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| Preface | |
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| Tragedy/Drama | |
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| Greek | |
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| Orestes is jubilant, then uncertain, over his revenge ((458 BC) Aeschylus, Libation Bearers, tr. R. Lattimore) | |
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| Jason defends his abandonment of Medea ((431 BC) Euripides, Medea, tr. F. Prokosch) | |
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| The Messenger reports Jocasta's suicide and Oedipus' self-blinding ((430-425 BC) Sophocles, Oedipus the King, tr. W. B. Yeats) | |
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| Hippolytus curses women and adultery after learning of Phaedra's passion for him ((428 BC) Euripides, Hippolytus, tr. M. Hadas and J. H. McLean) | |
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| Hippolytus defends his innocence before his father ((428 BC) Euripides, Hippolytus, tr. D. Grene) | |
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| The Messenger reports the gruesome death of Hippolytus ((428 BC) Euripides, Hippolytus, tr. D. Grene) | |
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| Talthybius recounts to Hecuba the slaying of her daughter ((417-415 BC?) Euripides, Hecuba, tr. J. Lembke and K. J. Reckford) | |
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| Philoctetes reviles the Greeks who abandoned him ((409 BC) Sophocles, Philoctetes, tr. D. Grene) | |
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| Philoctetes curses Neoptolemus for his theft of the magic bow ((409 BC) Sophocles, Philoctetes, tr. D. Grene) | |
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| The Messenger reports the cynically conducted trial that condemned Orestes to death ((408 BC) Euripides, Orestes, tr. J. Peck and F. Nisetich) | |
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| Polyneices begs Oedipus' blessing before his battle against his brother ((406 BC) Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus, tr. R. Fitzgerald) | |
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| The Messenger recounts the transfiguration and death of Oedipus ((406 BC) Sophocles, Oedipus at Colonus, tr. R. Fitzgerald) | |
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| Elizabethan/Jacobean | |
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| Tamburlaine persuades an enemy captain to join him ((1577-88) Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great, Act 1, Sc. 2) | |
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| Tamburlaine celebrates his love for Zenocrate and for himself ((1577-88) Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great, Act 5, Sc. 2) | |
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| Tamburlaine shows himself magnanimous in victory ((1577-88) Christopher Marlowe, Tamburlaine the Great, Act 5, Sc. 2) | |
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| Faustus rejects scholastic learning, yearns for necromantic knowledge ((c1589) Christopher Marlowe, The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, Act 1, Sc. 1) | |
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| Faustus envisions the blessings of conjuring ((c1589) Christopher Marlowe, The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, Act 1, Sc. 1) | |
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| Faustus prays in his last hour to escape damnation ((c1589) Christopher Marlowe, The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus, Act 5, Sc. 2) | |
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| Gaveston, the new king's favorite, makes plans ((c1592) Christopher Marlowe, The Tragedy of Edward II, Act 1, Sc. 1) | |
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| Edward defends his love of Gaveston against his nobles ((c1592) Christopher Marlowe, The Tragedy of Edward II, Act 2, Sc. 2) | |
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| Edward swears revenge after Gaveston's murder ((c1592) Christoper Marlowe, The Tragedy of Edward II, Act 3, Sc. 2) | |
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| Edward, forced to renounce his crown, rages, sorrows, finally surrenders ((c1592) Christopher Marlowe, The Tragedy of Edward II, Act 5, Sc. 1) | |
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| Edward pleads with, braves, succumbs to his murders ((c1592) Christopher Marlowe, The Tragedy of Edward II, Act 5, Sc. 5) | |
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| Mendoza, new court lackey, envisions his pleasures in office ((c1603?) John Marston, The Malcontent, Act 1, Sc. 5) | |
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| Wendoll battles with his conscience ((1603) Thomas Heywood, A Woman Killed with Kindness, Act 2, Sc. 3) | |
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| Frankfort recoils at report of his wife's adultery ((1603) Thomas Heywood, A Woman Killed with Kindness, Act 3, Sc. 2) | |
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| Frankfort pronounces his verdict over his wife's adultery ((1603) Thomas Heywood, A Woman Killed with Kindness, Act 4, Sc. 5) | |
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| Bussy, young and poor, equates poverty and virtue ((c1604) George Chapman, Bussy d'Ambois, Act 1 Sc. 1) | |
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| Monsieur the King's brother mocks the lady's argument: "Sir, I have a husband!" ((c1604) George Chapman, Bussy d'Ambois, Act 2, Sc. 2) | |
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| Monsieur is invited to draw for Bussy his "character" ((c1604) George Chapman, Bussy d'Ambois, Act 3, Sc. 2) | |
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| Bussy is invited to draw for Monsieur his "character" ((c1604) George Chapman, Bussy d'Ambois, Act 3, Sc. 2) | |
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| Flamineo damns his mother for having inflicted on him a life of poverty ((1609-12) John Webster, The White Devil, Act 1, Sc. 2) | |
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| Brachiano greets his wife with sullen contempt ((1609-12) John Webster, The White Devil, Act 2, Sc. 1) | |
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| Francisco fashions his revenge for Isabella's murder with her ghost ((1609-12) John Webster, The White Devil, Act 4, Sc. 1) | |
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| Flamineo uses parable to remind the Duke of his ingratitude for services ((1609-12) John Webster, The White Devil, Act 4, Sc. 2) | |
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| Brachiano, poisoned, suffers an excruciating death ((1609-12) John Webster, The White Devil, Act 5, Sc. 3) | |
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| Flamineo, visited by Brachiano's ghost, surmises his fate ((1609-12) John Webster, The White Devil, Act 5, Sc. 4) | |
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| Flamineo outfoxes his sister Vittoria's villainy in their game of pistols ((1609-12) John Webster, The White Devil, Act 5, Sc. 6) | |
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| Flamineo mordantly but wittily observes the process of his own dying ((1609-12) John Webster, The White Devil, Act 5, Sc. 6) | |
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| Bosola importunes the Cardinal for his reward ((1613-14) John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi, Act 1, Sc. 1) | |
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| Bosola rails at courtier, woman, and "the form of man" ((1613-14) John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi, Act 2, Sc. 1) | |
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| Ferdinand vilifies the Duchess and her unseen "lover" ((1613-14) John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi, Act 3, Sc. 2) | |
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| Ferdinand, the Duchess dead, condemns the murder he enjoined ((1613-14) John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi, Act 4, Sc. 2) | |
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| Bosola repents after the Duchess's murder ((1613-14) John Webster, The Duchess of Malfi, Act 4, Sc. 2) | |
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| Giovanni, disputing with the Friar, argues for the propriety of his incestuous love ((1629-33) John Ford, 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, Act 1, Sc. 1) | |
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| Giovanni, to prevent Annabella's marriage, makes a pact with her for her murder ((1629-33) John Ford, 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, Act 5, Sc. 5) | |
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| Giovanni brings to his sister's wedding feat her heart on his sword ((1629-33) John Ford, 'Tis Pity She's a Whore, Act 5, Sc. 6) | |
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| XVII Century French/Spanish | |
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| Rodrigue importunes Chimene to kill him for having taken revenge against her father ((1638) Pierre Corneille, Le Cid, tr. Paul Landis, Act 3, Sc. 4) | |
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| Rodrigue bids farewell to Chimene before combat ((1638) Pierre Corneille, Le Cid, tr. Paul Landis, Act 5, Sc. 1) | |
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| Nero recounts his falling in love with Julia ((1669) Jean Racine, Brittanicus, tr. Robert Henderson and Paul Landis, Act 2, Sc. 1) | |
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| Hippolytus confesses his long-concealed love for Aricia ((1677) Jean Racine, Phaedra, tr. Robert Henderson, Act 2) | |
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| Theramenes reports the gruesome death of Hippolytus ((1677) Jean Racine, Phaedra, tr. Robert Henderson, Act 5) | |
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| Genesius, rehearsing the part of a martyr, wins Christ ((c1607-1608) Lope de Vega, Acting Is Believing, tr. Michael McGaha, Act 3, Sc. 3) | |
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| Segismund, after lifelong captivity, yearns to know freedom ((1636) Calderon de la Barca, Life Is a Dream, tr. Roy Campbell, Act 1) | |
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| Segismund, embracing life as a dream, ruminates on its final value ((1636) Calderon de la Barca, Life Is a Dream, tr. Roy Campbell, Act 3) | |
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| Restoration | |
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| Essex, abject, begs the Queen for return to favor until she leaves with no reply ((1681) John Banks, The Unhappy Favorite, or, The Earl of Essex, Act 2, Sc. 1) | |
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| Essex importunes Southampton to plead his cause to the Queen ((1681) John Banks, The Unhappy Favorite, or, The Earl of Essex, Act 2, Sc. 1) | |
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| Essex, in anguish, despairs of rising again to favor ((1681) John Banks, The Unhappy Favorite, or, The Earl of Essex, Act 3, Sc. 1) | |
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| Essex, enraged beyond control, lashes out at the Queen for her ingratitude ((1681) John Banks, The Unhappy Favorite, or, The Earl of Essex, Act 3 Sc. 1) | |
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| The black prince Oroonoko, enslaved by the English planters in Surinam, scorns them and their Christianity ((1695) Thomas Southerne, Oroonoko, Act 1, Sc. 2) | |
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| XVIII Century English/German | |
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| Barnwell executes a murder against his will ((1731) George Lillo, The London Merchant, Act 3, Sc. 3) | |
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| Barnwell suffers agonies of remorse after murdering his uncle ((1731) George Lillo, The London Merchant, Act 3, Sc. 7) | |
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| Spiegelberg, after a fool exploit with students, promotes plan for an "immortal" exploit ((1782) Friedrich Schiller, The Robbers, ad. L. Katz, Act 1, Sc. 1) | |
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| Franz contemplates plans for betrayal and murder of father and brother ((1782) Friedrich Schiller, The Robbers, ad. L. Katz, Act 1, Sc. 2) | |
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| Spiegelberg exhorts students to become a robber band ((1782) Friedrich Schiller, The Robbers, ad. L. Katz, Act 1, Sc. 3) | |
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| Karl returns the captive priest to townsmen with message: "My holy calling is vengeance" ((1782) Friedrich Schiller, The Robbers, ad. L. Katz, Act 2, Sc. 2) | |
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| Karl, remembering his innocence, yearns: "Make me a child again" ((1782) Friedrich Schiller, The Robbers, ad. L. Katz, Act 2, Sc. 2) | |
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| XIX Century English/French | |
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| Manfred contemplates suicide ((1817) George Gordon Byron, Manfred, Act 1, Sc. 2) | |
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| Manfred confesses his guilt and despair ((1817) George Gordon Byron, Manfred, Act 2, Sc. 2) | |
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| Sailor William, legally but not morally guilty, defends himself at his trial before the admiralty ((1829) Douglas Jerrold, Black-Ey'd Susan, Act 3, Sc. 2) | |
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| Sailor William, condemned, prepares to meet his death ((1829) Douglas Jerrold, Black-Ey'd Susan, Act 3, Sc. 4) | |
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| Mordaunt accuses Lady Mabel of "the deepest crime" ((1842) J. Westland Marston, The Patrician's Daughter, Act 3, Sc. 2) | |
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| Robert Brierly, in prison, grieves for the suffering he is causing his faithful wife May ((1863) Tom Taylor, The Ticket-of-Leave Man, Act 4) | |
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| Aubrey Tanqueray alerts his friends: his new wife may not meet with their set's approval ((1893) Arthur Wing Pinero, The Second Mrs. Tanqueray, Act 1) | |
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| Lorenzaccio deliberates: "Am I Satan?" ((1834) Alfred de Musset, Lorenzaccio, tr. L. Katz, Act 3, Sc. 3) | |
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| Lorenzaccio rehearses his procedure for murdering Alessandro ((1834) Alfred de Musset, Lorenzaccio, tr. L. Katz, Act 4, Sc. 9) | |
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| Comedy | |
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| Greek | |
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| Trigaeus, on his way to Heaven, begs his mounted beetle not to notice shit in the world below ((421 BC) Aristophanes, Peace, ad. L. Katz) | |
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| Italian Renaissance | |
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| Callimaco reports on his perfect night with Lucrezia ((c1515-20) Machiavelli, Mandragola, tr. Kenneth and Laura Richards, Act 5, Sc. 4) | |
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| Marca details soberly how he and his companions cheated the landlord out of a banquet ((c1581) Giordano Bruno, Il Candelaio, tr. J. R. Hale, Act 3, Sc. 8) | |
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| Sanguino takes private comfort in his parable of how the tricked can become the trickster ((c1581) Giordano Bruno, Il Candelaio, tr. J. R. Hale, Act 2, Sc. 4) | |
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| Bernardo explains to his love the virtue of forgetting about honor ((c1581) Giordano Bruno, Il Candelaio, tr. J. R. Hale, Act 5, Sc. 11) | |
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| Scaramure wants whores and whoremongers entirely absolved of reproach ((c1581) Giordano Bruno, Il Candelaio, tr. J. R. Hale, Act 5, Sc. 18) | |
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| Elizabethan/Jacobean | |
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| Slitgut takes note of several passengers crawling out of the Thames after shipwreck ((1604) Marston, Chapman, and Jonson, Eastward Ho!, Act 4, Sc. 1) | |
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| Mosca ejects Volpone's would-be heirs ((1606) Ben Johnson, Volpone, Act 5, Sc. 1) | |
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| Novice Ralph inspires bumbling men to battle and glory ((1607) Beaumont and Fletcher, The Knight of the Burning Pestle, Act 5, Sc. 2) | |
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| Ralph, with a forked arrow through his head, recites his dying speech ((1607) Beaumont and Fletcher, The Knight of the Burning Pestle, Act 5 Sc. 3) | |
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| Restoration | |
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| Bayes the Poet explains his strategy for making plays ((1671) George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, The Rehearsal, Act 1, Sc. 1) | |
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| Bayes seeks advice on presenting his prologue ((1671) George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, The Rehearsal, Act 1, Sc. 2) | |
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| Rhodophil laments the misfortune of marriage, and plans consolation with a yet-to-be-won mistress ((1672) John Dryden, Marriage-a-la-Mode, Act 1, Sc. 1) | |
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| Rhodophil resolves that he and Doralice must forever suffer the misfortune of their marriage ((1672) John Dryden, Marriage-a-la-Mode, Act 3, Sc. 1) | |
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| Horner explains to his doctor the advantages of pretending to be a eunuch ((1675) William Wycherley, The Country Wife, Act 1) | |
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| Ramble declares a "new order of nature" for true wits and against fools ((1675) John Crowe, The Country Wit, Act 2) | |
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| Sir Fopling Flutter displays on his person the French mode ((1676) George Etherege, The Man of Mode, Act 3, Sc. 1) | |
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| Whittmore, under instructions from Lucia, must "feign a courtship" to Isabella ((1678) Aphra Behn, Sir Patient Fancy, Act 2, Sc. 1) | |
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| Petro demonstrates how the body can tell a tale and pick a pocket, with small aid from words or sense ((1679) Aphra Behn, The Feign'd Courtesan, Act 2, Sc. 1) | |
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| Belfont Senior, the "swinish" rustic son of a brutish father, embraces London's low life ((1688) Thomas Shadwell, The Squire of Alsatia, Act 1, Sc. 1) | |
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| Sosia, playing two parts, rehearses the news he is bringing to Alcmene ((1690) John Dryden, Amphitryon, Act 2, Sc. 1) | |
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| Mellefont recounts how Lady Touchwood invaded his bedchamber and wooed with fury ((1694) William Congreve, The Double Dealer, Act 1, Sc. 3) | |
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| Maskwell strengthens Mellefont's confidence in his loyalty by confidently confessing his treachery ((1694) William Congreve, The Double Dealer, Act 2, Sc. 7) | |
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| Maskwell, self-congratulating, apostrophizes treachery and double dealing ((1694) William Congreve, The Double Dealer, Act 2, Sc. 2) | |
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| The valet Jeremy is horrified at his master's plan to turn playwright ((1695) William Congreve, Love for Love, Act 1, Sc. 1) | |
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| Loveless, impoverished by riot, remains thoroughly well disposed toward pleasure ((1696) Colley Cibber, Love's Last Shift, Act 1, Sc. 1) | |
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| Loveless embraces love of virtue together with bliss, and fulsomely repents ((1696) Colley Cibber, Love's Last Shift, Act 5, Sc. 2) | |
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| Sir Novelty Fashion demonstrates how he merits his name ((1696) Colley Cibber, Love's Last Shift, Act 2, Sc. 1) | |
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| Lord Foppington favors a lady with an account of his day ((1696) John Vanbrugh, The Relapse, Act 2, Sc. 2) | |
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| Loveless is disquieted by the logic of his wavering marital affections ((1696) John Vanbrugh, The Relapse, Act 3, Sc. 1) | |
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| Lord Foppington, in the epilogue, condemns the author ((1696) John Vanbrugh, The Relapse, Epilogue) | |
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| Fainall dismisses wives, marriage, cuckoldry and jealously ((1700) William Congreve, The Way of the World, Act 3, Sc. 3) | |
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| Mirabel offers his conditions for marriage to Millimant ((1700) William Congreve, The Way of the World, Act 4, Sc. 1) | |
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| Beaumine commiserates with and warns Phillabell, who is in danger of marriage ((1700) Catherine Trotter, Love at a Loss, Act 1, Sc. 2) | |
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| Beaumine, while chastising Lesbia, pretends to talk himself into an immediate proposal of marriage ((1700) Catherine Trotter, Love at a Loss, Act 3, Sc. 1) | |
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| XVII Century French | |
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| Tartuffe attempts to seduce Elmire, the wife of his patron ((1664) Jean-Baptiste Moliere, Tartuffe, or The Imposter, tr. Christopher Hampton, Act 3, Sc. 3) | |
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| Sganarelle reveals the true nature of his master Don Juan ((1665) Jean-Baptiste Moliere, Don Juan, tr. G. Graveley and I. Maclean, Act 1, Sc. 1) | |
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| Don Juan explains his contempt for the idea of fidelity ((1665) Jean-Baptiste Moliere, Don Juan, tr. G. Graveley and I. Maclean, Act 1, Sc. 2) | |
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| Don Juan explains his devotion to "the fashionable vice," hypocrisy ((1665) Jean-Baptiste Moliere, Don Juan, tr. G. Graveley and I. Maclean, Act 5, Sc. 2) | |
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| Alceste, condemning Celimene's falseness, also confesses his love ((1666) Jean-Baptiste Moliere, The Misanthrope, tr. Richard Wilbur, Act 4, Sc. 3) | |
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| Arlecchino's account of his trip to the moon ((c1660s) Giuseppe Domenico Biancolelli (Alrecchino), tr. Pierre Louis Duchartre) | |
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| Arlecchino's heroic attempt to commit suicide ((c1660s) Giuseppe Domenico Biancolelli (Arlecchino), ad. L. Katz) | |
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| XVIII Century English | |
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| Young Bookwit, newly arrived in London, prepares to put into practice his scrupulous study of women ((1703) Richard Steele, The Lying Lover, Act 1, Sc. 1) | |
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| Captain Clerimont, disguised as a painter, offers a young lady her choice of compelling attitudes for her portrait ((1704) Richard Steele, The Tender Husband, Act 4, Sc. 2) | |
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| Bevil Jr., constrained but courteous, counters his father's choice of wife for him ((1722) Richard Steele, The Conscious Lovers, Act 1, Sc. 2) | |
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| Sharp implores his destitute master to marry ((1740) David Garrick, The Lying Valet, Act 1, Sc. 1) | |
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| Puff reveals the secrets of his craft ((1779) Richard Brinsley Sheridan, The Critic, Act 1, Sc. 2) | |
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| XIX/XX Century German/Scandinavian/English | |
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| Leonce contemplates with cheer love, emptiness, and boredom ((1836) Georg Buchner, Leonce and Lena, tr. Carl Richard Mueller, Act 1, Sc. 3) | |
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| Leonce contemplates with cheer love, emptiness, and boredom ((1836) Georg Buchner, Leonce and Lena, tr. Carl Richard Mueller, Act 1, Sc. 3) | |
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| Valerio returns to court with two "mechanisms:" Leonce and Lena ((1836) Georg Buchner, Leonce and Lena, tr. Carl Richard Mueller, Act 3, Sc.3) | |
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| Peer Gynt drives his dying mother to Heaven ((1867) Henrik Ibsen, Peer Gynt, tr. Wm. Archer, ad. L. Katz, Act 3, Sc. 4) | |
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| Tanner, exhorting Ann to assert her independence, puts his own in jeopardy ((1903) Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 1) | |
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| Don Juan speaks his contempt for the uses of life on Earth ((1903) Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Act 3) | |
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| Glossary of Greek and Roman Names | |