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I have to write a new monologue or soliloquy for a character in Richard III. Any ideas?

In Shakespeare’s plays, there are characters who break the Fourth Wall and talk to themselves or to the audience: Puck’s closing speech in A Midsummer Night’s Dream; Feste at the end of Twelfth Night; the epilogue in As You Like It, spoken by Rosalind.


When a character breaks the Fourth Wall, it appears to be speaking to the audience.


As Richard’s character is low in the pecking order to the throne, he connives, plots, manipulates, and even murders to secure the crown.


As there is a lot of foreshadowing, curses, dreams, and ghosts in this play, you might consider a monologue/soliloquy emerging from any of these – this is fertile ground for the imagination.


Richard is ruthless.  Does he have a conscience?  Do we ever see it?  Would a monologue/soliloquy that is his conscience be worth exploring?  What about the conscience of who he murdered?  Murder does not only mean the physical; it can be the murder of love.  Who does Richard murder or destroy along the way?  What if these characters were given a voice?  Woody Allen used this device in his movie Matchpoint, where the character of Chris has apparitions of Nola and Mrs. Eastby.


In 1996, Al Pacino made his directorial debut with a movie called Looking for Richard. It’s thought provoking; he ruminates and it is deeply felt—it asks more questions than are answered.  You can find the full movie on You Tube.


Immerse yourself in the play and what it’s about, then let your imagination run wild. Since you have the assignment to create a new monologue/soliloquy, you have creative freedom, especially in the foreshadowing mentioned above, to have a field day. 


And remember, what you initially write or create may not be the final monologue/soliloquy. Sometimes, as a writer, what initially emerges paves the way for something far grander than one had initially imagined.  See where it takes you, and enjoy the journey. 

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