skylark913 | Creative Writing Assignment

We were told to pick any literary or historical figure we wanted, fiction or not, and write a monologue from that character's point of view.

Confessions of a Tortured Soul

[The stage is blacked out. A thick fog covers the floor. The lights on stage are brought up by a fraction. A dark silhouetted figure stands on stage. A spotlight comes on, framing SNAPE. He is dressed in tattered black wizard’s robes and his hair hangs in his face. He is pacing]

SNAPE [he stops pacing at center stage and his hands stretch pleadingly out towards the audience]: I never wanted to be a villain, or a hero for that matter. I would do anything for my beautiful doe. I could have been whatever she wanted me to be, a villain or a hero, no difference really. When Lily and I were young, [he tucks a stray wisp of hair back behind his ear and adopts a thoughtful nostalgic posture] we simply wanted to be together. I have loved her forever, even before she knew I existed. We comforted each other when there was trouble in our families. I swore I would be by her side forever. [He pauses, becoming withdrawn and lowering his voice] I never meant things to end up like this. [He becomes defensive, voice rising] I didn't know the Dark Lord would go after her boy; otherwise I never would have to him the words of the prophecy. I wouldn't have! I barely heard half of it as it was. I could have told him I didn't manage to hear it. I know I'm a better Occlumens than he can overpower. He knows when the others lie, but never me. [His voice drop again, remorseful] I could have saved her. [shouts to the heavens] I could have saved her!

[SNAPE wanders to stage right as though wounded and lowers his voice again as his hands stretch pleadingly out towards the audience]: I never wanted to be a villain, to have things turn out this way. But what else could I have done? [He resumes pacing] Her friends never accepted me. And not only that, but they confunded her as well. [He becomes agitated and angered] That James Potter would never have won over any girl, especially my Lily, without a confundus charm. Bastard! [He makes animated hand gestures, emphasizing his words with jabbing fingers, and his voice escalating] I had to find my own way, and my own friends. My companions didn't understand my love for Lily. They went and carried out orders relating to the murder of her boy. Though who cares about that brat of Potter's get? [He stops pacing suddenly and drops his voice to a near whisper] but Lily... My sweet and fiery Lily would never have let the Dark Lord at the child, even on threat of her own death. [He becomes agitated again] She had to love the child more than me! She loved him and he got her killed. Her death is the brat's fault.

[The spotlight on SNAPE dims as the fog seems to grow thicker. He resumes his pacing occasionally murmuring and gesturing to nobody, as though rehearsing a conversation or justifying something to himself. The spotlight comes back up as he stops pacing at stage left]

SNAPE [his hands stretch pleadingly out towards the audience]: I never wanted to be a hero. The boy is the only connection I have left to her. I wish I could erase everything but his eyes, her eyes. I will do anything, but I will do it for her. [He pauses] Always for her. I will aid the bumbling and naive Order of the Phoenix and fight against the Dark Lord to protect that boy because he is all I have left of her. [His voice seems to swell and his manner becomes grandiose as he crescendos towards a final point] I will throw all of my wit and power against him because he murdered the only thing I have ever loved. I will destroy Lord Voldemort if I must betray everyone else in my life to do so. It is still because of her that I will fight him. It does not matter who else should fall in the process, does not matter who I must hurt, torture or kill, does not matter if I die: [he pauses and becomes suddenly somber] I will revenge Lily Evans.

[SNAPE resumes his pacing, pausing every so often looking pensive, only to shake his head and continue pacing. His hands stretch pleadingly out towards the audience as he pauses in his pacing]: I never wanted to be a hero, or a villain for that matter. There's not really even any difference between the two. [He is now taking long strides across the stage to address different areas of the audience] It is all about how people perceive you, and I will not cave to the perceptions of others. After all, perceptions can change, [aside] (often with nothing more than the aid of a potion and minimal slight of hand.) I have been a turncoat and a double-agent. It is not an honorable thing, but honor is something that only the idealistic and naive seek, for it will not get you what you desire. [He stops at center stage and weighs his options with his hands] The villain will take what he desires and the hero will receive what he desires, but in the end both are the same, and both will lose everything else along the path to what they seek. So why choose to be either. Not I. People may perceive me as one or the other, but I never wanted to be a villain. [His voice fades as all lights on stage go down and the fog rolls up] I never wanted to be a hero.

Creative Writing Assignment

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