The Libertine2004

Rochester:
I wish to be moved. I cannot feel in life. I must have others do it for me here in the theatre.

Elizabeth Barry:
You are spoken of as a man with a stomach for life.

Rochester:
I am the cynic of our golden age. This bounteous dish, which our great Charles and our great God have more or less in equal measure placed before us, sets my teeth permanently on edge. Life has no purpose. It is everywhere undone by arbitrariness. I do this and it matters not a jot if I do the opposite. But in the playhouse every action, good or bad, has it's consequences. Drop a handkerchief and it will return to smother you. The theatre is my drug. And my illness is so far advanced that my physic must be of the highest quality.

Elizabeth Barry:
My lord, on these conditions, I endeavour to do what you want.