Play Guide [1.2MB PDF] - Arizona Theatre Company

MONOLOGUES
A good place to begin discussing monologues is with soliloquies. The word soliloquy
dates to approximately 1613 and is Latin in origin (combining solus which means alone
and loqui which means to speak). A soliloquy is a playwriting convention used when
characters talk to themselves, refl ecting aloud on things that they are thinking. Soliloquies
were often used in Shakespeare plays and are common in Elizabethan plays in general. For
good examples of soliloquies think of Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” speech, and Macbeth’s
“She should have died hereafter (tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow)” speech from
Shakespeare’s plays.
Soliloquies are still sometimes used by playwrights, though now more common is the
monologue. A soliloquy is always a monologue but not all monologues are soliloquies.
Sound confusing? The distinction is between the reason the character is speaking and
the receiver of information. In a monologue, a character can deliver the text to another
character, to the audience or to himself or herself. In another type of monologue, a
character can speak uninterrupted for a long period of time to another character. The other
character could want to or try to interrupt, but can’t get the other character to stop talking.
This interaction couldn’t happen in a soliloquy because in a soliloquy, the character
speaks his or her internal thoughts out loud to himself or herself. There is not another
character being addressed. Traditionally, soliloquies are thought of as serious in nature
because often a character speaking a soliloquy often contemplates large issues such as
the meaning of life or the meaning of death. Monologues can also deal with such weighty
issues, but they can also be less serious and sometimes outright silly or funny.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
AND ACTIVITIES
The Glass Menagerie
Discussion Questions
1. Tom calls Laura “peculiar,” but Amanda bristles at this word. What is “peculiar” about Laura?
2. Why is the fi re escape important in the play? How does the fi re escape function as a symbol to
reveal something about each character's personality?
3. Which aspects of The Glass Menagerie are realistic? Which aspects are the most nonrealistic?
What function do the nonrealistic elements serve?
4. Generally, plays do not have narrators. How does the fact that Tom is the narrator affect the
style and content of the play? Do you think that your appraisal of the events be different if there
were no narrator?
Arizona Theatre Company Play Guide 26