monologue

	"Othello" James Earl Jones performs Othello's Act I, scene iii soliloquy from Shakespeare Othello at the White House Evening of Poetry, Music, and the Spoken Word on May 12, 2009. ]
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In theatre, a monologue (or monolog) is a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud, though sometimes also to directly address another character or the audience. Monologues are common across the range of dramatic media (plays, films^[1], etc.) as well as in non-dramatic media such as poetry.^[2] Monologues share much in common with several other literary devices including soliloquies, apostrophes, and asides. There are, however, distinctions between each of these devices.^[3]

Similar Literary Devices

Monologues are similar to soliloquies, apostrophes, and asides. Nevertheless, meaningful differences exist among them. For example, a monologue is distinct from a soliloquy because the latter involves a character relating his or her thoughts and feelings to him/herself and to the audience without addressing any of the other characters. A monologue is the thoughts of a person spoken out loud. ^[4] Monologues are also distinct from apostrophes, wherein the speaker or writer addresses an imaginary person, inanimate object, or idea.^[5] Asides differ from each of these not only in terms of length (asides being shorter) but also in that asides aren't heard by other characters even in situations where they logically should be overheard (i.e. two characters engaging in a dialogue interrupted by one of them delivering an aside).^[6]

History

In ancient Greek theatre, the origin of western drama,^{[citation needed]} the conventional three actor rule was preceded by a two actor rule, which was itself preceded by a convention in which only a single actor would appear on stage, accompanied by the chorus.^[7] The origin of the monologue as a dramatic device, therefore, is not rooted in dialogue. It is, instead, the other way around; dialogue evolved from monologue.

Ancient Roman theatre featured monologues extensively, more often than either Ancient Greek theatre or modern theatre.^[8] One of the key purposes of these monologues was to indicate the passage of significant amounts of time (that would be tedious to actually play out in real time) within scenes. This type of monologue is referred to as a linking monologue.^[9] Other monologue types included "entrance monologues"^[10] and exit monologues.^[11] In each of these cases a primary function is indicating the passage of time.^[12]

From Renaissance theatre onward, monologues generally focused on characters using the extended speech to pursue their dramatic need. Postmodern theatre, on the other hand, often embraces the performative aspects of the monologue, even to the point of challenging the boundary between character portrayal (e.g. acting) and autobiographical speeches.^[13]

Types of Monologues

Interior monologues involve a character externalizing their thoughts so that the audience can witness experiences that would otherwise be mostly internal. In contrast, a dramatic monologue involves one character speaking to another character.^[14] Monologues can also be divided along the lines of active and narrative monologues. In an active monologue a character is using their speech to achieve a clear goal. Narrative monologues simply involve a character telling a story and can often be identified by the fact that they are in the past tense.^[15]

Example

Macbeth's monologue after he learns that Lady Macbeth has killed herself:

"She should have died hereafter; There would have been a time for such a word. To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow, Creeps in this petty pace from day to day To the last syllable of recorded time, And all our yesterdays have lighted fools The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle! Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player That struts and frets his hour upon the stage And then is heard no more: it is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing."^[16]

See also

• Dramatic monologue
• One-person show
• Oratory
• Performance poetry
• Soliloquy
• Rhetoric
• Stand-up comedy
• Storytelling
• Diseuse
• Apostrophe (figure of speech)

References

Footnotes

Bibliography

• Cohn, Dorrit, Transparent Minds: Narrative Modes for Presenting Consciousness in Fiction, 1978.
• Edwardes, Jane, The Faber Book of Monologues, Faber and Faber, 2005.
• Hirsh, James, Shakespeare and the History of Soliloquies, Madison: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2003.
• Tumanov, Vladimir. Mind Reading: Unframed Direct Interior Monologue in European Fiction. Amsterdam: Editions Rodopi, 1997. Googlebooks.

External links

Look up monologue, soliloquy, or rant in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

• Humorous Monologues in Lancashire Dialect in the 'Stanley Holloway' style
• MonologueDB.com - Comprehensive collection of monologues from film and plays
• Actorama Monologues Database From Films, Television, Plays and Books
• Monologue Search Free Monologue database
• StageAgent Audition Monologues
• Monologue Archive
• Shakespeare's Monologues
• The Monologue Database
• ActorPoint Monologue Directory
• Free Monologues for Women
• Free Monologues for Men
• Monologue Blogger - The Actor's Free Monologue Service Provider
• Free Monologues from Ace-Your-Audition.com