Summer Con Ladies (Julia, Two Gents)

Julia, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Act 1, Scene 2, line 115


(Julia's nurse, Lucetta, presents her with a letter from Proteus, who is by all accounts, a handsome, swinging young fellow. Attempting to retain her semblance of 'maiden modesty', Julia acts like she's not interested in Proteus.

After Lucetta teases her a bit, Julia tears up the letter as a demonstration of her disinterest. Lucetta leaves. Then we find out 'the lady doth protest too much' (a quote from Hamlet, by the way, which means over acting or over emphasizing a point.) In fact, Julia is in love with Proteus.


Julia:
O hateful hands, to tear such loving words!
Injurious wasps, to feed on such sweet honey 
And kill the bees that yield it with your stings!
I'll kiss each several paper for amends.
Look, here is writ 'kind Julia.' Unkind Julia!
As in revenge of thy ingratitude,
I throw thy name against the bruising stones,
Trampling contemptuously on thy disdain.
And here is writ 'love-wounded Proteus.'
Poor wounded name! my bosom as a bed
Shall lodge thee till thy wound be thoroughly heal'd;
And thus I search it with a sovereign kiss. 
But twice or thrice was 'Proteus' written down.
Be calm, good wind, blow not a word away
Till I have found each letter in the letter,
Except mine own name: that some whirlwind bear
Unto a ragged fearful-hanging rock 
And throw it thence into the raging sea!
Lo, here in one line is his name twice writ,
'Poor forlorn Proteus, passionate Proteus,
To the sweet Julia:' that I'll tear away.
And yet I will not, sith so prettily 
He couples it to his complaining names.
Thus will I fold them one on another:
Now kiss, embrace, contend, do what you will.


Notes: This is a fantastic, popular monologue for an audition. Although there are no stage directions written, there are plenty of implied actions in the text. For example:
'I'll kiss each several paper'
'Here is writ 'kind Julia''
'I throw thy name against the bruising stones, 
trampling contemptuously on thy disdain.'
'my bosom as a bed shall lodge thee'
'thus I search it with a sovereign kiss.' Etc. 


For the actor, it's important to investigate these gestures. How does Julia kiss Proteus' name on the paper? Tenderly? Shyly? Passionately? How does imagining kissing Proteus effect her? How does tucking the piece of paper near her 'bosom' effect her? Etc. In the choice of how these actions are accomplished reveals the character of Julia and the humour of the scene. It's good to read the preceding scene with Lucetta to get a sense of how she behaves around others, how she is expected to behave as a young lady of means. She may seem prudish, uptight, etc... then when she's alone, the passionate young lady comes out. So there's a real struggle within her between what she thinks she's supposed to be and what she is. Even the way she deals with Proteus' name on the piece of paper reveals a certain level of modesty at first. See how she may go from dealing delicately with the piece of paper at the beginning, kissing 'Proteus' wound' perhaps tenderly, modestly, and then at the end of the scene she is rubbing the papers together in a more overtly sexual way.