Monologue

A monologue is "a speech presented by a single character, most often to express their thoughts aloud," from the Greek monólogos, mónos ("alone, solitary") plus lógos ("speech"). The article sorts the types: a dramatic monologue involves "one character speaking to another character," an active monologue uses speech to pursue a clear goal, a narrative monologue tells a story and is usually identifiable by its past tense. Interior monologues "involve a character externalizing their thoughts so that the audience can witness experiences that would otherwise be mostly internal." The near neighbors differ: a soliloquy relates thoughts to themself and the audience "without addressing any of the other characters," and an aside is shorter and unheard by the other characters. The article's history even reverses the usual assumption: "dialogue evolved from the monologue."

In prose, the interior monologue is the loudest face of a point of view choice, and its untagged written cousin is free indirect discourse.