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| Character | Czar???? | |
|---|---|---|
| Gender | Male | |
| Age Range(s) | Adult (36-50), Senior (>50) | |
| Type of monologue / Character is | Angry, Scolding, Lamenting, Complaining, Frustrated, Afraid, Malicious/scheming | |
| Type | Dramatic | |
| Year | 1880 | |
| Period | 19th Century | |
| Genre | Tragedy, Drama | |
| Description | The Czar expresses his fear of being assassinated and his desire to capture Vera | |
| Location | ACT II | |
Summary
Vera works as a barmaid in her father's tavern, along the way to the prison camps of Siberia. One day she recognizes her brother Dmitri as one of the prisoners on their way to Siberia. Dmitri urges her to move to Moscow and join a group of rebels, the Nihilists, that are plotting to assassinate the Czar of Russia.
She moves to Moscow with her servant Michael and after a few years she becomes one of the most wanted assassins of the terrorist group. She also falls in love with Alexis, a fellow Nihilist, who turns out to be the Czar's son, Tsarevich. Tsarevich is arrested and punished by being imprisoned in a dungeon of his father's palace.
This monologue is delivered by the Czar in the second act of the play. A council meeting is taking place between the Czar, his minister, several princes and his son. His son has just been released from imprisonment and they all criticize his political inclinations.
In the monologue the Czar, scolds his son for betraying him, expresses his frustrating constant fear of being assassinated and his strong desire of revenge towards Vera that he wants to capture and torture.
She moves to Moscow with her servant Michael and after a few years she becomes one of the most wanted assassins of the terrorist group. She also falls in love with Alexis, a fellow Nihilist, who turns out to be the Czar's son, Tsarevich. Tsarevich is arrested and punished by being imprisoned in a dungeon of his father's palace.
This monologue is delivered by the Czar in the second act of the play. A council meeting is taking place between the Czar, his minister, several princes and his son. His son has just been released from imprisonment and they all criticize his political inclinations.
In the monologue the Czar, scolds his son for betraying him, expresses his frustrating constant fear of being assassinated and his strong desire of revenge towards Vera that he wants to capture and torture.
Written by Administrator
| Excerpt |
|---|
| CZAR: "Vera, the Nihilist in Moscow! O God, were it not better to die at once the dog's death they plot for me than to live as I live now! Never to sleep, or, if I do, to dream such horrid dreams that hell itself were peace when matched with them. To trust none but those I have bought, to buy none worth trusting! To see a traitor in every smile, poison in every dish, a dagger in every hand! To lie awake at night, listening from hour to hour for the stealthy creeping of the murderer, for the laying of the damned mine! You are all spies! You are all spies! You worst of all--you, my own son! Which of you is it who hides these bloody proclamations under my own pillow, or at the table where I sit? Which of ye all is the Judas who betrays me? O God! O God! methinks there was a time once, in our war with England, when nothing could make me afraid. [This with more calm and pathos.] I have ridden into the crimson heart of war, and borne back an eagle which those wild islanders had taken from us. Men said I was brave then. My father gave me the Iron Cross of Valour. Oh, could he see me now, with this coward's livery ever in my cheek! [Sinks into his chair.] I never knew any love when I was a boy. I was ruled by terror myself, how else should I rule now? [Starts up.] But I will have revenge; I will have revenge. For every hour I have lain awake at night, waiting for the noose or the dagger, they shall pass years in Siberia, centuries in the mines! Ay! I shall have revenge. I am done with half measures. I shall crush these Nihilists at a blow. There shall not be a man of them, no, nor a woman either, left alive in Russia. Am I Emperor for nothing, that a woman should hold me at bay? Vera Sabouroff shall be in my power, I swear it, before a week is ended, though I burn my whole city to find her. She shall be flogged by the knout, stifled in the fortress, strangled in the square! For two years her hands have been clutching at my throat; for two years she has made my life a hell; but I shall have revenge." |
