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Home » » What is a simple definition of soliloquy?
The term, "soliloquy" has been derived from a Latin Word, "soliloquium". Soliloquium is divided into " solus" and "loqui". Here solus means alone and loqui means to speak. So soliloquy means speaking alone. It is a kind of dialogue in a drama with the self. When a character, alone on the stage,  is speaking alound he is making a soliloquy. Soliloquy is different from an aside. An aside is a speech made by a character privately to himself where other characters are present. On the other hand, a soliloquy is a speech which a character makes to Himself when he is soliloquy is a speech which a character makes to himself when  he is all alone.  A character in a drama often expresses his most secret thoughts and designs in a soliloquy. An aside is also an expression of a character's secret thoughts and feelings.

Soliloquy is a device or Convention used in the Elizabethan drama. It is a means of supplying information regarding the plot as well as a means of revealing the secret thoughts of a character. The solioquiser talks to himself. But in actual fact, he addresses the audience. William Shakespeare uses soliloquies both in his comedies and in his tragedies to produce a comic or a tragic effect. He utilizes them with the variety of purposes. This is really remarkable.The principle purposes are, of course, to advance the story or the plot of his drama and to reveal the secret working of  the mind of a character. Soliloquy is thus important both as regards plot development and  character revelation. There    are quite a number of soliloquies in the play, Macbeth. Most of these are made by Macbeth himself. But there are a few by Lady Macbeth and a couple of brief ones by Banquo and Lady Macduff. Some important soliloquies   are found in Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe and The Duchess of Malfi by John Webster.
Soliloquy
                         

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