Shakespeare "meltdown" monologue?

Hello all,
Does anybody know of a really good monologue from either a Shakespeare play or a monologue from a play pre 1800 that involves a character just completely melting down on stage and just losing it? It can't be from Macbeth (as that is the show I am auditioning for) but anything else works. Either gender is fine too.
Thanks.

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Cassandra, AGAMEMNON
Lear, KING LEAR

I think one of the most poignant ones is the monologue of the title character in Richard II. In act 3 , scene 3, he has a painful speech renouncing his crown ("what must the king do now?"). It can be done as a tragic breakdown. He feels betrayed by his subjects and humiliated at being stripped of what he feels is his God-given right to be king, plus he knows that as an ex-monarch he is a threat to the new King Henry, and as a result, this is probably a death sentence. It can be played with madness, anger, despair or a mix of all three emotions. A great scene that has a lot of dramatic possibilities.

Or if you want a woman's scene, I have always like Katherine of Aragon's address to Henry VIII in the play of that name, (act II scene 4) where she kneels before him and pleads for him not to divorce her. It's sad and touching and a desperate act by woman still in love with her husband and wanting to save her marriage, her honor, her crown and her daughter's legitimacy and place in the royal succession.

Updated On: 5/11/14 at 10:46 PM

Lear: "blow, winds, and crack your cheeks" Act III, scene 2

Cassandra: "Ah, ah, the fire!" app. line 1448