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Richard III · Act 4, Scene 4

Margaret monologue from Richard III

Margaret’s monologue from the play Richard III by William Shakespeare (Act 4, Scene 4). A classical piece for women with a playing age of 20s–50s, running about 1:00.

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The full speech. Read it out loud twice before you start working it.

Margaret’s monologue

Bear with me; I am hungry for revenge,

And now I cloy me with beholding it.

Thy Edward he is dead, that stabb'd my Edward:

Thy other Edward dead, to quit my Edward;

Young York he is but boot, because both they

Match not the high perfection of my loss:

Thy Clarence he is dead that kill'd my Edward;

And the beholders of this tragic play,

The adulterate Hastings, Rivers, Vaughan, Grey,

Untimely smother'd in their dusky graves.

Richard yet lives, hell's black intelligencer,

Only reserved their factor, to buy souls

And send them thither: but at hand, at hand,

Ensues his piteous and unpitied end:

Earth gapes, hell burns, fiends roar, saints pray.

To have him suddenly convey'd away.

Cancel his bond of life, dear God, I prey,

That I may live to say, The dog is dead!

Public domain text.

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About Richard III

Play by William Shakespeare · c. 1592–1593

  • Richard III is Shakespeare's second-longest play, after Hamlet.
  • The real Richard III's remains were found under a car park in Leicester, England, in 2012.

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