What is a Soliloquy?

A soliloquy is a literary device in the form of a speech performed by a single character in a

theatrical play or drama. Soliloquies are used by characters to express their inner thoughts and
feelings that are not intended to be heard or known by other characters in the play or the audience
members. Essentially, during a soliloquy, the action of the play stops, as if time has paused for the
audience to be “inside” the speaker’s head for a moment while they articulate what they are
thinking. This is effective as a literary device in terms of providing insight into a character’s
emotions and reflections.

What is the Purpose of a Soliloquy?

As a literary device, soliloquies have not been utilized very often since Shakespeare’s time. In most
modern works, when a theatrical character gives a speech, it is primarily categorized as monologue
rather than a soliloquy. However, a soliloquy does serve some purposes when it comes to drama and
plays.

For example, a soliloquy can reveal a character’s state of mind. This is particularly effective when it
comes to soliloquies delivered by villains as a means of revealing their plans and why they wish to
take such action. This literary device can also provide details and information to influence the plot
and course of action. In addition, a soliloquy can create irony in a play by revealing something
about a character that others don’t know.

What is the Difference Between a Soliloquy, a Monologue, and an Aside?

When it comes to understanding certain elements of literary drama and theater, it can be difficult to
distinguish between some terms and their functions. For example, a soliloquy, a monologue, and an
aside are all literary devices that allow characters in a play to speak without interruption. They are
effective in giving characters an opportunity to express themselves on stage. However, these
devices are different in their purpose and function within a drama.

A soliloquy is a rather long speech made by a single character in a theatrical production. The speech
is not intended to be heard by any other character, on or off stage. Therefore, if another character is
on stage during a soliloquy, the audience is made to understand that the presence of that character
does not affect the “privacy” of the speech. This is due to the purpose and function of a soliloquy in
a play, which is to allow a character to articulate their internal thoughts and feelings, as if they are
speaking aloud during a paused moment in the action. A soliloquy is not directed at any listener,
including the audience members.

A monologue is also spoken by a single character, but it is addressed to the fellow characters on
stage and meant to be heard by them. A monologue can also be addressed to the audience.
Therefore, unlike soliloquy, a monologue does not function as a character’s fully private expression.
An aside is a literary device that is similar to soliloquy in the sense that it is not spoken to other
characters on stage. However, an aside is typically very short and more like a comment than a
speech. Therefore, writers must be aware of these distinctions.
Examples of Soliloquies
Shakespeare utilizes soliloquies in many of his plays as a means for his characters to express what
they are thinking and feeling. During a soliloquy, a character on stage is not speaking to any other
character nor the audience members. Instead, this literary device functions like a stream of
consciousness to allow the audience to “hear” what a character is thinking or feeling in order to
further the plot or provide information and opinions without any filter due to listeners.

One of the most famous soliloquies in literature is Hamlet’s private speech beginning with “To be,
or not to be…”

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 heartache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to. ‘Tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep–
To sleep–perchance to dream: ay, there’s the rub,
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause.

Hamlet’s soliloquy allows the reader/viewer to know his thoughts and feelings about whether to
remain alive and face human suffering or end his life and face the unknown experience of death. By
incorporating this soliloquy into Hamlet, Shakespeare allows his audience to understand Hamlet’s
inner conflict and confront their own feelings about his situation.
Example of a Soliloquy in Shakespeare’s Macbeth
Spoken by Macbeth:

Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,

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.

Example of a Soliloquy in Shakespeare’s Richard III

Spoken by Richard

Now is the winter of our discontent

Made glorious summer by this sun of York;
And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.
Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths;
Our bruised arms hung up for monuments;
Our stern alarums changed to merry meetings,
Our dreadful marches to delightful measures.
Grim-visaged war hath smooth'd his wrinkled front;
And now, instead of mounting barbed steeds
To fright the souls of fearful adversaries,
He capers nimbly in a lady's chamber
To the lascivious pleasing of a lute.
But I, that am not shaped for sportive tricks,
Nor made to court an amorous looking-glass;
I, that am rudely stamp'd, and want love's majesty
To strut before a wanton ambling nymph;
I, that am curtail'd of this fair proportion,
Cheated of feature by dissembling nature,
Deformed, unfinish'd, sent before my time
Into this breathing world, scarce half made up,
And that so lamely and unfashionable
That dogs bark at me as I halt by them;
Why, I, in this weak piping time of peace,
Have no delight to pass away the time,
Unless to spy my shadow in the sun
And descant on mine own deformity:
And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover,
To entertain these fair well-spoken days,
I am determined to prove a villain
And hate the idle pleasures of these days.
Plots have I laid, inductions dangerous,
By drunken prophecies, libels and dreams,
To set my brother Clarence and the king
In deadly hate the one against the other:
And if King Edward be as true and just
As I am subtle, false and treacherous,
This day should Clarence closely be mew'd up,
About a prophecy, which says that 'G'
Of Edward's heirs the murderer shall be.
Dive, thoughts, down to my soul: here
Clarence comes.