Shakespearean Soliloquy Analysis
1. Stand and form a large circle. Read the soliloquy around the circle, stopping and
changing readers at every punctuation mark.
Discussion: What did you notice about the pattern of the lines? What does this tell
us about a soliloquy?
2. Spread out around the room; read the lines aloud while moving in a straight line,
changing directions with an abrupt, full-body turn at every punctuation mark.
Discussion: How does the soliloquy “move”? Is there a pattern? What is significant
about this pattern?
3. Line up in two equal lines, facing each other. Alternate speaking the lines as two
groups, switching sides each time the students come to a punctuation mark.
Discussion: Does the soliloquy work as dialogue? How does this exercise make you
feel? What does this reveal about the character?
4. Repeat step four, but this time start out by speaking the lines very softly, gradually
increasing the volume until you are almost shouting the last line.
Discussion: Now how do you feel? How does volume affect the emotional impact of
the soliloquy?
5. Break into small discussion groups of five and identify any imagery that you can find.
Look beyond the visual imagery and identify images that appeal to the five senses. Look
especially for synaesthesia, images that appeal to more than one sense at once.
Discussion as a class: What imagery patterns did you find? What meaning can you
derive from them? How do they work in the soliloquy?
6. continuing in small groups, cut the soliloquy in half and performs the cut version for
the entire class. Discuss similarities and differences.
Discuss: What did you cut the parts that you cut? Why did you keep what you
kept? Were some lines cut in every version? Were some lines retained in every
version? Why? Did cutting and performing the soliloquy bring any new insights
about how a soliloquy works?