See also:

• MONOLOGUE (from Gr. µovos, alone, and X yos, speech)

MONOLOGUE (from Gr. µovos, alone, and X yos, speech)  , a passage in a dramatic piece in which a personage holds the See also:

• SCENE (Fr. scene, Lat. scaena, Gr. oflvil, a tent or booth, a stage or scene)

scene to himself and speaks unconsciously aloud . The theory of the See also:

• MONOLOGUE (from Gr. µovos, alone, and X yos, speech)

monologue is that the See also:

• AUDIENCE (from Lat. audire, to hear)

audience overhears the thoughts of one who believes himself to be alone, and who thus informs them of what would otherwise be unknown to them . The word is also used in cases when a See also:

• CHARACTER (Gr. xapareri7p, from xap&crew, to scratch)

character on the See also:

• STAGE (Fr. 6/age; from Lat. stare, to stand)

stage speaks at See also:

• GREAT

great length, even though not alone, but is listened to in silence by the other characters . The old-fashioned tragedies of the 17th and 18th centuries greatly affected this See also:

• CONVENTION (Lat. conventio, an assembly or agreement, from convenire, to come together)
• CONVENTION, THE NATIONAL

convention of the monologue, which has always, however, been liable to ridicule . There is something of a lyrical character about the monologue in See also:

• VERSE (from Lat. versus, literally a line or furrow drawn by turning the plough, from vertere, and afterwards signifying an arrangement of syllables into feet)

verse; and this has been See also:

• FELT (cognate with Ger. Filz, Du. vilt, Swed. and Dan. fill; the root is unknown; the word has given Med. Lat. filtrum, " filter ")

felt by some of the classic poets of See also:

• FRANCE
• FRANCE, ANATOLE (1844– )

France so strongly, that many of the examples in the tragedies of See also:

• CORNEILLE, PIERRE (1606–1684)
• CORNEILLE, THOMAS (1625-1709)

Corneille are nothing more or less than odes or cantatas . The monologues of See also:

• SHAKESPEARE, WILLIAM (1564-1616)

Shakespeare, and those of See also:

• HAMLET

Hamlet in particular, have a far more dramatic character, and are, indeed, essential to the development of the See also:

• PLAY

play . Equally important are those of See also:

• RACINE
• RACINE, JEAN (1639-1699)
• RACINE, LOUIS (1692-1763)

Racine in Phedre and in Athalie . The See also:

• FRENCH
• FRENCH, DANIEL CHESTER (1850– )
• FRENCH, NICHOLAS (1604-1678)

French critics See also:

• RECORD (Lat. recordari, to recall to mind, from cor, heart or mind)

record, as the most ambitious examples of the monologue in two centuries, that of See also:

• FIGARO

Figaro in See also:

• BEAUMARCHAIS, PIERRE AUGUSTIN CARON DE (1732-1799)

Beaumarchais's Le Mariage de Figaro and that of See also:

• CHARLES
• CHARLES (1270-1325)
• CHARLES (1421-1461)
• CHARLES (1525-1574)
• CHARLES (c. 1319-1364)
• CHARLES (Fr. Charles; Span. Carlos; Ital. Carlo; Ger. Karl; derived from O.H.G. Charal,latinized as Carolus, meaning originally " man ": cf. Mod.Ger., Kerl," fellow," A.S. ceorl, Mod. Eng. " churl ")
• CHARLES (KARL EITEL ZEPHYRIN LUDWIG; in Rum. CAROL)
• CHARLES [KARL ALEXANDER] (1712-1780)
• CHARLES, ELIZABETH (1828-1896)
• CHARLES, JACQUES ALEXANDRE CESAR (1746-1823)
• CHARLES, THOMAS (1755-1814)

Charles V. in See also:

• VICTOR
• VICTOR, GAIUS JULIUS (4th cent. A.D.)
• VICTOR, SEXTUS AURELIUS

Victor See also:

• HUGO, GUSTAV VON (1764–1844)
• HUGO, VICTOR MARIE (1802-1885)

Hugo's Hernani, the latter ex-tends to 16o lines . In the Elizabethan See also:

• DRAMA (literally "action," from Gr. Snail, act or do)

drama, the popularity of See also:

• KYD, THOMAS (1558-1594)

Kyd's See also:

• SPANISH

Spanish Tragedy, in which Hieronymo spouts interminably, set a See also:

• FASHION (adapted from Fr. facon, agon, Lat. factio, making, facere, to do or make)

fashion for ranting monologues, which are very frequent in Shakespeare's immediate predecessors and contemporaries . After 1600 the practice was much reduced, and the tendency of solitary heroes to pour forth columns of See also:

• BLANK (from the Fr. blanc, white)

blank verse was held in check by more complex stage arrangements . After the Restoration the classic tragedies of the See also:

• ENGLISH

English playwrights again abused the See also:

• PRIVILEGE

privilege of monologue to such a degree that it became absurd, and See also:

• FELL
• FELL, JOHN (1625-1686)

fell into desuetude .