"I have had some Scruples, Madam, and opened the Eyes of my Mind upon what I was a doing"
— Baker, Henry (1698-1774); Miller James (1706-1744); Molière (1622-1673)
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed by and for John Watts
Date
1739
Metaphor
"I have had some Scruples, Madam, and opened the Eyes of my Mind upon what I was a doing"
Metaphor in Context
D. JOHN
I own to you, Madam, I have not the Talent of Dissimulation, and that I wear a sincere Heart. I won't tell you that I have still the same Sentiments for you, and that I am impatient to rejoin you, since 'tis certain, in Reality, that I only came away to avoid you; not for the Reasons that you may imagine, but thro' a pure Motive of Conscience, and because I could not think I could live any longer with you without Sin. I have had some Scruples, Madam, and opened the Eyes of my Mind upon what I was a doing. I reflected that to marry you, I forc'd you from the Cloister of a Convent, that you have broke your Vows which engaged you another way, and that Heaven is very jealous of these sort of things. I was seized with Repentance, and dreaded the Wrath of Heaven. I thought our Marriage was only Adultery in Disguise, and that it would bring down some Calamity upon us from above, and that, in short, I ought to endeavour to forget you, and to give you the Opportunity of returning to your former Bonds. Would you, Madam, oppose so holy a Resolution, and have me, by retaining you, expose myself to the Vengeance of Heaven? That by--
I own to you, Madam, I have not the Talent of Dissimulation, and that I wear a sincere Heart. I won't tell you that I have still the same Sentiments for you, and that I am impatient to rejoin you, since 'tis certain, in Reality, that I only came away to avoid you; not for the Reasons that you may imagine, but thro' a pure Motive of Conscience, and because I could not think I could live any longer with you without Sin. I have had some Scruples, Madam, and opened the Eyes of my Mind upon what I was a doing. I reflected that to marry you, I forc'd you from the Cloister of a Convent, that you have broke your Vows which engaged you another way, and that Heaven is very jealous of these sort of things. I was seized with Repentance, and dreaded the Wrath of Heaven. I thought our Marriage was only Adultery in Disguise, and that it would bring down some Calamity upon us from above, and that, in short, I ought to endeavour to forget you, and to give you the Opportunity of returning to your former Bonds. Would you, Madam, oppose so holy a Resolution, and have me, by retaining you, expose myself to the Vengeance of Heaven? That by--
Categories
Provenance
Searching "eye" and "mind" in HDIS (Drama)
Citation
3 entries in ESTC (1739, 1748, 1755).
Text from The Works of Moliere, French and English. In ten volumes, trans. Henry Baker and James Miller (London: Printed by and for John Watts, 1739). <Link to ECCO>
Text from The Works of Moliere, French and English. In ten volumes, trans. Henry Baker and James Miller (London: Printed by and for John Watts, 1739). <Link to ECCO>
Theme
Mind's Eye
Date of Entry
04/24/2006
