Overview
Show
Character
Gender
Male
Playing Age
Adult, Mature Adult
Style
Comedic
Act/Scene
Act Five
Time & Place
A public street in seventeenth-century Paris, following a shocking revelation of deceit.
Length
Medium
Time Period
Classical
Show Type
Play
Age Guidance
Youth (Y)/General Audiences (G)
Context
Geronte is confronting his son, Dorante, after
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- I can’t believe I swallowed all those lies!
- But pretty soon you’ll get your just deserts --
- It’s my stupidity that really hurts.
- To let myself be made the tool and toy
- Of a mere fop -- a callow, impish boy!
- Have I offended you? I don’t recall
- Doing you any serious harm at all.
- I’ve always been as lenient as I could --
- I spanked you sometimes, but it did you good.
- If you were so revolted by Clarice
- You should have said -- why fool about like this?
- I only wanted you to be content --
- I proved it, too, by giving my consent
- To your marrying a girl I’d never seen.
- And yet, what use has all this kindness been,
- If insults and deceit are your idea
- Of gratitude? And now, get out of here --
- I wash my hands of you.
Corneille, Pierre. Two Plays: The Liar, The Illusion. trans. Ranjit Bolt. Absolute Classics, Bath, England. 1989. p. 62.
Performance Tips
- Root the character's anger in deep emotional
Emotional Beat Breakdown
1. Stung by Deception
- What shifts:
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