Week 9-Soliloquy, Aside, and Set Piece

Week 9

Our lecture this week was on Soliloquies, Asides, and Set Pieces.  

Here are some definitions, examples, and explanations of each that I found on the internet:

So·lil·o·quy

"A speech in which a character is alone with his private thoughts: it tells the audience what the character is thinking"

-The Complete Idiot's Guide to Shakespeare By Laurie Rozakis

"The literary terms “soliloquy” and “monologue” are often used interchangeably. There are, however, technical differences. Both are delivered by a single speaker. Both are speeches as opposed to an interchange of dialogue. So what’s the difference? It has to do with the audience. In soliloquies, the speaker delivers his or her speech to no one in particular, unless it’s to him or herself and naturally to the audience. A monologue, by contrast, is delivered to other characters."

-https://www.litcharts.com/blog/shakespeare/soliloquy-in-romeo-and-juliet/

Example: HAMLET: To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, Or to take arms against a sea of troubles, And by opposing end them? To die: to sleep; No more; and by a sleep to say we end….

Aside

"Aside is term used in drama and theater, an aside happens when a character's dialogue is spoken but not heard by the other actors on the stage. Asides are useful for giving the audience special information about the other characters onstage or the action of the plot. Shakespeare’s plays have many asides."

-https://www.shmoop.com/literature-glossary/aside.html

Example: In Act I, Scene ii of Hamlet, Hamlet, says to the audience about his uncle, Claudius, "A little more than kin, and less than kind."

Example: Act 3 Scene 1 lines 56-62 King Claudius: “O, tis too true! How smart a lash that speech doth give my conscience. The harlot's cheek beautied with plast'ring art. Is not more ugly to the thing that helps it than is my most painted word. O heavy burden!”

Aside vs. Soliloquy

An aside is like a soliloquy. They are both delivered directly to the audience without any other characters onstage overhearing. An aside is usually a very short observation on the part of the person saying it rather than a long speech, like soliloquies.

Set Piece

"An elaborate poetic passage that follows the dramatic oratory. Set pieces do not move the action forward and are often filled with quotations that become memorable."

-The Complete Idiot's Guide to Shakespeare By Laurie Rozakis

A set-piece is a big scene the reader can see coming and look forward to in fear or hope, which contain small moments of climax and temporary resolution. Short-to-long novels typically have 6-to-12 set-pieces.

Notes on set-pieces (from Ansen Dibell's Plot: Elements of Fiction Writing):

“Must be a natural outcome and not staged.

As scenes build on scenes, set-pieces build on set-pieces - each should be set in motion by what happened in the previous.

Can be bad (i.e. where protagonist is defeated).

Should reveal a central truth of the story (concealed at the beginning and demonstrated in the final crisis).

Let the readers know the set-piece is coming.

After the set-piece, the story must change and characters must be affected.

Arise out of what happened, and affects what will follow.

Must be emotional.

Should be mentioned before it happens and indicated through character words or actions why it is climactic.”

Example: Hamlet’s Play------Act II Scene 2