The Servant Character Analysis

SERVANT (combing). Such a lucky girl…to be able to put your arms around a man, to kiss him, to feel his weight!

BRIDE. Be quiet!

SERVANT. But it’s best of all when you wake up and you feel him alongside you, and he strokes your shoulders with his breath, like a nightingale’s feather.

BRIDE (forcefully). Will you be quiet!

SERVANT. But child! What is marriage? That’s what marriage is. Nothing more! Is it the sweetmeats? Is it the bunches of flowers? Of course it’s not! It’s a shining bed and a man and a woman.

SERVANT. It’s no time to be feeling sad. (Spiritedly.) Give me the orange-blossom. (The BRIDE throws the wreath away.) Child! Don’t tempt fate by throwing the flowers on the floor! Look at me now. Don’t you want to get married? Tell me. You can still change your mind. (She gets up.)

BRIDE. Dark clouds. A cold wind here inside me. Doesn’t everyone feel it?

LEONARDO (getting up). I suppose the bride will be wearing a big wreath of flowers? It shouldn’t be so big. Something smaller would suit her better. Did the bridegroom bring the orange-blossom so she can wear it on her heart?

BRIDE (she appears still in petticoats and with the wreath of flowers in place). He brought it.

SERVANT (strongly). Don’t come out like that.

BRIDE. What’s the matter? (Seriously.) Why do you want to know if they brought the orange-blossom? What are you hinting at?

LEONARDO. What would I be hinting at? (Moving closer.) You, you know me, you know I’m not hinting. Tell me. What was I to you? Open up your memory, refresh it. But two oxen and a broken-down shack are almost nothing. That’s the thorn.

BRIDE. […] I’ll shut myself away with my husband, and I’ll love him above everything.

LEONARDO. Pride will get you nowhere! (He approaches her.)

BRIDE. Don’t come near me!

LEONARDO. To keep quiet and burn is the greatest punishment we can heap upon ourselves. What use was pride to me and not seeing you and leaving you awake night after night? No use! It only brought the fire down on top of me! You think that time heals and walls conceal, and it’s not true, not true! When the roots of things go deep, no one can pull them up!

It hurts to the ends of my veins. On the face of every one of them I can only see the hand that killed what was mine. Do you see me? Do I seem mad to you? Well I am mad from not being able to shout what my heart demands. There’s a scream here in my heart that’s always rising up, and I have to force it down again and hide it in these shawls. They’ve taken my dead ones from me and I have to be silent. And because of that people criticize.

SERVANT (combing). Such a lucky girl…to be able to put your arms around a man, to kiss him, to feel his weight!

BRIDE. Be quiet!

SERVANT. But it’s best of all when you wake up and you feel him alongside you, and he strokes your shoulders with his breath, like a nightingale’s feather.

BRIDE (forcefully). Will you be quiet!

SERVANT. But child! What is marriage? That’s what marriage is. Nothing more! Is it the sweetmeats? Is it the bunches of flowers? Of course it’s not! It’s a shining bed and a man and a woman.

SERVANT. It’s no time to be feeling sad. (Spiritedly.) Give me the orange-blossom. (The BRIDE throws the wreath away.) Child! Don’t tempt fate by throwing the flowers on the floor! Look at me now. Don’t you want to get married? Tell me. You can still change your mind. (She gets up.)

BRIDE. Dark clouds. A cold wind here inside me. Doesn’t everyone feel it?

LEONARDO (getting up). I suppose the bride will be wearing a big wreath of flowers? It shouldn’t be so big. Something smaller would suit her better. Did the bridegroom bring the orange-blossom so she can wear it on her heart?

BRIDE (she appears still in petticoats and with the wreath of flowers in place). He brought it.

SERVANT (strongly). Don’t come out like that.

BRIDE. What’s the matter? (Seriously.) Why do you want to know if they brought the orange-blossom? What are you hinting at?

LEONARDO. What would I be hinting at? (Moving closer.) You, you know me, you know I’m not hinting. Tell me. What was I to you? Open up your memory, refresh it. But two oxen and a broken-down shack are almost nothing. That’s the thorn.

BRIDE. […] I’ll shut myself away with my husband, and I’ll love him above everything.

LEONARDO. Pride will get you nowhere! (He approaches her.)

BRIDE. Don’t come near me!

LEONARDO. To keep quiet and burn is the greatest punishment we can heap upon ourselves. What use was pride to me and not seeing you and leaving you awake night after night? No use! It only brought the fire down on top of me! You think that time heals and walls conceal, and it’s not true, not true! When the roots of things go deep, no one can pull them up!

It hurts to the ends of my veins. On the face of every one of them I can only see the hand that killed what was mine. Do you see me? Do I seem mad to you? Well I am mad from not being able to shout what my heart demands. There’s a scream here in my heart that’s always rising up, and I have to force it down again and hide it in these shawls. They’ve taken my dead ones from me and I have to be silent. And because of that people criticize.