Penny Dreadful quotes

[to Kaetenay] This car is for whites. Indians and niggers go back. Get your filthy ass up now!

Sir Malcolm

This gentleman is with me.

[scoffs] Gentleman? Indians travel with the livestock. That's the goddamned law, friend...

Sir Malcolm

Before you speak another word, I ask you to consider this: How valuable is your life? Do you hold it dear? Does your wife value your company? Do you favor growing old, to one day teach your ugly, inbred children your grotesque manners? Lay hands on him, and it will be your end.

Lily

Liberty is a bitch who must be bedded on a mattress of corpses.

Vanessa

[about her straitjacket] How long do I have to wear this?

Until Dr. Banning decides.

Vanessa

Decides what?

If you're dangerous.

Vanessa

I am. Don't you think I'm dangerous?

I think you're ill.

Vanessa

I'm not ill!

Then what are you?

It's not torture, what they're doing. It's science. It's meant to make you better.

Vanessa

It's meant to make me normal, like all the other women you know. Compliant. Obedient. A cog in an intricate social machine. No more.

I couldn't say, miss.

Vanessa

Couldn't you?

Not all the women I know are cogs.

Vanessa

Then they're freaks.

My wife's not a freak and she's not a cog. You should think better of your sex.

[while possessing the orderly] Oh, my dear, we have so much to catch up on, do we not?

Miss Ives, if you don't start showing signs of improvement, he'll turn to surgery.

Vanessa

Let him.

You don't know what you're saying.

Vanessa

I'll sing as he cuts me open.

Listen to me! They'll start by cutting your hair off and shaving your head. Then they'll sedate you. Then they'll strap you to a table. Then he'll use a drill to open up your skull. It's not a medical thing - it's a drill for woodworking. Then he'll put a clamp on your skull and crack it open. Then he'll start cutting things out. I see the results. That's where my job starts again. You'll have lost the ability to control your body. You'll shit and piss yourself, and I'll clean it up. If you're lucky, that part will come back to you, but not much else, if I'm honest. Sometimes, they can't open their eyes or hear. It varies. Do you know what they are, all of them? A broken thing. Not a tiger, not a flower, not a clump of earth, not even a blade of grass. Miss Ives, you have to get better! [she shakes her head] Then pretend! Be like everyone else. Do what he wants you to do!

Vanessa

I've tried.

Is it that important to be different? To have such specialness inside you?

Vanessa

Would you want your son to be anything but what he is?

I want him to be happy.

Vanessa

What if he's not? Would you want him to pretend?

[pause] No.

Vanessa

Then don't ask it of me.

Dracula

[while possessing the orderly] Give me your flesh. Give me your blood. Be my bride, and then all light will end and the world will be in darkness. The very air will be pestilence to mankind. And then our brethren, the night creatures, will emerge, and feed. Such is our power. Such is our kingdom. Such is my kiss.

Vanessa

[entranced] Yes.

Dracula

One kiss, and you're free of all this. In this mortal world, you'll always be shunned for your uniqueness, but not with me. They will lock you away in rooms like this. They'll brand you a freak and a sorceress, but I won't. I love you for who you are, Vanessa.

Vanessa

And what name do I whisper to you, beloved?

Dracula

I am the demon. I am the dragon. My name is Dracula!

Hecate Poole

Such guilt you carry. The shame, it hangs around your neck.

Ethan

The only decent thing about me is the shame I feel.

Hecate Poole

Spoken like a true servant of God. This God, that would anoint you Lupus Dei, that would make you a glorious monster and have you hate yourself for being so monstrous. He tortures you with guilt, and in return offers you what?

Ethan

Forgiveness.

Hecate Poole

Do you feel forgiven? There is only one way to be free of guilt - embrace your sins.

Victor

After all... it is our memories which make us monsters, is it not?

Hecate Poole

Whatever you did in the Army, whatever the Indians made you do, know this: God watched it all unfold, and laughed.

Ethan

Let him die here. He ain't worth the bullet.

[showing Sir Malcom a portrait of a mountain lion] This is by Audubon. Some folks think he only did birds, but no such thing. He did the bloodthirsty beasts as well. It fits here; this is a bloodthirsty land. When I first came to this place, it was infested with those red-handed devils, the Apache. More animal than human. Not human at all, in truth. I blazed my way through the darkness. Through iron will and violent force, and the glory of God, are empires born. There are mountains named after me.

And at what cost? Your home's empty. Your son hates you. Your vainglorious pursuits have led to nothing but bloodshed and heartache. But you're right, the whiskey is very fine. And what do you want from me?

I want to know why you were riding with that Apache filth.

I was riding alongside a man.

Ah. Tell me, Malcom, when you were in Africa, how many "men" did you slaughter?

[smug] It is like looking in a mirror.

We are not the same.

You're right. I still have one child to save. "Bring the fattened calf and kill it. For this son of mine was lost, and now is found." Ethan will live out his days on this land. And you will help me in this. [makes to leave]

And if I am unable to assist you?

[stops at the door] What would you do to someone who became between you and your child?

You will repent, or I will send you to Hell myself!

Ethan

I'm done repenting, and I belong in Hell.

Lily

We are not women who crawl. We are not women who kneel. And for this, we will be branded radicals. Revolutionists. Women who are strong and refuse to be degraded and who choose to protect themselves are called monsters. That is the world's crime, not ours.

Do you fence?

Vanessa

Alas, no.

Catriona

Oh, you should. It's wonderful for the mind. Every decision reduced to back and forth, thrust or parry. A clarity forms during it that the rest of the world is sadly lacking in. Life and death, without the death... most of the time.