soliloquy

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In drama, thinking aloud. A soliloquy is a speech for the benefit of the audience only and by convention is not heard by any other actor on stage at the time.

Soliloquy is a form of monologue. It literally means ‘talking to oneself’ and, in dramatic convention, it usually means a character is talking about him- or herself, revealing their innermost thoughts to the audience. In the famous soliloquy beginning ‘To be or not to be’, Shakespeare's Hamlet reveals to the audience his thoughts about death. In a novel, the author can simply tell the reader what the character is thinking; in a play, the soliloquy is a way of putting across information that does not fit naturally into dialogue.

The number of stripes changed frequently until around 1800. Red, white, and blue became the colours of liberty and an inspiration for other revolutionary flags around the world. Effective date: 19 February 1937. >>