KATHERINE HOWARD from Henry'sWives (by Aoise Stratford)

KATHERINE was the fifth wife of Henry the Eighth. She married the king when she was just 19 and he was already fat and middle-aged. While at court she fell in love with Thomas Culpeper and when the king found out he had her executed. This monologue is from late in the second act when Katherine faces the block, preparing for her execution. Running time 1 minute.

KATHERINE

Blood is still slick upon it though I can see naught but shadows, the whispered breath of ghosts, the women gone before....I must remember them. I must be well remembered. But it is so dark, the coldness of the grave already creeping through my bones. Anna? Sweet friend? Someone? May I have a little light? We women should not live in darkness, is it not so? In the beginning God said let there be light and there was light. So can this be the beginning then when it feels so much like the end? Where does one thing start and another leave off? I must die with dignity, not with shame but how to? How to? Help me angels, pull the heavenly strings that move me in this final act. I kneel left knee first, then the right, place my cheek down, like so. Close my eyes, I ...Oh God...I smell blood. No, no. I must do this right. I will distract myself. Yes! I will think of the roses that bloomed here once, their petals soft as kid, their perfume rich and bright like the sun. I will think of my rooms at the palace, the view of the river swift and knowing as it twinkles past, a shot of silver. And the great hall. Yes! I will think on that. Banquets and masques. The laughter, thick as a cloud of bees about us. Thomas and I spinning to the heartbeat of drums, the call of pipers, whirling until I was sure I had left the earth behind me.... (a beat) As now I must. I kneel left knee first, then the right...my hands clasped in prayer...And still the stone is cold and brittle. Oh, Thomas, is there to be no comfort for me?

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