Shakespeare Monologues for Women by Luke Dixon

Author:Luke Dixon [Dixon, Luke]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781848420076
Publisher: Nick Hern Books
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

(Act 3, scene 1, lines 1–26)

GLOSSARY

lamentable rheum – sorrowful tears

Richard II

WHO The Duchess of Gloucester.

WHERE A room in John of Gaunt’s house in London, c. 1397.

WHO ELSE IS THERE John of Gaunt.

WHAT IS HAPPENING Thomas Mowbray, the Duke of Norfolk, has murdered the King’s uncle, Thomas, Duke of Gloucester. The dead man’s brother, John of Gaunt, and his wife, the Duchess of Gloucester, believe that he was murdered on the orders of King Richard. The Duchess pleads with Gloucester’s brother, John of Gaunt, to avenge his death.

WHAT TO THINK ABOUT

• The Duchess’s love for her husband permeates all the speech. Note how she calls him ‘Thomas, my dear lord, my life, my Gloucester’, each of which can have a different tone and thought.

• The Duchess uses a number of different tactics with Gaunt in an attempt to get him to side with her. Find different tones for each of these tactics.

• It is a political speech demanding an outcome; it is also a speech about the bonds of family, and it is a speech that plays on Gaunt’s self-interest.

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