Best Shakespeare Monologues Volume 1 FULL Audio Book

  Greatest Shakespeare Monologues, Volume 1 by William Shakespeare (1564-1616) William Shakespeare is to be considered the greatest playwright of all time.



He wrote in a variety of genres -- tragedy, comedy, romance, history -- and
each play features one or more memorable monologues. Some of these
teach a lesson, some are funny, some sad, some moving, some simply
characterize Shakespeare the poet at his best.

Here is the listing of famous monologues in Vol. #1 & their lengths:

- Merchant of Venice -- Quality of Mercy (Act 4, Scene 1) -- 00:01:31
Read by: Kirsten Ferreri

- Taming of the Shrew -- No Shame But Mine (Act 3, Scene 2) -- 00:01:40
Read by: Duan

- Macbeth -- They met me on the day of sucess (Act 1, Scene 5) -- 00:02:22
Read by: Lizzie Driver

- Romeo and Juliet -- More Than Prince of Cats (Act 2, Scene 4) -- 00:00:49
Read by: Shurtagal

- Macbeth -- Is this a dagger? (Act 2, Scene 1) -- 00:02:16
Read by: Julian Jamison

- A Midsummer Night's Dream -- If We Shadows Have Offended (Act 5, Scene 2) -- 00:01:19
Read by: Kara Shallenberg

- Henry V -- Prologue (Act 1, Scene 1) -- 00:02:32
Read by: Squid Varilekova

- King John -- I defy all counsel (Act 3, Scene 4) -- 00:02:17
Read by: Larysa Jaworski

- Romeo and Juliet -- Romeo, Romeo, Wherefore Art Thou Romeo (Act 2, Scene 2) -- Read by: Laurie Anne Walden

- Twelfth Night -- I left no ring with her (Act 2, Scene 2) -- 00:01:39
Read by: Karen Savage

- The Tempest -- Be Cheerful Sir (Act 4, Scene 1) -- 00:01:13
Read by: Alan Davis-Drake

- Othello -- Emilia (Act 4, Scene 3) -- 00:01:57
Read by: Elizabeth Klett

- Hamlet -- Hamlet's Speech to the Players (Act 3, Scene 2) -- 00:02:39
Read by: Shurtagal

- Richard II -- Of Comfort No Man Speak (Act 3, Scene 2) -- 00:02:36
Read by: Mark Nelson

- Measure for Measure -- Tis One Thing To Be Tempted (Act 2, Scene 1) -- 00:01:14
Read by: Martin Clifton




"The quality of mercy is not strained" - The Merchant of Venice
"No shame but mine" - The Taming of the Shrew 
"They met me on the day of success" Macbeth 
"More than Prince of Cats" - Romeo and Juliet
"Is this a dagger I see before me" - Macbeth 
"If we shadows have offended" - A Midsummer Night's Dream 
Prologue - Henry V
"I defy all counsel" - King John 
"Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo?" - Romeo and Juliet 
"I left no ring with her" - Twelfth Night
"Be cheerful, sir" - The Tempest
"Emilia" - Othello 
"Speak the speech I pray you" - Hamlet
"Of comfort no man speak" - Richard II 
"Tis one thing to be tempted" - Measure for Measure


This is a Librivox recording. All Librivox recordings are in the public domain.
Total running time: 0:27:17
Cover design by Kathryn Delaney
British actress Kate Dolan as Portia, 1886

TO BE OR NOT TO BE Famous William Shakespeare HAMLET Monologue FULL AudioBook

To Be or Not to Be" monologue
from William Shakespeare's HAMLET:

To be, or not to be- that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,
And by opposing end them. To die- to sleep-
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to. 'Tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd. To die- to sleep.
To sleep- perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub!
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause. There's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life.
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
Th' oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely,
The pangs of despis'd love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office, and the spurns
That patient merit of th' unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? Who would these fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death-
The undiscover'd country, from whose bourn
No traveller returns- puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all,
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprises of great pith and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry
And lose the name of action.- Soft you now!
The fair Ophelia!- Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins rememb'red."

Hamlet -- To Be or Not to Be (Act 3, Scene 1) -- 00:02:04 
This is a Librivox recording. All Librivox recordings are in the public domain.

ROMEO & JULIET FULL FREE AudioBook by William Shakespeare

Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately reconcile their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetime and, along with Hamlet, is one of his most frequently performed plays. Today, the title characters are regarded as archetypal young lovers.



Romeo and Juliet belongs to a tradition of tragic romances stretching back to antiquity. Its plot is based on an Italian tale, translated into verse as The Tragical History of Romeus and Juliet by Arthur Brooke in 1562 and retold in prose in Palace of Pleasure by William Painter in 1567. Shakespeare borrowed heavily from both but, to expand the plot, developed supporting characters, particularly Mercutio and Paris. Believed to have been written between 1591 and 1595, the play was first published in a quarto version in 1597. This text was of poor quality, and later editions corrected it, bringing it more in line with Shakespeare's original.

Shakespeare's use of dramatic structure, especially effects such as switching between comedy and tragedy to heighten tension, his expansion of minor characters, and his use of sub-plots to embellish the story, has been praised as an early sign of his dramatic skill. The play ascribes different poetic forms to different characters, sometimes changing the form as the character develops. Romeo, for example, grows more adept at the sonnet over the course of the play. Romeo and Juliet has been adapted numerous times for stage, film, musical and opera. During the English Restoration, it was revived and heavily revised by William Davenant. David Garrick's 18th-century version also modified several scenes, removing material then considered indecent, and Georg Benda's operatic adaptation omitted much of the action and added a happy ending. Performances in the 19th century, including Charlotte Cushman's, restored the original text, and focused on greater realism. John Gielgud's 1935 version kept very close to Shakespeare's text, and used Elizabethan costumes and staging to enhance the drama. In the 20th century the play has been adapted in versions as diverse as George Cukor's comparatively faithful 1936 production, Franco Zeffirelli's 1968 version, and Baz Luhrmann's 1996 MTV-inspired Romeo + Juliet. (Summary adapted from wikipedia. org) -

LISTEN to the entire audiobook for free! Chapter listing and length:

- Prologue -- 00:03:36 
- Act 1 -- 00:41:43 2
- Act 2 -- 00:37:42 3
- Act 3 -- 00:48:02 4
 - Act 4 -- 00:24:37 5
- Act 5 -- 00:27:58