First published in 1987. Often the best known and most memorable passages in Shakespeare's plays, the soliloquies, also tend to be the focal points in the drama. Twenty-seven soliloquies are examined in this work, illustrating how the spectator or reader is led to the soliloquy and how the drama is continued afterwards. The detailed structure of each soliloquy is discussed, as well as examining them within the structure of the entire play - thereby extending the interpretation of the work as a whole.

A unique collection of Shakespeare's soliloquies, each introduced by concise and informative editorial notes. This is an edition to complement the highly successful SHAKESPEARE'S SONNETS and is published in commemoration of Shakespeare's birthday. Aperfect book for Shakespeare lovers and enthusiasts.

Provides the first systematic and comprehensive account of the conventions governing soliloquies in Western drama from ancient times to the twentieth century. Over the course of theatrical history, there have been several kinds of soliloquies. Shakespeare's soliloquies are not only the most interesting and the most famous, but also the most misunderstood, and several chapters examine them in detail. The present study is based on a painstaking analysis of the actual practices of dramatists from each age of theatrical history. This investigation has uncovered evidence that refutes long-standing commonplaces about soliloquies in general, about Shakespeare's soliloquies in particular, and especially about the to be, or not to be episode. 'Shakespeare and the history of Soliloquies' casts new lights on historical changes in the artistic representation of human beings and, because representations cannot be entirely disentangled from perception, on historical changes in the ways human beings have perceived theselves.

Presents a collective study of all of Shakespeare's soliloquies by defining the soliloquy, classifying the soliloquies and presenting them as revelations of thought and feeling.

Seminar paper from the year 2009 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Literature, grade: 1,0, University of Vechta, language: English, abstract: William Shakespeare ́s ́Hamlet ́ is of great cultural significance. It was published around 1600/1601, marking the transition from the 16th to the 17th century. It reflects upon spiritual and cultural conflicts of the Elizabethan period more intensively than any other literary work. It includes a variety of philosophical, theological, political, literary and general references. With Hamlet, a new form of interiority is born, "the sense of being inside a character ́s psyche and following it ́s twists and turns." This interiority is predominantly shown to the audience by the use of soliloquies. Shakespeare ́s lifework includes a great variety of soliloquies. Hamlet is commonly associated with one phrase: ́to be or not to be`. In this work, I am going to give an overview of Hamlet ́s soliloquies, concentrating on `to be or not to be ́. Before that, I am going to briefly explain the difference between soliloquy and monologue.

From the instantly recognisable to the less well-known, the humorous to the heartfelt, the playful to the profound. The words that Shakespeare's characters speak when alone provide some of the most memorable moments in the plays, and display Shakespeare's poetic genius in all its richness.

This superlative collection offers timeless speeches from A Midsummer Night's Dream, Twelfth Night, Much Ado About Nothing, Macbeth, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet, Richard III, and more.

Excerpt from The Soliloquies of Shakespeare: A Study in Technic In the first place, this, so far as I know, is the only collective study of all of Shakespeare's soliloquies. Again, with sur prisingly few exceptions this is the only technical examination of any of Shakespeare s soliloquies. Finally, although the soliloquy as a convention has been frequently treated of late years in some valuable magazine articles at home and some lengthy monographs abroad, this discussion really adds to our knowledge of the soliloquy. There is a new treatment, I be lieve, of the following topics: (i) definition of the soliloquy; (2) the data of Chapter II; (3) the expository soliloquy as a means of identification and disguising; (4) the soliloquy as an explanation of accompanying business, - such as sleep, sui cide and death, - as an accompaniment of an entrance and of an exit, and as the unconscious entrance (5) the classifica tion and analysis of Shakespeare's comic soliloquies, showing their relation to conventional types; and (6) the collective study of Shakespeare's tragic soliloquies as revelations of thought and feeling, and, in particular, these aspects of the convention, - the apology for the introspective soliloquy, text ual indications of introspection, the setting of the introspective soliloquy, and the trance also, the evolution of the moraliz ing in Shakespeare's soliloquies, and the classification of the passions depicted by Shakespeare's soliloquizers. Notwith standing the analytical method of this investigation, I trust that I have not entirely failed to rise to the height of this great argument. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.