ShmoopTube

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Here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by dramatic monologues. Like the ones you

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recite when you're in the shower. Oh yeah -- we know.

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Which of the following is a characteristic of a dramatic monologue?

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Even if we don't remember what a monologue is, there's a big hint here with the prefix

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"mono," which means one.

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We like to remember this prefix by thinking about a monocle—the single lensed eyeglass

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that helps Mr. Peanut to see.

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Since we know that "mono" means one, we feel safe eliminating (C), since it seems to be

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under the impression that a monologue is more than one person talking.

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Choice (B) we can also eliminate.

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What kind of playwright worth his salt would make us listen to a monologue that didn't

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reveal anything about a character?

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He might as well just put a brick on stage and make everybody stare at it.

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We'll nix (B) for being a bad idea, and keep our fingers crossed that we don't see Brick

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on Broadway any time soon. Choices (A) and (D) both sound like sensible

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answers, and they pitch the idea that a monologue is only one person talking.

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To choose between these two, we have to remember that the term "soliloquy" is used to describe

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when a character is talking to his or herself.

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This lets us cross off choice (A) and dub (D) the correct answer.

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Hm... so maybe there's someone in that shower WITH you...

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Well done, playa.

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