Ethiopian Artist Fikadu Kebed’s entertaining monologue. A monologue, in literature and drama, is an extended speech by one person. It is a speech given by a single character in a story. In drama, it is the vocalization of a character‘s thoughts; in literature, the verbalization. It is traditionally a device used in the theater—a speech to be given on stage—but nowadays, its use extends to film and television. The term has several closely related meanings. A dramatic monologue is any speech of some duration addressed by a character to a second person.
A soliloquy is a type of monologue in which a character directly addresses an audience or speaks his thoughts aloud while alone or while the other actors keep silent. In fictional literature, an interior monologue is a type of monologue that exhibits the thoughts, feelings, and associations passing through a character‘s mind. Monologues are structured like stories so that listeners or readers understand exactly what’s happening.
A story-like structure, starting with a strong hook and building up to a climax, draws listeners in and prevents the monologue from feeling monotonous, and by extension, it keeps the character from feeling flat and boring. With an interior monologue, the speaker expresses their perspective and feelings. The key difference between a soliloquy and an interior monologue is that a soliloquy must be spoken aloud, whereas an interior monologue may appear in the text.
You might also be familiar with the term “inner monologue.” An inner monologue isn’t the same thing as an interior monologue—though there are similarities. While someone’s inner monologue is an ongoing narration of their thoughts, an interior monologue is a written or spoken expression of this narration inside a character’s head. Put another way, if you were a character in a play, you might express your inner monologue to audiences through an interior monologue.
