De Flores admits he can as well be hanged as refrain from seeing Beatrice twenty times a day.
This episode dramatizes a scene from Thomas Middleton's 17th-century play "The Changeling." The characters Beatrice and De Flores navigate a web of obligation, manipulation, and dark attraction. The performance centers on Beatrice's secret plot and De Flores's obsessive fixation on her.
Beatrice gives Jasperino a paper detailing the time and place for a "fair service" she requires. She states that fulfilling this service will make the "name of friend sit glorious" on him. De Flores enters, confessing in a soliloquy that he is compulsively drawn to see Beatrice twenty times a day. He fabricates errands and excuses just to be in her sight, acknowledging he has "small reason for it."
Beatrice feels trapped by her father's demands, believing his blessing turns to a curse if she disregards his wishes. She describes a suitor as so urgent he "scarce allows me breath," forcing her to seek a "speedy way" to resolve her situation. De Flores compares a "true deserver" to a diamond that sparkles and is best seen with "intellectual eyesight" even in darkness.
A surprising claim is that absence is "the greatest darkness that falls on love." De Flores admits he would "as well be hanged as refrain" from seeing Beatrice, highlighting a desperate, irrational obsession. The tension arises from Beatrice's covert planning intersecting with De Flores's unpredictable and watchful presence.
The tone is dramatic and suspenseful, using Shakespearean-era English in a performed narrative style. The delivery is theatrical, emphasizing soliloquies and layered character motivations.
Listeners who enjoy classic revenge tragedies and psychological character studies will appreciate this episode. Those preferring modern language or non-fiction topics might find the archaic dialogue challenging.
