
Shakespeare's Monologues
Portia, a wealth heiress, has both brains and beauty. Portia desires true love but is bound by her Father's will, which stipulates her suitor pass a test in order to marry her.
Portia declares her love for Bassanio and tries to persuade him to wait before taking her Father's test. She explains that her love for him is more to her than any of her wealth or possessions.
Character description, monologue synopsis, and monologue scoring provided by Maegan Kenny as part of the Spring 2018 THT 352 class.
You see me, Lord Bassanio, where I stand,
Such as I am: though for myself alone
I would not be ambitious in my wish,
To wish myself much better; yet, for you
I would be trebled twenty times myself;
A thousand times more fair, ten thousand times more rich;
That only to stand high in your account,
I might in virtue, beauties, livings, friends,
Exceed account; but the full sum of me
Is sum of something, which, to term in gross,
Is an unlesson'd girl, unschool'd, unpractised;
Happy in this, she is not yet so old
But she may learn; happier than this,
She is not bred so dull but she can learn;
Happiest of all is that her gentle spirit
Commits itself to yours to be directed,
As from her lord, her governor, her king.
Myself and what is mine to you and yours
Is now converted: but now I was the lord
Of this fair mansion, master of my servants,
Queen o'er myself: and even now, but now,
This house, these servants and this same myself
Are yours, my lord: I give them with this ring;
Which when you part from, lose, or give away,
Let it presage the ruin of your love
And be my vantage to exclaim on you.
Each row of the following table represents one line of the monologue. The first column indicates the number of syllables in that line of text. The second column is scored text, meaning that boldfaced text indicates where emphasis should be placed when performing the monologue. The third column represents a beat, or section, of the monologue. The third column is only used to indicate the beginning of a beat and its meaning, or the end of a beat.
| Number of syllables | Scored text | Meaning of beat |
|---|---|---|
| 11 | You see me, Lord Bassanio, where I stand | [Beginning of beat 1] To rejoice |
| 10 | Such as I am. Though for myself alone | |
| 10 | I would not be ambitious in my wish | |
| 10 | To wish myself much better, yet for you | |
| 10 | I would be trebled twenty times myself | |
| 10 | A thousand times more fair, ten thousand times | |
| 12 | More rich that only to stand high in your account, | |
| 10 | I might in virtues, beauties, livings, friends, | |
| 10 | Exceed account; but the full sum of me | |
| 10 | Is sum of something, which to term in gross, | |
| 11 | Is an unlessoned girl, unschooled, unpractised, | |
| 10 | Happy in this, she is not yet so old | |
| 9 | But she may learn; happier than this, | |
| 10 | She is not bred so dull but she can learn; | [End of beat 1] |
| 12 | Happiest of all is that her gentle spirit | [Beginning of beat 2] To emphasize |
| 11 | Commits itself to yours to be directed, | |
| 10 | As from her lord, her governor, her king. | [End of beat 2] |
| 10 | Myself and what is mine to you and yours | [Beginning of beat 3] To proclaim |
| 11 | Is now converted. But now I was the lord | |
| 11 | Of this fair mansion, master of my servants, | |
| 10 | Queen o'er myself; and even now, but now, | |
| 10 | This house, these servants, and this same myself | |
| 10 | Are yours, my lord's. I give them with this ring, | |
| 10 | Which when you part from, lose, or give away, | |
| 10 | Let it presage the ruin of your love | |
| 10 | And be my vantage to exclaim on you. | [End of beat 3 and monologue] |
Definitions from David & Ben Crystal / Shakespeare's Words are under copyright, and may not be used without their express permission. All other definitions are from sources in the public domain.
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