Last Words of Fictional Characters
Agamemnon to Budd
Agamemnon
Help, help!  I am wounded, murdered, here in the inner room! . . . 
Help, help again!  Murder--a second, mortal blow!
Play: Agamemnon by Aeschylus,
For more information:
Agamemnon
Recommended reading:
Agamemnon translated by Howard Rubenstein

 
Ahab, Captain
"Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering whale; to the last I grapple with thee; from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee. Sink all coffins and all hearses to one common pool! and since neither can be mine, let me then tow to pieces, while still chasing thee, though tied to thee, thou damned whale! Thus, I give up the spear!" 
Novel:  Moby Dick: Or, The Whale, Herman Mehlville, 1851
For more information: 
Herman Mehlville Moby Dick Campfire Chat
Moby Dick: Or, The Whale e-text version at The americanliterature.com Library
Recommended reading: 
Moby-Dick: Or, The Whale by Herman Mehlville
Recommended viewing: 
Moby Dick starring Gregory Peck

 
Antigone
This is it.  The time has come. 
For doing what was right, 
I'm dragged away to death. 
And Thebes, city where I was born, 
And you my friends, the rich people of Thebes, 
Will you judge between us? 
you might at least look and remember.
Play:  Antigone, Sophocles, 441 B.C.
For more information: 
Antigone a hypertext version from Tufts University Project Perseus
Recommended reading: 
Oedipus the King, Oedipus at Colonus, and Antigone by Sophocles

 
Antony (Marcus Antonius)   See Cleopatra.
I am dying, Egypt, dying: 
Give me some wine, and let me speak a little. 
One word, sweet queen: 
Of Caesar seek your honour, with your safety. O! 
Gentle, hear me: 
None about Caesar trust but Proculeius 
The miserable change now at my end 
Lament nor sorrow at, but please your thoughts 
In feeding them with those my former fortunes 
Wherein I lived, the greatest prince o' the world, 
The noblest, and do now basely die, 
Not cowardly put off my helmet to 
My countryman, a Roman by a Roman 
Valiantly vanquish'd.  Now my spirit is going; 
I can no more.
Play:  Antony and Cleopatra, William Shakespeare, 1606
For more information: 
"Antony and Cleopatra" from the History of Western Civilization course at Boise State University 
The Works of the Bard
Mr. Shakespeare on the Internet
Recommended reading: 
Anthony and Cleopatra by William Shakespeare 
The Memoirs of Cleopatra by Margaret George

 
Arthur, King
"Take thou Excalibur, my good sword, and go with it to yonder water side, and when thou comest there I charge thee throw my sword in that water. . . .  Alas, help me hence, for I dread me I have tarried over long. . . .  Comfort thyself and do as well as thou mayst, for in me is no trust for to trust in; for I will into the vale of Avilion to heal me of my grievous wound: and if thou hear never more of me, pray for my soul." 
Chronicle:  Le Morte D'Arthur, Sir Thomas Mallory, c.1469
For more information: 
The Celtic Twilight, King Arthur studies including several e-texts
Recommended reading: 
Le Morte D'Arthur by Sir Thomas Malory 
The Once and Future King by T.H. White 
The Book of Merlyn: The Unpublished Conclusion to the Once and Future King by T. H. White
Recommended viewing: 
Camelot starring Richard Harris 
Monty Python and the Holy Grail by Monty Python
Recommended listening:
Camelot, original cast recording

 
Asmundson, Atli
"These broad lances--they are coming into fashion." (upon being stabbed)
Saga: Grettir's Saga
For more information:
The Saga of Grettir the Strong

 
Bandello, Cesare Enrico "Rico" (actor - Edward G. Robinson)
"Mother of Mercy!  Is this the end of Rico?"
Movie:  Little Caesar, 1931 
Book: Little Caesar by Francis Edwards
For more information: 
Little Caeser at Greatest Films
Recommended reading: 
Little Caesar by Francis Edwards
Recommended viewing: 
Little Caesar starring Edward G. Robinson

 
Barkley, Catherine "Cat"
"Don't worry, darling.  I'm not a bit afraid.  It's just a dirty trick."
Novel:  A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway, 1929
For more information: 
Papa Page
Recommended reading: 
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway 
Hemingway by Kenneth S. Lynn

 
Batty, Roy (actor - Rutger Hauer)
"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.  Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion.  I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near Tanhauser Gate.  All of those moments will be lost in time like tears in rain.  Time to die."
Movie:  Blade Runner, 1982
For more information: 
Blade Runner at Greatest Films
Recommended viewing: 
Blade Runner starring Harrison Ford

 
Blue, Little Boy
"Now don't you go till I come," he said, 
"And don't you make any noise!"
Poem:  Little Boy Blue by Eugene Field
For more information: 
Eugene Field on the Web
Recommended reading: 
Poems of Childhood by Eugene Field

 
Bois-Guilbert, Sir Brian de
"Dog of a Saxon! Take thy lance, and prepare for the death thou hast drawn upon thee!"
Novel: Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott, 1819
For more information: 
Sir Walter Scott
Sir Walter Scott e-texts, including Ivanhoe, at Project Gutenburg
Recommended reading: 
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
Recommended viewing: 
Ivanhoe starring Robert Taylor and Elizabeth Taylor

 
Bolkowsky, Prince Andrei
"Yes, that was death.  I died--and I awoke.  Yes, death is an awakening."
Novel:  War and Peace by Lev Nikolayevich Tolstoy
For more information:
Tolstoy Library
Recommended Reading:
War and Peace by Tolstoy
Recommended viewing:
War and Peace (with English subtitles)

 
Boxer
"Forward comrades! . . .  Forward in the name of the Rebellion.  Long live Animal Farm!  Long live comrade Napoleon.  Napoleon is always right." related by Squealer
Novel: Animal Farm: A Fairy Story by George Orwell
For more information:
Animal Farm Notes
Recommended reading:
Animal Farm: A Fairy Story by George Orwell
Recommended viewing:
Animal Farm 

 
Budd, Billy
"God bless Captain Vere!"
Novel:  Billy Budd, Foretopman, Herman Mehlville, published posthumously in 1924
Fore more information: 
Billy Budd, Sailor (An Inside Narrative)
Billy Budd an e-text version of the novel
Recommended reading: 
Billy Budd and Other Tales by Herman Melville
 
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