucester, the Protector of England, has just been killed in his jail cell by two murderers hired by Suffolk, a lord, with the support of other noblemen and Cardinal Beaufort. They all wanted to get rid of him to gain more power.
They are getting ready for Gloucester's trial but Suffolk enters the room and informs the king that Gloucester is dead. The king faints and when he regains consciousness he accuses Suffolk for being responsible for Gloucester's death.
In this monologue Queen Margaret defends Suffolk who, she argues, is obviously sorry about Gloucester's death. She says she is sorry as well as is worried about what people will think of her, if she is responsible in some way for what happened. Then she laments the way she is treated by the king who she claims that ignores her and doesn't care about her pain.
They are getting ready for Gloucester's trial but Suffolk enters the room and informs the king that Gloucester is dead. The king faints and when he regains consciousness he accuses Suffolk for being responsible for Gloucester's death.
In this monologue Queen Margaret defends Suffolk who, she argues, is obviously sorry about Gloucester's death. She says she is sorry as well as is worried about what people will think of her, if she is responsible in some way for what happened. Then she laments the way she is treated by the king who she claims that ignores her and doesn't care about her pain.
Written by Administrator
| Excerpt |
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| QUEEN MARGARET Why do you rate my Lord of Suffolk thus? Although the duke was enemy to him, Yet he most Christian-like laments his death: And for myself, foe as he was to me, Might liquid tears or heart-offending groans Or blood-consuming sighs recall his life, I would be blind with weeping, sick with groans, Look pale as primrose with blood-drinking sighs, And all to have the noble duke alive. What know I how the world may deem of me? For it is known we were but hollow friends: It may be judged I made the duke away; So shall my name with slander's tongue be wounded, And princes' courts be fill'd with my reproach. This get I by his death: ay me, unhappy! To be a queen, and crown'd with infamy! KING HENRY VI Ah, woe is me for Gloucester, wretched man! QUEEN MARGARET Be woe for me, more wretched than he is. What, dost thou turn away and hide thy face? I am no loathsome leper; look on me. What! art thou, like the adder, waxen deaf? Be poisonous too and kill thy forlorn queen. Is all thy comfort shut in Gloucester's tomb? Why, then, dame Margaret was ne'er thy joy. Erect his statue and worship it, And make my image but an alehouse sign. Was I for this nigh wreck'd upon the sea And twice by awkward wind from England's bank Drove back again unto my native clime? What boded this, but well forewarning wind Did seem to say 'Seek not a scorpion's nest, Nor set no footing on this unkind shore'? What did I then, but cursed the gentle gusts And he that loosed them forth their brazen caves: And bid them blow towards England's blessed shore, Or turn our stern upon a dreadful rock Yet AEolus would not be a murderer, But left that hateful office unto thee: The pretty-vaulting sea refused to drown me, Knowing that thou wouldst have me drown'd on shore, With tears as salt as sea, through thy unkindness: The splitting rocks cower'd in the sinking sands And would not dash me with their ragged sides, Because thy flinty heart, more hard than they, Might in thy palace perish Margaret. As far as I could ken thy chalky cliffs, When from thy shore the tempest beat us back, I stood upon the hatches in the storm, And when the dusky sky began to rob My earnest-gaping sight of thy land's view, I took a costly jewel from my neck, A heart it was, bound in with diamonds, And threw it towards thy land: the sea received it, And so I wish'd thy body might my heart: And even with this I lost fair England's view And bid mine eyes be packing with my heart And call'd them blind and dusky spectacles, For losing ken of Albion's wished coast. How often have I tempted Suffolk's tongue, The agent of thy foul inconstancy, To sit and witch me, as Ascanius did When he to madding Dido would unfold His father's acts commenced in burning Troy! Am I not witch'd like her? or thou not false like him? Ay me, I can no more! die, Margaret! For Henry weeps that thou dost live so long. |
Comments
These are actually two monologues that can be performed as one as there is only one line by the king in between. This is a pretty intense monologue and is interesting as the emotion rises. She starts by expressing her grief over Gloucester's death and then literally attacks the king with accusations regarding the way he treats her and reveals all her frustrations.
