# Hamlet: O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I! > What is happening, what every line means, how to perform it, and how to use it in an audition, with the full text. - URL: https://www.offbook.com/monologues/o-what-a-rogue-and-peasant-slave - Last updated: 2026-10-08 From [Hamlet](https://www.offbook.com/plays/hamlet) by William Shakespeare, Act 2, Scene 2. ## What is happening This is the end of Act 2, Scene 2. Traveling actors have arrived at Elsinore. At Hamlet's request, the lead player has just performed a speech about the fall of Troy, and wept real tears describing Queen Hecuba's grief. The Ghost has told Hamlet that his uncle Claudius murdered his father and demanded revenge. Hamlet has done nothing. He has just asked the players to perform The Murder of Gonzago tomorrow, with some lines he will add, and sent everyone away. Now he is alone. He wants to understand why an actor can feel more for a made-up queen than he shows for his own father. He attacks himself, rages at Claudius, catches himself, and ends with a plan. - Lines: 60 - Words: 454 - At 150 words a minute: 3.0 minutes - Form: Verse ## The speech, beat by beat The full text in 8 beats. Under each beat: what it means in plain English, and a note for playing it. ### Lines 1–10: The player's tears 1. Now I am alone. 2. O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I! 3. Is it not monstrous that this player here, 4. But in a fiction, in a dream of passion, 5. Could force his soul so to his own conceit 6. That from her working all his visage wann’d, 7. Tears in his eyes, distraction in’s aspect, 8. A broken voice, and his whole function suiting 9. With forms to his conceit? and all for nothing! 10. For Hecuba! **In plain English:** At last I am alone. What a worthless wretch I am! This actor, in a made-up story, worked himself up until his face went pale, his eyes filled, and his voice broke. And all for nothing. For Hecuba! **Acting note:** 'Now I am alone' is a release. The public mask comes off before the first full line. ### Lines 11–18: If he had my reason 11. What’s Hecuba to him, or he to Hecuba, 12. That he should weep for her? What would he do, 13. Had he the motive and the cue for passion 14. That I have? He would drown the stage with tears 15. And cleave the general ear with horrid speech, 16. Make mad the guilty and appal the free, 17. Confound the ignorant, and amaze indeed 18. The very faculties of eyes and ears. **In plain English:** What is Hecuba to him, that he should cry for her? With my reason for passion, he would flood the stage with tears, split the audience's ears, drive the guilty mad, terrify the innocent, and stun everyone watching. **Acting note:** This is a picture of the actor Hamlet wishes he could be. Let it grow. ### Lines 19–24: Yet I 19. Yet I, 20. A dull and muddy-mettled rascal, peak, 21. Like John-a-dreams, unpregnant of my cause, 22. And can say nothing; no, not for a king, 23. Upon whose property and most dear life 24. A damn’d defeat was made. Am I a coward? **In plain English:** And yet I, a dull, sluggish fool, mope around like a daydreamer, unmoved by my own cause, and I say nothing. Not even for a king whose life and kingdom were stolen in a damned crime. Am I a coward? **Acting note:** 'Yet I' is a short line. Use the silence it leaves. 'Am I a coward?' is a real question. ### Lines 25–29: The coward test 25. Who calls me villain? breaks my pate across? 26. Plucks off my beard, and blows it in my face? 27. Tweaks me by the nose? gives me the lie i’ the throat, 28. As deep as to the lungs? who does me this? 29. Ha! **In plain English:** Who calls me a villain? Who hits me on the head, pulls my beard and blows it in my face, tweaks my nose, calls me a liar to my face? Who does this to me? Ha! **Acting note:** Imagine someone actually insulting you. Each question can go to a different person in the audience. ### Lines 30–36: Rage 30. ’Swounds, I should take it: for it cannot be 31. But I am pigeon-liver’d and lack gall 32. To make oppression bitter, or ere this 33. I should have fatted all the region kites 34. With this slave’s offal: bloody, bawdy villain! 35. Remorseless, treacherous, lecherous, kindless villain! 36. O, vengeance! **In plain English:** By God, I would take it. I must be soft as a pigeon, with no bitterness, or I would already have fed this slave's guts to the birds. Bloody, filthy, ruthless, treacherous, lustful, unnatural villain! Oh, revenge! **Acting note:** This is the emotional peak. Build the list of insults word by word rather than shouting all of it at one level. ### Lines 37–42: Catching himself 37. Why, what an ass am I! This is most brave, 38. That I, the son of a dear father murder’d, 39. Prompted to my revenge by heaven and hell, 40. Must, like a whore, unpack my heart with words, 41. And fall a-cursing, like a very drab, 42. A scullion! **In plain English:** What an idiot I am! How brave of me: the son of a murdered father, urged to revenge by heaven and hell, and all I do is spill my feelings in words and swear like a prostitute or a kitchen servant. **Acting note:** He realizes he has just been doing what the actor did: performing passion with words instead of acting. Let that discovery stop him. ### Lines 43–52: The plan 43. Fie upon’t! foh! About, my brain! I have heard 44. That guilty creatures sitting at a play 45. Have by the very cunning of the scene 46. Been struck so to the soul that presently 47. They have proclaim’d their malefactions; 48. For murder, though it have no tongue, will speak 49. With most miraculous organ. I’ll have these players 50. Play something like the murder of my father 51. Before mine uncle: I’ll observe his looks; 52. I’ll tent him to the quick: if he but blench, **In plain English:** Shame on it! Brain, get to work. Guilty people watching a play have been so struck by a scene that they confessed on the spot. Murder has no tongue, but it will speak. I will have the players act something like my father's murder before my uncle and watch his face. If he so much as flinches, **Acting note:** 'About, my brain!' is the turning point of the whole speech. Change gear here, from heat to clear, quick thinking. ### Lines 53–60: Doubt and decision 53. I know my course. The spirit that I have seen 54. May be the devil: and the devil hath power 55. To assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps 56. Out of my weakness and my melancholy, 57. As he is very potent with such spirits, 58. Abuses me to damn me: I’ll have grounds 59. More relative than this: the play’s the thing 60. Wherein I’ll catch the conscience of the king. **In plain English:** I will know what to do. The ghost might be the devil in a pleasing shape, using my weakness and sadness to damn me. I need firmer proof. The play is the thing that will trap the king's conscience. **Acting note:** The final rhyme (thing/king) seals the plan. Drive through it with forward energy. ## Hard words | Word | Line | Meaning | | --- | --- | --- | | *conceit* | 5 | imagination, the idea he was playing | | *wann’d* | 6 | turned pale | | *Hecuba* | 10 | Queen of Troy, who saw her husband Priam killed; the subject of the player's speech | | *peak* | 20 | mope, waste away | | *John-a-dreams* | 21 | a dreamy, idle person | | *unpregnant of my cause* | 21 | not stirred to action by my cause | | *pigeon-liver’d* | 31 | meek, cowardly (pigeons were thought to have no gall) | | *region kites* | 33 | birds of prey of the sky | | *kindless* | 35 | unnatural, without family feeling | | *tent* | 52 | probe, as a wound is probed | | *blench* | 52 | flinch | | *relative* | 59 | relevant, solid enough to act on | ## How to perform it - The objective changes. First Hamlet wants to shame himself into action. By the end he wants proof before he acts. Make sure the audience sees that journey. - Use the short lines. 'Now I am alone', 'For Hecuba!', 'Yet I,', 'Ha!', 'O, vengeance!' and 'A scullion!' are all short. Each leaves a gap for a breath, a new image, or a change of direction. - Do not play sixty lines of anger at one volume. The rage builds through the coward test (lines 25 to 29) to the peak at line 36. Then line 37 deflates it. If you are already at full volume at line 2, you have nowhere to go. - The biggest mistake is to rush or skip the turn at line 43. 'About, my brain!' is the moment Hamlet stops performing and starts thinking. Without a clear shift here, the second half sounds like more ranting. - Talk to the audience. The questions in lines 24 to 28 work best as real questions to real people. ## Using it in an audition This is a strong showcase for energy and range, moving from bitter wit to rage to strategy. Panels will have heard it many times, though it is less overexposed than 'To be, or not to be.' It suits actors who can play a young, intelligent, volatile prince, roughly late teens to early thirties. For 60 seconds, end at line 24 on 'Am I a coward?', which leaves a strong open question. For 90 seconds, end at line 34 on 'bloody, bawdy villain!' and commit fully to that peak. To show the turn into the plan, try lines 37 to 60 instead. Pair it with something quiet, so the panel sees your stillness too. Hamlet, Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2. William Shakespeare. Public domain text. ## How long it runs | Pace | Words a minute | Run time | | --- | --- | --- | | Deliberate | 130 | 3.5 minutes | | Conversational | 150 | 3.0 minutes | | Brisk | 170 | 2.7 minutes | These are speech times before pauses. To time your own run, paste the text into the [monologue timer](https://www.offbook.com/tools/monologue-timer). Cut points that stop at a full sentence: near 60 seconds (after line 24) and 90 seconds (after line 34). ## Practice it: first-letter version Each word is cut to its first letter. Say the whole line from the letters, then check the text. Make cues from any script with the [first-letter memorizer](https://www.offbook.com/tools/first-letter-memorizer). ```text N I a a. O, w a r a p s a I! I i n m t t p h, B i a f, i a d o p, C f h s s t h o c T f h w a h v w, T i h e, d i a, A b v, a h w f s W f t h c? a a f n! F H! W H t h, o h t H, T h s w f h? W w h d, H h t m a t c f p T I h? H w d t s w t A c t g e w h s, M m t g a a t f, C t i, a a i T v f o e a e. Y I, A d a m-m r, p, L J-a-d, u o m c, A c s n; n, n f a k, U w p a m d l A d d w m. A I a c? W c m v? b m p a? P o m b, a b i i m f? T m b t n? g m t l i’ t t, A d a t t l? w d m t? H! ’S, I s t i: f i c b B I a p-l a l g T m o b, o e t I s h f a t r k W t s o: b, b v! R, t, l, k v! O, v! W, w a a a I! T i m b, T I, t s o a d f m, P t m r b h a h, M, l a w, u m h w w, A f a-c, l a v d, A s! F u! f! A, m b! I h h T g c s a a p H b t v c o t s B s s t t s t p T h p t m; F m, t i h n t, w s W m m o. I h t p P s l t m o m f B m u: I o h l; I t h t t q: i h b b, I k m c. T s t I h s M b t d: a t d h p T a a p s; y, a p O o m w a m m, A h i v p w s s, A m t d m: I h g M r t t: t p t t W I c t c o t k. ``` ## More from Hamlet - [How many lines does Hamlet have?](https://www.offbook.com/plays/hamlet/hamlet) - [Hamlet: To be, or not to be](https://www.offbook.com/monologues/to-be-or-not-to-be) - [Ophelia: O, what a noble mind is here o’erthrown!](https://www.offbook.com/monologues/o-what-a-noble-mind) - [Every role in Hamlet, by size](https://www.offbook.com/plays/hamlet) ## Sources - [Hamlet Monologue (Act 2 Scene 2) | Analysis of Hamlet's 'O what a rogue and...' (StageMilk)](https://www.stagemilk.com/hamlet-act-2-scene-2-monologue/) - [A Short Analysis of Hamlet's 'O, what rogue and peasant slave am I' Soliloquy (Interesting Literature)](https://interestingliterature.com/2020/04/what-rogue-peasant-slave-soliloquy-hamlet-shakespeare-analysis-summary/) - ['O, What A Rogue And Peasant Slave Am I!' Soliloquy Analysis (No Sweat Shakespeare)](https://nosweatshakespeare.com/quotes/soliloquies/what-a-rogue-and-peasant-slave-am-i/) ## Questions actors ask ### How long is Hamlet’s O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I! speech? 60 lines and 454 words. At 150 words a minute it runs about 3.0 minutes; a slower, more deliberate delivery at 130 takes about 3.5 minutes. Pauses add time, so time a full run out loud. ### Is it a good audition monologue? This is a strong showcase for energy and range, moving from bitter wit to rage to strategy. Panels will have heard it many times, though it is less overexposed than 'To be, or not to be.' It suits actors who can play a young, intelligent, volatile prince, roughly late teens to early thirties. For 60 seconds, end at line 24 on 'Am I a coward?', which leaves a strong open question. For 90 seconds, end at line 34 on 'bloody, bawdy villain!' and commit fully to that peak. To show the turn into the plan, try lines 37 to 60 instead. Pair it with something quiet, so the panel sees your stillness too. ### What is the fastest way to memorize it? Learn it in sense units, not line by line: say each thought out loud until you can do it without looking, then add the next. The first-letter version below keeps the shape of every line in view while you test yourself. ## How we count Counts are computed from the full text of the [Standard Ebooks edition](https://standardebooks.org/ebooks/william-shakespeare/hamlet) (public domain; retrieved 2026-10-08). Words are every spoken word, with stage directions removed. Lines are verse lines as printed, plus prose at 10 words a line, because prose has no fixed line breaks; editions differ, so other sources give slightly different line counts. Time is words at 140 words a minute, before pauses and stage business. A role is counted in a scene when it speaks there. To count a script that is not in the library, paste it into the [script line counter](https://www.offbook.com/tools/script-line-counter).