Recommended age group: 10-14 years

What do Loki from The Avengers, Scar from The Lion King and Thanos from Infinity War have in common? They’re villains, of course, but they also know how to perform a great monologue.

What is a monologue?  A monologue is a long speech by any character in a play or a film. In the monologue, the character could be speaking to themselves or the audience or other characters in the scene. Monologues give characters a chance to express themselves and allow the audience to understand your character’s motivations, and  state of mind at that point in the story.

Monologues are often dramatic and really fun to enact, so once you write the monologue you should definitely try performing it!

Try Writing a Monologue Using one of these Prompts

1. Write a monologue from the perspective of your favorite Marvel character, talking to their best friend. Get them to talk about how they got their powers and the struggles they are facing.

2. Write a monologue from the point of view of a Disney princess, talking about the villain of her story and how she feels about them.

3. A bad guy from the Marvel universe tries to convince the audience that he’s right. In a monologue, talk about their struggles and the judgement, they face every day.

4. Choose your favorite Disney character and write a monologue about their best friend and how they’ve helped them.

5. Write a monologue scene from the point of view of one of the ugly step-sisters in Cinderella. The scene can be set right after Cinderella’s wedding.

Iconic Examples of Monologues from Popular Culture.

Some of the most famous monologues in the English language come from the plays of William Shakespeare. One such example is the well-known All the World’s a Stage monologue from the play As You Like It.  

Today, some of the best and most well-known monologues are from Disney and Marvel movies! Let’s take a look at some:

1. Scar’s villain song (The Lion King): Okay, so this one is technically a song, but it’s a great monologue. Scar sings about his ambitions to overthrow his brother Mufasa from the throne and crown himself king. It’s dramatic, it’s showy, and it perfectly captures who Scar is as a character.
   
   
2. Elsa’s song Let It Go (Frozen): This one became so popular that even people who had not seen the movie knew the words by heart. Elsa has just accidentally exposed her dangerous ice powers to everyone and has run away from her kingdom. The monologue starts by focusing on her troubled state of mind, as she talks about how tired she is of having to hide her powers. During the monologue she gains confidence and then announces that she finally feels free. Elsa’s monologue in Frozen is all about and how free she feels at that moment.
   
3. Thanos in Avengers: Infinity War: Thanos gets a good one directed at Doctor Strange where he lays out his reasons for wanting to eliminate fifty percent of all life in the universe. He’s a villain, yes, but he displays conviction and confidence in his own plan, which is what makes this monologue such a compelling one.
   

Tips for Writing Monologues

1. Know your character’s motivations: As mentioned before, monologues are a good tool to explain your character’s motivations. Make sure you have a clear idea of what your character wants, what they will do to achieve it, and where they’re going next.
2. Keep it on track: Good monologues stick to a central idea or theme. If you make them too lengthy or stray from the topic, they just become boring fillers. The more focused your monologue is, the more powerful and memorable to the audience.
3. Pay attention to the detail: The devil is in the details, they say, and devils like to put detail into their monologues. An effective monologue uses tiny details to build up the theme.
4. Have a compelling hook: A monologue with a good starting line is always likely to hold onto your audience’s attention. Hamlet’s famous monologue became iconic in part due to the opening lines: To be or not to be, that is the question.