THE OFFICIAL MONOLOGUE THREAD!

Willl you support this thread by posting here instead of making a new thread?

yes!	42.6%	[ 104 ]
what is this for again?	9.8%	[ 24 ]
yay monologues!	47.5%	[ 116 ]
Total Votes:			[ 244 ]

[ilikehamsters]

Here's one from Hamlet. It's Polonius's monologue where he's giving advice to his son before he goes off to France. We just read it in school, so I thought it might be good.

POLONIUS: Yet here, Laertes? Aboard, aboard, for shame!
The wind sits in the shoulder of your sail,
And you are stayed for. There -- my blessing with thee,
And these few precepts in thy memory
Look thou character [1]. Give thy thoughts no tongue,
Nor any unproportioned thought his act.
Be thou familiar, but by no means vulgar.
Those friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them unto thy soul with hoops of steel,
But do not dull thy palm with entertainment
Of each new-hatched, unfledged courage [2]. Beware
Of entrance to a quarrel; but being in,
Bear't that th' opposèd may beware of thee.
Give every man thine ear, but few thy voice;
Take each man's censure [3], but reserve thy judgment.
Costly thy habit [4] as thy purse can buy,
But not expressed in fancy; rich, not gaudy,
For the apparel oft proclaims the man,
And they in France of the best rank and station
Are of a most select and generous chief [5] in that.
Neither a borrower nor a lender be,
For loan oft loses both itself and friend,
And borrowing dulleth edge of husbandry [6].
This above all, to thine own self be true,
And it must follow as the night the day
Thou canst not then be false to any man.
Farewell. My blessing season [7] this in thee!

[les mis fairy]

ilikehamsters

These are great monologues! It's nice to see a diverse group. I'm trying to find some here for men, it seems like we have more here for females.

More guy monologues, eh? Here's another one from Angels in America. This one is from Joe, Harper's husband.

Um... Yesterday was Sunday... but I've been a little unfocused recently, and I thought it was Monday. So I came here like I was going to work. And the whole place was empty. And at first I couldn't figure out why, and I had this moment of incredible... fear and also... It just flashed through my mind: The whole Hall of Justice, it's empty, it's deserted, it's gone out of business. Forever. The people that make it run have up and abandoned it. I felt that I was going to scream. Not because it was creepy, but because the emptiness felt so fast. And well... good... A happy scream. I just wondered what a thing it would be... if overnight everything you owe anything to...justice, or love, had really gone away. Free. It would be... heartless terror. Yes. Terrible and... Very great. To shed your skin, every old skin, one by one and then walk unencumbered into the morning. (Little pause. He looks at the building.) I can't go in there today.

[leapbefore]

I just found this thread today, and it is great! I don't have any specific monologues to post, but if you ever need one, check out this website. It is amazing. Colin's Movie Monologue Page

Ooo, I just thought of a good one. This is from The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe:

Trudy: Here we are standing on the corner of "Walk, Don't Walk." You look away form me, trying not to catch my eye, but you didn't turn fast enough, did you?
I know what you're thinkin'; You're thinkin' I'm crazy. You think I give a hoot? You people look at my shopping bags, call me crazy 'cause I collect this junk. What should we call the ones who buy it?
It's my belief we all, one time or another secretly ask ourselves the question, "Am I crazy?" In my case the answer came back: A resounding YES!
The symptoms are subtle but unmistakable to the trained eye. For instance, here I am standing at the corner of "walk, don't walk" waiting for these aliens from outer space to show up. I call that crazy don't you? if I were sane, I should be waiting for the light like everyone else.
They're late, as usual.
You'd think, as much as they know about time travel, they could be on time once in a while.
I could kick myself. I told them I'd meet 'em on the corner of "walk, Dont walk" 'round lunchtime. Do they even know what lunch means? I doubt it.
When they get here they'll probably dying to know what "lunchtime" means and when they find out it means going to Howard Johnson's for fried clams, I wonder, will they be a bit let down?
I dread having to explain tartar sauce.

[ilikehamsters]

Bump!

[Knahs]

Essays can be GREAT Monologues!

Provided that they're written well.

Here's one that I performed just today for my class :]

The Battle of the Nerds

Nerds. We've all seen this select group of students around our campus. They're the ones we see at math contests, scholarship seminars, and college fairs. We might envy their intelligence, mock their ambitions, or perhaps, we may even be one of them. There is much more to the world of nerds than what meets the eye. Beyond the superficiality of grades, awards, and high test scores lies a dark world of misery and deceit. What drives a student to such suffering and sacrifice in order to achieve success can be determined through the four different categories of nerds.

The most recognizable type of nerd is the "I Don't Have a Life" nerd. This is the student who never misses a day of school or ever dares be tardy to class. She starts projects well in advance and studies out of fear in case there might be a test. Like clockwork, she goes to school to do work, dashes home to do more work, and sleeps at 9:00 to dream of work and repeats this cycle until the weekend. On weekends, if homework permits, this student will take some time off and play some French Scrabble with her family. As ridiculous and humorous as this might sound to some, to this student, this safe way of life is the only way. She has been fooled into thinking that a social life or an extracurricular activity for fun would be detrimental to her future. She has been pressured, possibly by her parents, into choosing a generic path in life and following it to its very core without any prior experience. The worst part about being this type of nerd is that all of the effort put into her work often doesn't produce desired results. After all of her hard work and sacrifice this student lands on the same level as those who worked half as hard as she did. She often has to settle for what comes her way, but whatever disappointments she endures, something or someone keeps this nerd focused on her one-track mind.

The next type of nerd is the "I Have a Life, but I Want to Change It" nerd. Unlike the "I Don't Have A Life" nerd, this student isn't driven by a desire to succeed, but by a desire to a escape. Upon first impression, this student can be easily mistaken as the "I Don't Have a Life" nerd in the sense that she doesn't have much of a social life or spends most of her time doing schoolwork. However upon learning about this student, one realizes that she is much more in person than she is on paper. She has grown strong by overcoming whatever challenges life throws at her and learned at an early age to only trust and rely on herself. Her knowledge is more than what she derives from books ; she learns from adversity. She is separated from her peers in her precocious thinking and her cultured personality. Although appearing confident and secure, this student breaks at the first signs of failure. This student can be seen suffering through hard classes, putting on school-functions, or working part-time jobs - all in hopes for a change. She envies the "I Don't Have a Life" nerds for their functional, cut-and-dry lifestyles, but knows deep down that life will never be that simple for her.

Simplicity is a challenge for the "I Have a Life, But I Somehow Misplaced It" nerd. This is the student who never seems to be able to get anything together, but somehow manages to top all other nerds. Her behaviors appear sacrilegious to the "I Don't Have A Life" nerd. Appearing late to class and losing assignments are common practices for this nerd. Appearing to be always in a frenzy, the little things in life, such as remembering what day of the week it is, are difficult for her. Tasks like laundry and making toast, which are second nature to most people, become comedic acts when presented to her. However me must not undermine this nerd, for what lies beneath the amusing chaos, is a manipulative genius. She has the ability to complete hard assignments on the morning of its due date with more thought and intellect than those who have been slaving over it for weeks. She dismisses anything that is simple or as easy as "busy work" and can easily find some chump to do it for her or will simply lie about its location. When questioned of her integrity, she boldly answers "You gotta do what you gotta do." Despite what challenges life throws at her, events normally work out in her favor. She doesn't need to sacrifice personal relationships or a social life in order to achieve success, she was already born with it.

The last type of nerd is the "I Do Have A Life" nerd. Balanced to perfection, this student not only excels academically but succeeds at adolescence. She is not driven by parental or home pressures, but simply because she has integrity for herself and for her work. Unlike the other nerds, she's not taking on a dozen honor courses or joining every single club in hopes of making an impression. She's aware of her own likes and dislikes and of her own limitations. When faced with difficulties, she suffers them with a calm dignity. Careful with her words, she always says the right things at the right time, making her the center of any known social circle. Known and adored by both her teachers and peers, she is the student we all aspire to become.

There is a joke that asks, "What do you call a nerd in 20 years?", the answer? "Boss!" There is no doubt that the students who are currently labeled as nerds are the same people who will govern our future. However, the thick-glasses, suspenders, out-dated plaid stereotypes don't even begin to explain the complex art of nerdery. It takes more than good grades to become a nerd. It takes practiced years of patience, compromise, and deception. What separates the nerds from the rest is not the intellect, but the ability to utilize that intellect to convey sincerity. How does that honors student manage to do all that she does and still retain her composure, easy, she doesn't.

[Knahs]

^ Written by Mary Zang

I believe, my English/Drama teacher gave it to me.

[SuNsHiNe_SuN]

bump!

[Knahs]

I believe that monologues are best when they really are PERFORMED. The usage of EYES are absolutely one of the most important factors in a monologue. Through your eyes we can start to see the images that you are imagining and portraying through words. PACING is bad. Pacing makes many people lose their attention in you. So control of the physical aspect of a monologue is super important.

[Space Age Alice]

thedarkestredrose

help with my monologue? i have a dramatic monologue to present tomorrow and i would like to be able to make my character have a very naive voice but whenever i picture naive i think of a southern belle which is a problem because she comes from toronto. some advice on how to talk like that would be helpful or if you have another idea for a voice her personality can be summed up in theese few phrases:
Myra, my friend who accompanied me here, turned to me and told me for what should be the 5th time tonight that I shouldn’t be here because I have four boyfriends all ready. It’s not as bad as it sounds, technically I’ve never said yes to anyone and I haven’t kissed them too many times. On top of those facts she counts Carmen.
Carmen is my cousin, second cousin actually and I always thought about him as a brother but ever since he got a girl friend down in England I’ve been so jealous. I remember how handsome he was in his war clothes;

Why naive? What in the play has you believe that she speaks with naivety?

[Space Age Alice]

This is what I have in my limited audition repertoire:

A Doll House by Henrik Ibsen

NORA: I've waited so patiently for eight long years--for my Lord I know miracles don't happen every day. Then this horrible misfortune came upon me; and then I felt quite certain that the miracle was going to happen at last. When Krogstad's letter was lying out there, never for a moment did I believe that you could give in to this man's terms. I felt absolutely certain that you would go to him and say: go on, tell your tale to the whole world. And when that was done...

When that was done, I felt utterly sure that you would go forward and take the blame upon yourself and say: I am the guilty one.

You think that I could accept such a sacrifice from you? No! Of course not. But what would my assurances have been worth against yours? That was the miracle which I was waiting for, in terror and hope. And it was to prevent it that I wanted to kill myself.

But you neither act nor talk like a man I could join myself to. Once your fear was over--and it wasn't fear for what threatened me, but only for what might damage you--once the danger was past, it was as if nothing at all had happened. I was exactly as before, I was your little lark, your doll, which you'd have to handle with double care now that I'd turned out so brittle and frail. Torvald, at that moment I realized that I had been living with a stranger for eight years, and had borne him three children. Oh, I cannot stand the thought of it. I could tear myself to bits!



The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare

PORTIA: You see me, Lord Bassanio, where I stand,
Such as I am: though for myself alone
I would not be ambitious in my wish,
To wish myself much better; yet, for you
I would be trebled twenty times myself;
A thousand times more fair, ten thousand times more rich;
That only to stand high in your account,
I might in virtue, beauties, livings, friends,
Exceed account; but the full sum of me
Is sum of something, which, to term in gross,
Is an unlesson'd girl, unschool'd, unpractised;
Happy in this, she is not yet so old
But she may learn; happier than this,
She is not bred so dull but she can learn;
Happiest of all is that her gentle spirit
Commits itself to yours to be directed,
As from her lord, her governor, her king.
Myself and what is mine to you and yours
Is now converted: but now I was the lord
Of this fair mansion, master of my servants,
Queen o'er myself: and even now, but now,
This house, these servants and this same myself
Are yours, my lord: I give them with this ring;
Which when you part from, lose, or give away,
Let it presage the ruin of your love
And be my vantage to exclaim on you.

[ilikehamsters]

I like that essay on nerds! mrgreen I'm one of them.

[ilikehamsters]

Bumpety bump!

[BellasMoonlight]

I have a couple of monologes I did in a performance of Edgar Lee Masters' play Spoon River Anthology.....

Margret Fuller Slack

I would have been as great as George Elliot but for an untoward fate.
For look at the photograph of me made by Penniwit, chin resting on hand and deep set eyes,
Gray, too, and far searching.
But then there was the old old problem, should it be celibicy, matrimony, or unchastity?
Then John Slack, the rich drugist, wooed me, luring me with the promise of leisure for my novel,
And I married him, giving birth to eight children, and I had no time to write.
It was all over with me, anyway, when I ran the needle in my hand after washing the baby things
And died from lock jaw, an ironical death.
Hear me Ambitious souls, Sex is the curse of life!

Faith Matheney

At first you will know not what they mean, and you may never know, and we may never tell you.
These sudden flashes in your soul like lambent lightning on snowy clouds at midnight when the Moon is full, they come in solitude, or perhaps you sit with your friend, and all at once, a silence Falls on speech, and his eyes, without a flicker, glow at you. You two have seen the secret Together. He sees it in you, and you in him, and there you sit, thrilling, lest the mystery, stand Before you and strike you dead with a splendor like the suns! Be brave all souls who have such Visions! As your body's alive, as mine is dead, your catching a little wiff of the Ether, reserved
For God himself.

[Staciia]

i like cheese

[ilikehamsters]

Staciia

i like cheese

???