THE OTHER DANGER
A monologue from the
play by Maurice Donnay
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NOTE: This monologue is reprinted
from Three Modern Plays from the French. Ed. Barrett H.
Clark. New York: Henry Holt and Co., 1914. |
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CLAIRE: Ah! You would not speak that way if you had
seen her; if, like me, you had held her in your arms a miserable
child, white and trembling; if, like me, you had read in her
anxious eyes the terror of my fault and the shame of her besmirched
love! You would understand how I have not had the courage--the
barbarity--to tell her the cruel truth. Yes, I have promised
her everything; I have pledged my sacred word, because, above
and beyond the truth, there is her purity--her tender youth;
because, above everything, there is pity. And since you speak
of crime, the real crime would have been to smite, perhaps fatally,
an innocent child--do you understand, innocent? If you
don't think so, tell Madeleine yourself your resolution; tell
her you are going away, and that you will not return. If you
have decided that that is your duty, assume all the responsibility
of it with her, and spare me, at least, the torture of a new
explanation with my child. Besides, I could not--I have no more
strength. I am going to have her called, and you will speak to
her. [She rings the bell.]
MORE
MONOLOGUES BY MAURICE DONNAY |
