Previous
Similes
Definition of Soliloquy
A soliloquy is a literary device, most often found in dramas, in which a character speaks to him or herself, relating his or her innermost thoughts and feelings as if... read full definition
A soliloquy is a literary device, most often found in dramas, in which a character speaks to him or herself, relating his or her innermost... read full definition
A soliloquy is a literary device, most often found in dramas, in which a character speaks to him or herself... read full definition
Key Examples in Every Man in His Humour
Act 1, Scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—From the Bordello:
After his servant, Brainworm, delivers a message addressed to his son, Edward, Knowell decides to read the letter, reasoning that old men are naturally curious about such things. The letter, written by Edward’s friend Wellbred, is witty and clever but also disrespectful in tone. Further, it implies that Edward and Wellbred keep company with men of low reputation in parts of London associated with vice and crime. Alone, Knowell reflects upon his feelings of disappointment as a father in a soliloquy:
From the Bordello, it might come as well;
The Spittle, or Pict-hatch. Is this the man
My son hath sung so for the happiest wit,
The choicest brain, the times hath sent us forth?
I know not what he may be in the arts,
Nor what in schools; but surely, for his manners,
I judge him a profane and dissolute wretch;
Worse, by possession of such great good gifts,
Being the master of so loose a spirit.
Why, what unhallowed ruffian would have writ
In such a scurrilous manner to a friend!
Related Themes:
Act 2, Scene 3
Explanation and Analysis—A New Disease:
Kitely, a London merchant, has become paranoid that his wife is having an affair with another man while he is busy at work. In a soliloquy, he reflects upon his anxieties, using the metaphor of disease to understand his own paranoia:
Unlock with LitCharts A+A new disease? I know not, new or old,
But it may well be called poor mortals' plague:
For, like a pestilence, it doth infect
The houses of the brain. First, it begins
Solely to work upon the fantasy,
Filling her seat with such pestiferous air,
As soon corrupts the judgement; and from thence
Sends like contagion to the memory,
Still each to other giving the infection.
Which, as a subtle vapour, spreads itself,
Confusedly, through every sensive part,
Till not a thought or motion in the mind,
Be free from the black poison of suspect.
Act 2, Scene 5
Explanation and Analysis—This Dye Goes Deeper:
In a soliloquy, Knowell reflects upon what he considers to be the poor conduct and behavior of the younger generation, using two closely related metaphors regarding disease and fabric dye:
Unlock with LitCharts A+Aye, it is like:
When it is gone into the bone already.
No, no: this dye goes deeper than the coat,
Or shirt, or skin. It stains, unto the liver
And heart, in some. And, rather than it should not,
Note what we fathers do! Look how we live!
What mistresses we keep! At what expense,
In our sons' eyes! Where they may handle our gifts,
Hear our lascivious courtships, see our dalliance,
Taste of the same provoking meats with us,
To ruin of our states! Nay, when our own
Portion is fled, to prey on their remainder,
We call them into fellowship of vice!
Related Themes:
