Jacobean Monologues for Auditions: Webster, Middleton, and Jonson

The audition pack says one speech from Shakespeare or an Elizabethan or Jacobean playwright. You know the Shakespeare. You’ve read some Marlowe. Then you hit the word “Jacobean” and realize you’re not quite sure which plays it covers, or where to find a speech in them that isn’t the one everyone does.

The Jacobean stage is one of the richest places to look. It gave us a duchess who proposes to her steward, a servant who kills for the woman who loathes him, a revenger talking to a skull, and a pair of con men who can’t stop quarrelling. Every play we quote below is free to read tonight.

The short version: for a woman’s speech, start with the Duchess of Malfi wooing Antonio or Celia pleading in Volpone. For a man’s, try De Flores in The Changeling or Vendice with the skull in The Revenger’s Tragedy, cut to fit. For comedy, Sir Epicure Mammon in The Alchemist. Any of these can be played by any actor, if the notice allows it. Below are thirteen speeches, each with the setup, the want, its opening lines, and a run time.

What counts as Jacobean

Jacobean means the reign of James I. Wikipedia’s article on the Jacobean era dates it from 1603, when James VI of Scotland inherited the English crown, and notes that the Caroline era follows it. James died in 1625, so a Jacobean play is, strictly, one written or first staged between 1603 and 1625.

That puts a lot of great work inside the line. Volpone was first produced in 1605-06, The Revenger’s Tragedy was performed in 1606, The Alchemist in 1610, The White Devil in 1612, and The Duchess of Malfi was written in 1612-13. The Changeling was performed by 1623, according to the notes in William Allan Neilson’s Chief Elizabethan Dramatists.

John Ford is the usual edge case. Wikipedia’s entry on ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore dates its first performance to about 1626 or between 1629 and 1633, after James died. Strictly, that’s Caroline. If a notice uses the words strictly, Ford falls outside them, so he’s the one playwright here to check with the school before you commit. No Project Gutenberg text of the play turned up when we looked, so we name it here rather than quote it.

Read the notice before you pick

RADA’s 2026 BA Acting admissions procedure asks for a classical piece from Shakespeare or an Elizabethan or Jacobean playwright, and names Jonson, Marlowe, and Webster as examples. It must be originally written in English, so no Greek tragedy or Molière. Each speech on the self-tape should last no longer than two minutes.

Not every school still asks. Guildhall’s audition preparation page says applicants no longer need a speech by Shakespeare or a Jacobean or Elizabethan playwright. It still wants one of your two monologues to be a dramatic speech in verse, and every speech below is in verse.

RADA’s guide also has a “Don’t” list that matters for this period. Don’t build a speech out of dialogue that leans on another character’s interruptions. Don’t pick a character who is mad, drunk, or wildly out of control. Jacobean tragedy is full of both, so the notes below flag where a speech is broken up and where the character is close to the edge. If you’re still deciding between this period and others, our guide to classical monologues that aren’t Shakespeare compares the options.

How we timed and quoted these

We counted the words of each speech in the Project Gutenberg text and divided by 150 a minute, a steady conversational pace. Verse spoken well usually runs slower, so treat each time as the shortest the speech is likely to run, then time yourself standing up.

The Webster plays and The Revenger’s Tragedy are quoted from the Mermaid Series volume edited by John Addington Symonds, which spells the revenger’s name Vendice. The Changeling comes from Alexander Dyce’s Works of Thomas Middleton, and the Jonson plays from Gutenberg’s Alchemist and Volpone. Scene numbers differ between editions, so find each speech by its first line.

Editions also differ in words. Symonds prints Ferdinand’s line as And what was the main cause? her marriage, while Gutenberg’s other Duchess of Malfi text has And that was the main cause,--her marriage,. Pick one edition, learn it, and don’t mix them.

The Duchess of Malfi (Webster)

Three of this play’s characters have four speeches worth taking into an audition room. You can see who speaks most, and where the long speeches fall, on our Duchess of Malfi page.

The Duchess, “The misery of us that are born great!” (Act 1)

The misery of us that are born great!
We are forced to woo, because none dare woo us;

The widowed Duchess has just put her ring on her steward Antonio’s finger, and he still won’t say what he feels. What she wants: for him to stop trembling and say yes. The turn comes at Go, go brag, where she stops explaining and starts teasing him into courage. About 160 words, roughly a minute. It’s warm, funny, and risky, which makes it a strong contrast to a dark contemporary piece.

The Duchess, “What would it pleasure me” (Act 4)

What would it pleasure me to have my throat cut
With diamonds? or to be smotherèd
With cassia? or to be shot to death with pearls?

Bosola has shown her the cord. She answers that the manner of death doesn’t frighten her at all. What she wants: to die on her own terms, and to send her brothers a message. About 105 words, roughly 40 seconds, so it’s short for a two-minute slot. Mark the grave accent in smotherèd: it tells you to say three syllables to keep the line’s beat.

You may know the famous line from earlier in this scene, I am Duchess of Malfi still. It’s a single line answered by Bosola, not a speech, so it won’t carry an audition on its own.

Ferdinand, “Let me see her face” (Act 4)

Let me see her face
Again. Why didst not thou pity her? what

His sister is dead on his orders. Ferdinand looks at her and turns on the man who did it. What he wants: to make Bosola carry the guilt, even as he admits why he wanted her dead. About 165 words, roughly a minute. He’s coming apart, and later in the play he goes fully mad, so keep this one controlled and let the logic crack rather than the voice. That makes it easier to play without tipping into the madness RADA warns against.

Bosola, “O, she’s gone again!” (Act 4)

O, she’s gone again! there the cords of life broke.
O sacred innocence, that sweetly sleeps

The Duchess woke for a moment, spoke twice, and died. Bosola, her killer, finds he can cry. What he wants: to make one decent choice after a career of bad ones. About 160 words, roughly a minute, and it ends on a decision (carry her body out, then go to Milan), which gives you a clean exit.

The White Devil (Webster)

Wikipedia’s entry on The White Devil says it failed at its first performance in 1612, and Webster blamed the winter and the audience. Its trial scene gives Vittoria her best material, and it is hard to cut, because the Cardinal interrupts her every few lines.

Vittoria, “That the last day of judgment may so find you” (the arraignment)

That the last day of judgment may so find you,
And leave you the same devil you were before!

Vittoria is on trial for adultery and her husband’s murder, with Cardinal Monticelso as prosecutor and judge. She has just been sentenced to a house for penitent women. What she wants: to leave the court unbroken. About 130 words, under a minute. Moments before it, the Cardinal says Fie, she’s mad!, so this is close to the edge RADA warns about: play her furious but in control, every curse aimed and meant.

The whole trial is her best material (Terrify babes, my lord, with painted devils; and Sum up my faults, I pray, and you shall find, are both in it), but it’s a duel, broken every few lines by the Cardinal. That’s exactly the patchwork RADA tells you not to assemble. This last speech is the one stretch that runs almost clean, with a single two-word reply you can cut by turning her question into a statement.

The Changeling (Middleton and Rowley)

Beatrice-Joanna hires De Flores, a servant she can’t stand, to kill the man she’s been promised to. He does it, and asks for her body as his fee. Neilson’s notes cite one scholar’s view that Rowley wrote the comic subplot and the opening and closing scenes of the main plot. On that view, both speeches below are Middleton’s.

De Flores, “Yonder’s she” (Act 2)

Yonder’s she;
Whatever ails me, now a-late especially,
I can as well be hang’d as refrain seeing her;

De Flores tells us he invents errands twenty times a day just to be where Beatrice can insult him. What he wants: for her to look at him. The turn is I tumbled into th’ world a gentleman, where the self-mockery drops and the pride shows. About 210 words, roughly 1 minute 25. It’s spoken to the audience, which makes it one of the cleanest Jacobean speeches to lift out.

Beatrice, “One struck” (Act 5)

One struck, and yet she lies by’t! O, my fears!
This strumpet serves her own ends, ’tis apparent now,

On her wedding night, Beatrice has sent her maid to her husband’s bed in her place, to hide that she’s no longer a virgin. The clock strikes one, and the maid hasn’t come back. What she wants: the maid out of that room, now. About 90 words, well under a minute. It’s too short to stand alone in a two-minute slot, but it works well for a shorter call, and the second clock gives you a built-in turn.

The Revenger’s Tragedy (probably Middleton)

The play was published anonymously in 1607. Wikipedia’s entry on The Revenger’s Tragedy says it was first credited to Cyril Tourneur in 1656, and that Middleton is now the consensus candidate, though the question is not settled. On a form, “Middleton (attributed)” is safe.

Vendice, “Duke! royal lecher!” (Act 1)

Duke! royal lecher! go, grey-haired adultery!
And thou his son, as impious steeped as he:

The Duke’s family passes by torchlight. Vendice watches, holding the skull of the woman he was going to marry, whom the Duke poisoned. What he wants: for vengeance to keep its appointment. The full speech is about 360 words, roughly 2 minutes 25, so it runs over a two-minute limit. Start at Thou sallow picture of my poisoned love, and speak only to the skull: that gives about 260 words, roughly 1 minute 45.

Vendice, “And now methinks I could e’en chide myself” (Act 3)

The very same.
And now methinks I could e’en chide myself

The skull is back, dressed as a lady for the Duke. Vendice is about to poison its lips for his kiss. Hippolito has just asked if this is the form that shone so bright, and Vendice answers, then asks what all the silk, money, and danger men spend on beauty actually buy. The famous line is a few lines in: Does the silkworm expend her yellow labours. About 110 words, roughly 45 seconds, so it pairs well with the first-act speech if a panel asks for more.

The Alchemist and Volpone (Jonson)

Jonson is the comedy option, a useful contrast if your contemporary piece is dark. Both plays are about greed, both are fast, and both have speeches you can lift. You can see who speaks most, and where the long speeches fall, on our Alchemist page.

Subtle, “Thou vermin” (The Alchemist, Act 1)

Thou vermin, have I ta’en thee out of dung,
So poor, so wretched, when no living thing

The play opens mid-fight. Subtle, a fake alchemist, reminds his partner Face exactly who made him. What he wants: credit, loudly. About 130 words, under a minute. It’s verse, but it moves at the speed of a row, so play the list of insults as a list of evidence.

Sir Epicure Mammon, “I will have all my beds blown up” (The Alchemist, Act 2)

I will have all my beds blown up, not stuft;
Down is too hard: and then, mine oval room

Mammon believes the philosopher’s stone is nearly ready, and he’s planning how to spend it. What he wants: everything, described in detail. About 120 words to the first interruption, under a minute. The joke is the size of the dream, so keep him sincere, as if every item is perfectly reasonable.

Volpone, “Good morning to the day” (Volpone, Act 1)

Good morning to the day; and next, my gold:
Open the shrine, that I may see my Saint.

The first speech of the play: a rich man wakes up and worships his treasure like a saint. What he wants: to adore it out loud. About 225 words, roughly 1 minute 30, ending where Mosca finishes his sentence. It’s a hymn, so find where the religious language turns into greed and let the audience see it.

Celia, “If you have ears that will be pierc’d” (Volpone, Act 3)

If you have ears that will be pierc’d--or eyes
That can be open’d--a heart that may be touch’d--

Celia’s husband has brought her to Volpone’s bed to win an inheritance, and Volpone has dropped his act. What she wants: to get out, or failing that, to be scarred rather than taken. About 170 words, a little over a minute. The dashes are her thinking under pressure, so let each new appeal come from the failure of the last one.

Make it yours, out loud

RADA’s guide says not to worry about how original your choice is. Pick the speech you can play best. What a panel will notice is whether you know who you’re talking to. Ferdinand talks to Bosola, Vendice to a skull, De Flores to the audience, Celia to a man who isn’t listening.

So learn each speech with the moment before it. Read the scene aloud, say the speech in your own words one thought at a time, then go word-perfect in your chosen edition. Our free first-letter memorizer turns any speech into first-letter cues, and our guide on how to memorize a monologue has the full method.

Offbook helps with the scene around the speech. Upload it, pick your role, and realistic voices read Antonio, Bosola, or Mosca, then wait while you say your lines. When you’re ready, hide your own lines while the others stay on screen, as the video below shows, and run the cue into the speech until it’s automatic.

For more speeches from this period and the one before it, see our Marlowe monologues for auditions, browse our monologues for women and dramatic monologues, and read our drama school audition guide for the rest of the day.

Questions actors ask

What is a good Jacobean monologue for a drama school audition?

Pick one with a clear want, a single listener, and few interruptions. The Duchess wooing Antonio, De Flores’s “Yonder’s she,” and Celia’s plea in Volpone all fit. Check the length against the notice: RADA’s 2026 limit is two minutes per speech.

Are there good monologues in The Duchess of Malfi?

Yes, for any actor. The Duchess has the wooing speech in Act 1 and her death speech in Act 4, and Ferdinand and Bosola both have strong speeches over her body in the same scene. “I am Duchess of Malfi still” is a single line, so use one of the speeches around it.

Is John Ford Jacobean?

Not strictly. ‘Tis Pity She’s a Whore was first performed around 1626 or between 1629 and 1633, after James I died in 1625, which makes it Caroline. If the notice says “Elizabethan or Jacobean” and nothing more, ask the school before you choose Ford.

Can a woman do De Flores or Vendice?

That depends on the school, so check the notice or ask. Nothing in these speeches needs a particular actor, and the same goes for men choosing the Duchess, Vittoria, or Celia. What a panel wants to see is that you know who the character is talking to and why.

Can I rehearse these on my phone?

Rehearse on your laptop with the full script on a big screen, and listen to your scenes on your phone anywhere. Listening to the scene with Offbook on the way to the audition keeps the cue lines in your ear.