Monologue

The monologue (Greek μόνος mónos, German 'alone', and Greek λόγιον lógion, German '[Aus-]Spruch', see -log; Latin soliloquium) is, in contrast to dialogue, a soliloquy and is used above all in drama. It is not addressed directly to a listener, but to an imaginary person. In fact, the audience is the addressee of the monologue. A special form of the monologue is the interior monologue in narrative prose.

The term monologue also refers to a speech that is phrased as if it were not addressed to a listener or interlocutor.

Often this does not refer to everyday soliloquy, but to the deliberate use of speaking alone, in art, especially in theatre and literature, together with gestures. There, the monologue often serves to convey a person's thoughts and mental processes audibly or legibly to the outside world and thus make them clear to the audience or reader.

In many plays, monologues form a dramatic climax or denote a turning point in the plot. A well-known example of this is Shakespeare's Hamlet monologue.

In English, French, and other languages, literary studies distinguish another important special form of the monologue. This special form is called (English) soliloquy and in drama - in contrast to the monologue - allows no listeners. In a sense, it is a mostly dramatic soliloquy.

Literary works

Literary works published under the title Monologue or in monologue form:

• introspection, Marcus Aurelius
• Soliloquies, Augustine
• Monologues, Friedrich Schleiermacher
• Gittes Monologue, Per Højholt
• Macedonia, Werner Hammerschick
• Siberia, Felix Mitterer
• The Double Bass, play in the form of a monologue by Patrick Süskind
• Monologue of a person affected, narration by Rolf Bongs

Famous monologues of world literature

• "To be or not to be, that is the question here," Hamlet's soliloquy in Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare.

• Monologue of Doctor Faust in Faust. A Tragedy by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: