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Soliloquy

Form
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A dramatic monologue in which a solitary character voices inner thoughts, emotions, or dilemmas aloud, revealing psychological depth without addressing another character.

Explore this topic in depth (1)

Dramatic Monologue — A dramatic monologue is a poem spoken by a particular character in a charged situation, usually to a listener whose replies we must imagine. Its power often lies in the gap between the speaker’s self-image and the person the reader or listener gradually hears.

Detailed Definition
A soliloquy in poetry is an extended monologue in which a speaker reveals inner thoughts, conflicts, or meditations directly to the reader or an implied audience, often in dramatic or introspective verse that mimics theatrical self-address without dialogue or external response.
Example
Example in poetry:
Soliloquy: Hamlet’s "To be, or not to be" (Shakespeare); "Ulysses" by Tennyson: "It may be that the gulfs will wash us down"; Sylvia Plath’s "Lady Lazarus": "Dying / Is an art, like everything else"; Robert Browning’s "My Last Duchess" reveals inner thought through dramatic monologue
Additional Notes
Soliloquy presents character's internal thoughts spoken aloud, dramatic device used in poetry. Related to dramatic monologue but speaker alone. Shakespeare mastered form. Reveals private consciousness. Distinguished from aside by length.
Also Known As
Solo speech Self-address Thinking-aloud Interior monologue
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