soliloquies

Soliloquy is a dramatic convention in which a character speaks at length while alone onstage, or under the impression of being alone, to reveal private thoughts, motives, and conflicts. The audience is granted direct access to the character’s inner life, often to illuminate decision making or moral stance without the intervention of other characters.

Although the broader idea appears in various classical texts, the term soliloquy derives from Latin soliloquium (solus, 'alone' + loqui, 'to speak'). The form is most closely associated with Shakespeare, who used extended soliloquies to probe inner struggle, exemplified by Hamlet’s 'To be, or not to be' and similar passages in other plays. Elizabethan tragedy popularized the device as a way to reconcile action with inner motive within a predominantly performative drama.

Soliloquies differ from monologues addressed to others and from asides. They are typically delivered with few stage interactions and are written in verse or prose that mirrors natural reflection. They may advance plot, expound moral positions, or foreshadow outcomes, and they often reveal a character’s contradictions or shifting allegiances.

In modern drama and film, the soliloquy persists as an inner voice, sometimes realized as voiceover or direct narration. In literature, authors use similar interior monologues to dramatize conscience and choice, sometimes blending soliloquy-like passages with narrative or dialogue.