Soliloquy for Dummies

Soliloquy is a word that comes from the Latin language. It is a writing or speech technique that a character in a play uses to talk to themselves, revealing their thoughts and feelings to the audience. Think of it as a monologue, but instead of speaking their thoughts out loud to other characters, the character is talking directly to themselves. It's like having a private conversation with oneself on stage. It's a way for the audience to understand what's going on inside a character's head without other characters knowing.

Let me give you an example to make it clearer:

Imagine you are watching a play called "The Secret Garden," and there is a character named Mary. One day, Mary is feeling sad and lonely, and she starts talking to herself about how she misses her friends and her old home. But, she doesn't say all of these things out loud to the other characters. Instead, she stands on stage and expresses her thoughts and emotions to the audience. She might say something like, "Oh, I wish I could go back to my old home and play with my friends. Why did I have to come to this big, scary mansion?" This is an example of a soliloquy because Mary is speaking her thoughts directly to the audience without other characters being aware of it.

So, soliloquy is a way for a character in a play to share their innermost thoughts and emotions with the audience, as if they are talking to themselves.