Twelfth Night
by William Shakespeare

Twelfth Night: Soliloquy 2 key examples

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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 Twelfth Night

Act 2, scene 2
Explanation and Analysis—I Am the Man:

In Act 2, Scene 2, Viola realizes that Olivia has fallen in love with her masculine disguise and delivers a soliloquy lamenting the absurdity of her situation. This complicated soliloquy is rich with literary devices, including allusion, personification, and metaphor.

Having understood the meaning of Olivia's ring, Viola bemoans the impossibility of Olivia's love for her, which can be read as a lament about the impossibility of same-sex attraction as a whole:

Viola: Poor lady, she were better love a dream.

Act 4, scene 3
Explanation and Analysis—Wonder and Madness:

Sebastian's soliloquy at the beginning of Act 4, Scene 3 is the first real insight that the audience gets into his character. The speech establishes Sebastian as a logical individual who is nonetheless choosing to enjoy the strange but wonderful aspects of his situation.

At the beginning of the soliloquy, Sebastian makes use of visual and tactile imagery:

Sebastian: This pearl she gave me, I do feel ’t and see ’t.

And though ’tis wonder that enwraps me thus,

Yet ’tis not madness.

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