Soliloquies: the lady doth indeed protest
Lady MacBeth kill herself? Please. And Portia—you don’t think someone that intelligent would be pissed to be bait and trophy? As for Kate … that’s supposed to be funny?
Soliloquies delivered by Shakespeare’s women – Juliet, Ophelia, Lady MacBeth, Kate, Portia, Desdemona, Regan, Miranda, Isabella, and Marina – protesting the role given to them.
A feminist critique of Shakespeare; exquisite poetry; great classroom material; fresh, new audition pieces; and a theatrical script ready for performance.
Magenta 2011
Available in print only as part of Satellites Out of Orbit.
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As a Shakespeare director, I’m thrilled by the perspective which Chris’ pieces provide of the plays and characters which they challenge – I believe these will be sought after by theatre companies which also do solid classical work, as new material for their audiences, embraced by a season of Shakespeare plays.
As a feminist, I’m excited by how these characters come alive and point up the perceptions and misperceptions that have shaped their literary and theatrical destinies.
As a dramaturg, I’m more than pleased to find modern playwrights who can write in heightened language and/or verse.” Joanne Zipay, Judith Shakespeare Company, NYC
“I quite enjoyed this poetry collection! I really enjoyed the different takes on many of the ladies of Shakespeare and I appreciate the depth the author took to give them the proper lens they should have been viewed from the start! I had a particular appreciation for Lady MacBeth’s very short poem, if only because I loved the confidence being projected in the use of language. There is a cleverness in most of these poems (for the characters I recognized at least) and harsh truth-bombs that were often being dropped. … [T]he writing is very open and raw, which I adored …” Sam, Goodreads
“What fascinated me most was how you reclaim these women not as symbols or footnotes, but as fully conscious figures interrogating the roles imposed upon them. The soliloquies feel both reverent toward Shakespeare’s language and fearless in challenging the assumptions that have followed these characters for centuries. There is something incredibly powerful about hearing Ophelia, Lady Macbeth, Portia, and the others articulate their own resistance with wit, insight, and emotional clarity.
I was especially drawn to the way your writing bridges literary rigor and performative vitality. These pieces feel alive on the page, yet clearly shaped with actors, directors, and audiences in mind. It is rare to encounter verse that feels both heightened and accessible, and your command of language gives these women a presence that feels urgent and modern without losing their classical roots. … The fact that these voices eventually found their way onto stages in the UK and beyond feels both earned and quietly radical.” Louise O’Neill (or a scammer with AI assistance)
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Ophelia
O what a noble mind is here at last uncover’d!
The glass of fashion, the mold of form
Is quite dash’d against the stone;
The shattered pieces lie at my feet.
My thoughts, my feelings,
Once fixed, encased in crystal,
Breathe and blow in the quick’ning wind
Like petals. Once pale, now pulsing,
Rich, and rainbowed, come!
I beseech thee, attend and heed
As I the shards examine.…
… (contd)
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Juliet
Romeo, Romeo,
Where the hell art thou?
Have you stopped along the way
To play at your stupid battle games?
Or have you changed your mind,
And decided not to come
Thinking me too ‘easy’ and thus insincere:
What perversion of thought is this?
Because I say what it is I want,
Direct and forthright,
You judge my desire false?
While the one who dallies,
Says no to mean yes,
You deem true and take her
Seriously?
… (contd)