 |
| Wɱ Shakespeare and characters |
To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether this nobler to suffer the zings and perils of outrageous inner dialogue…
Crime writers seldom deal with soliloquy in novels and short stories. Hardly surprising: glaringly obvious but seldom mentioned, virtually all great examples come from live drama such as stage plays and movie sets. Unlike our romance sisters, we seldom delve deeply into matters of the heart… not until someone contemplates murder.
Unless, of course, we categorize 1st person as presumed soliloquy.
[An exception occurs to me: graphic novels, particularly Marvel’s contributions. Young Spiderman had no one but his audience to confide his teenage problems, responsibilities, and financial and female woes.]
Soul System
Soliloquy includes a number of kinds, subsets if you will. These include:
- Soliloquy
- Monologue
- monodrama (Strindberg’s The Stronger)
- self revelation (Othello)
- solo soliloquy (Iago)
- said to object (Hamlet: Alas poor Yorick)
- exposition, explanation
- dramatic monologue (Robert Browning’s My Last Duchess)
- Aside
- Lampshade (dealing with improbable story point)
Lampshade Hanging
Let’s break out lamp shading for a more thorough explanation. Think of it as drawing attention to it to disarm the audience. For example, the rest of the world doesn’t pack guns like characters in American novels. Agatha Christie handled this issue in And Then There Were None, by having Dr Armstrong say, “It's only in books people carry guns around.”
In classical literature, Dante addressed this a couple of times:
- Inferno
- That is no cause for wonder
for I who saw it hardly can accept it. (Inferno)- Paradisio
- This cry of thine shall do as doth the wind,
Which smiteth most the most exalted summits,
And that is no slight argument of honour.
Therefore are shown to thee within these wheels,
Upon the mount and in the dolorous valley,
Only the souls that unto fame are known;
Because the spirit of the hearer rests not,
Nor doth confirm its faith by an example
Which has the root of it unknown and hidden.
In other words: sure, I speak of only celebrities because you wouldn’t pay attention otherwise.
