DRAMATIC MONOLOGUE

Like this Orchard my mind is a maze,

A garden of confusion, frustration and rage,

Beneath this, trellis of gloominess.

Why have I brought him up?

How can his face …. His name,

Come so suddenly, so swiftly to my mind

Again and again, his image toying with my heart?

And yet I lie, and do it so well.

No one would ever suspect;

I am heart sick in love with Benedick.

Yes, don’t you know?

It is all just a farce;

A show for the world

A huge lie to my heart.

Had he not been such a scoundrel,

A daring and confirmed bachelor-

God! It had been so hard to tell him off earlier.

And I know I am nothing short of a coward,

Only- love-especially for a man like Benedick,

Is not easy to admit.

But still he must know;

At least have a hunch-

That deep down inside I still has feelings for him.

You’re right, he wouldn’t.

Not when I put him down so tersely,

And all I seem to be after is revenge.

This he will not overlook no not bleedin’ likely

For truly I had announced:

There was no man for me.

In my heart no man but you Benedick.

And before the heavens I swore:

That a bachelor like he I’d be.

Perhaps they were right,

My know-it-all nabob uncles;

When they told me I was shrewd.

I had been overly caustic with Benedick;

I challenged his male dominance,

Even won the battle of wit.

Certainly, now, his annoyance with me has grown.

Hell’s bells! What will I do to correct it?

I can hear her now my cousin Hero:

“Tell the man you love him!”

He had hurt me once and I swore never again.

The man feared marriage then, fears it now;

And will forever grapple with commitment.

I cannot bear the thought;

The thought of becoming his mistress,

And trifle even more with a shattered soul.

I called him a slanderer,

At best The Prince’s Fool.

Abused him utterly with my tongue.

But could he not see,

As he danced with me;

That my feelings for him suffocate me.

It is not that I do not wish to marry,

Or think love is just a game for fools,

But to look at or even dote on another;

Would fall contrary to my affections for you, Benedick.

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