soliloquy
Staged inner thoughts
A soliloquy is a speech in which a character talks aloud to themselves, revealing inner thoughts to the audience while other characters supposedly cannot hear.
The device is associated especially with Shakespearean drama: Hamlet's "To be or not to be" is the most famous soliloquy in English.
More broadly, any extended monologue where someone talks without expecting response: His rant about modern architecture turned into a twenty-minute soliloquy.
Brief theatrical digression
- ShakespeareElizabethan dramatist and poet
- HamletDanish prince's revenge tragedy
- MacbethAmbitious thane's downfall
- stageRaised performance platform
actor · actress · playwright · script · lines · performance · tragedy · comedy
Returned light or thought
- contemplationSustained reflective attention
- self-examinationScrutiny of one's thoughts
- ruminationProlonged, repetitive thinking
- musingReflective contemplation
pondering · brooding · self-questioning · self-awareness · meditation · self-scrutiny · self-analysis · soul-searching
Admission of wrongdoing
- disclosureAct of revealing information
- epiphanySudden profound insight
- admissionEntry or confession
- unburdenRemove a weight from
reveal · divulge · expose · insight · realization
aside
Brief theatrical digression
- ShakespeareElizabethan dramatist and poet
- HamletDanish prince's revenge tragedy
- MacbethAmbitious thane's downfall
stage · actor · actress · playwright · script · lines · performance · tragedy · comedy · audience
reflection
Returned light or thought
- contemplationSustained reflective attention
- self-examinationScrutiny of one's thoughts
- ruminationProlonged, repetitive thinking
musing · pondering · brooding · self-questioning · self-awareness · meditation · self-scrutiny · self-analysis · soul-searching · self-revelation
confession
Admission of wrongdoing
- disclosureAct of revealing information
- epiphanySudden profound insight
- admissionEntry or confession
unburden · reveal · divulge · expose · insight · realization
alone
Without others present
- isolationComplete separation from others
- privacyFreedom from observation
- seclusionVoluntary withdrawal from society
withdrawn · unaccompanied · apart · unheard
speak
Produce words aloud
whisper · articulate · verbalize · pronounce · declaim · intone · recite · express · mutter · breathe
- Shakespeare studiesKing Lear, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, Twelfth Night, Merchant of Venice
- verse dramadramatic verse, Greek tragedy, classical tragedy, Shakespearean tragedy, Elizabethan drama
- Romantic Dramadoomed love, tragic hero, romantic hero, forbidden love, star-crossed lovers
- literaturebooks, book, fiction, poetry, stories
- performing artsacting, dance, music, drama, theater
- speechspeech, speaking, talk, diction, conversation
soliloquydialogue
Spoken exchange between parties
conversation · colloquy · exchange · discussion · debate
soliloquysilence
Total lack of sound
quiet · muteness · wordlessness · inner monologue · taciturnity
- Shakespearean soliloquySolo theatrical speech, verse form