The Revenger’s Tragedy
by Thomas Middleton

The Revenger’s Tragedy: Soliloquy 1 key example

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
Act 1, Scene 1
Explanation and Analysis—That Marrowless Age:

The Revenger’s Tragedy opens with a soliloquy from Vindice as he watches the Duke of an unnamed Italian principality and his family walk together in a royal procession. In his soliloquy, Vindice condemns the royal family for their immoral behavior and sets the stage for the play by introducing its primary antagonists. 

Duke: royal lecher; go, grey-haired adultery, 
And thou his son, as impious steeped as he: 
And thou his bastard true-begot in evil: 
And thou his duchess that will do with devil. 
Four excellent characters – O that marrowless age 
Would stuff the hollow bones with damned desires, 
And ’stead of heat kindle infernal fire 
Within the spendthrift veins of a dry duke. 
A parched and juiceless luxur. O God! One
That has scarce blood enough to live upon, 
And he to riot it like a son and heir?