A soliloquy is a speech in a play that is intended to be heard by the audience but not by the other characters on the stage. In the play Hamlet by William Shakespeare, the use of soliloquies allows the audience to know what the characters feel and what their pure motivations are. I am also able to directly hear the characters' thoughts. The character's secrets are only revealed to the audience which leaves room for irony to take part in the show. Shakespeare uses soliloquies throughout the play to enhance the story by making the characters' personal thoughts and feelings open to the audience, creating irony, and establishing a course of action. Hamlet has a series of soliloquies that express his thoughts and feelings throughout the play, for example example, Hamlet's feelings towards his mother's remarriage. “Within a month, / before the salt of the most unjust tears / had left the redness in his irritated eyes, / He married. Oh, perfidious speed, to affix / With such dexterity to incestuous sheets! / …But break my heart, for I must hold my tongue” (I.ii.159-164). Hamlet is very disappointed in his mother's actions, for marrying his brother Claudius so soon after the Old King's death, and Hamlet is unable to express those feelings to her at the moment. In Hamlet's soliloquy on to be or not to be, his thoughts on life and death are brought to light. “To grind and sweat under a weary life, / But this is the fear of something after death, / The unknown country from which it is born / … And it makes us prefer to bear the evils we have / Rather than fly to others we do not know” ( II.i.85-90)? He discusses whether it is better to continue living under the difficulties and demands of life or to die and escape them. Then he realizes that death is an unknown thing... middle of paper... confidentiality. Soliloquies play an important role in the play. The audience is allowed to know the thoughts and feelings of the characters and their method of acting. It allows you to effectively use dramatic irony and create tension between characters. Hamlet's soliloquies caused the audience to sympathize with him because of their deeper understanding of his emotions and the sequence of events in his life. Without soliloquies it would not be clear what a character's motives are for his actions or how he intends to carry out those actions. Shakespeare is able to develop characters through their soliloquies and the audience is able to see how these characters have changed over time. Works Cited Shakespeare, William, Barbara Mowat A. and Paul Werstine. The tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. New York: Washington Square, 2003. Print.