Soliloquy — Definition and Examples
What is a soliloquy?
A soliloquy, also called an inner monologue, is a long speech typically spoken by a theatrical character that exposes their inner thoughts and emotions. The audience hears the speaker's soliloquy out loud, while other characters do not.
The information in a soliloquy is known only to the speaker and the audience.
Multiple famous soliloquies in English come from William Shakespeare’s plays like Othello, Macbeth, and Julius Caesar.
What is the purpose of a soliloquy?
The purpose of a soliloquy is to share a character’s inner thoughts with the audience. Plays lack a narrator to provide insight into the mind of specific characters, so playwrights employ soliloquies to share their character's innermost desires or state of mind and may indicate the motivation behind their actions.
Outside of drama, authors use soliloquies in written works that contain a first-person narrator. Writing from this viewpoint allows authors to create narrators who can inform the reader of their innermost thoughts without using external dialogue that other characters can hear.
Soliloquy examples
Examples of soliloquies include the following:
William Shakespeare’s Hamlet:
To be, or not to be, that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them. To die—to sleep,
No more; and by a sleep to say we end
The heart-ache and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to: 'tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wish'd."
Hamlet's soliloquy informs the audience of his mental state as he ponders whether to choose life or death.
Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe
Ah, Faustus.
Now hast thou but one bare hour to live,
And then thou must be damn’d perpetually!
Stand still, you ever-moving spheres of heaven,
That time may cease, and midnight never come;
Fair Nature’s eye, rise, rise again, and make
Perpetual day; or let this hour be but
A year, a month, a week, a natural day,
That Faustus may repent and save his soul!
Faustus' soliloquy informs the audience of his feelings as his life comes to a close. Since he sold his soul, he realizes where he will end up should he not repent.
However, he would prefer be given more time on earth rather than repent.
Aside vs. soliloquy
An aside occurs when a character speaks only to the audience, revealing the speaker's inner thoughts; however, unlike a soliloquy, an aside is a quick comment rather than a lengthy speech. An example of an aside includes the following:
Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare: "Shall I hear more, or shall I speak at this?"
Romeo's aside is his internal response to Juliet's balcony speech where she admits her interest in him. The aside suggests he is trying to determine whether he should make himself known or continue to listen.
Monologue vs. soliloquy
A monologue is a long uninterrupted speech; however, the speech is directed toward other characters, whereas a soliloquy is not.
Like a soliloquy, monologues also provide insight into a character's thinking, yet it is external rather than internal. An example of a monologue includes the following from To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee:
I'm no idealist to believe firmly in the integrity of our courts and in the jury system – that is no ideal to me, it is a living, working reality.
Gentlemen, a court is no better than each man of you sitting before me on this jury. A court is only as sound as its jury, and a jury is only as sound as the men who make it up.
I am confident that you gentlemen will review without passion the evidence you have heard, come to a decision, and restore this defendant to his family. In the name of God, do your duty.
Lee presents a monologue in the form of Atticus Finch's closing statements in the trial of Tom Robinson, a Black man accused of assaulting a white woman.
Atticus' monologue showcases his beliefs regarding the importance of upholding the law.