Monologue examples

monologue examples

1. Monologue Examples
Trainspotting (1996)
Choose life. Choose a job. Choose a career. Choose a family. Choose a fucking big television, choose
washing machines, cars, compact disc players, and electrical tin openers. Choose good health, low
cholesterol and dental insurance. Choose fixed-interest mortgage repayments. Choose a starter home.
Choose your friends. Choose leisure wear and matching luggage. Choose a three-piece suit on hire
purchase in a range of fucking fabrics. Choose DIY and wondering who you are on a Sunday morning.
Choose sitting on that couch watching mind-numbing sprit-crushing game shows, stuffing fucking junk
food into your mouth. Choose rotting away at the end of it all, pissing your last in a miserable home,
nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish, fucked-up brats you have spawned to replace
yourself. Choose your future. Choose life... But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to
choose life: I chose something else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when
you've got heroin?
Strongest points:
 Repetition of key verb ‘choose’ – sticks in the audience’ mind and improves the rhythm and
‘spoken’ quality to the monologue
 Use of swear words – sets tone and mood of the film as well as introducing the character’s
idiolect and implied dialect within the film
 Mocking, sarcastic tone – conveyed and reinforced by exaggerated descriptions ‘mind-
numbing’, ‘spirit-crushing’
 Rhetorical questions – engage the audience’s attention and bring focus to what is said next,
especially at the end with the important line in terms of plot and character: ‘who needs
reasons when you’ve got heroin?’
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
They bought it. Incredible! One of the worst performances of my career and they never doubted it for
a second. How could I possibly be expected to handle school on a day like this? This is my ninth sick day
this semester. It's getting pretty tough coming up with new illnesses. If I go for ten, I'm probably gonna
have to barf up a lung, so I'd better make this one count. The key to faking out the parents is the
clammy hands. It's a good non-specific symptom. I'm a big believer in it. A lot of people will tell you
that a good phony fever is a dead lock, but, uh, you get a nervous mother, you could wind up in a
doctor's office. That's worse than school. You fake a stomach cramp, and when you're bent over,
moaning and wailing, you lick your palms. It's a little childish and stupid, but then, so is high school.
Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it. I do have a
test today, that wasn't bullshit. It's on European socialism. I mean really, what's the point. I'm not
European. I don't plan on being European, so who gives a crap if they're socialists. They could be fascist
anarchists and it still wouldn't change the fact that I don't own a car. (Singing in shower) It's not that
I condone fascism or any 'ism' for that matter. Isms, in my opinion, are not good. A person should not
believe in an 'ism,' he should believe in himself. I quote John Lennon: 'I don't believe in Beatles. I just
believe in me.' A good point there. After all, he was the walrus. I could be the walrus. I'd still have to
bum rides off of people.
Strong points:
 Heavy use of first person pronoun ‘I’ – immediately tells the audience about the character’s
charmingly egotistical nature and that he is the main character and will be throughout the film

2.  Semantic field of school/parents – reinforces the character’s age and therefore stereotypical
aims and tendencies
 ‘Teaching’ style on how to ‘fake out’ parents – breaks the fourth wall in getting the main
character to address the audience and ‘teach’ them, conveying characteristics such as
confidence and charm.
Kick Ass (2010)
I always wondered why nobody did it before me. I mean, all those comic books, movies, TV shows. You
think that one eccentric loner would've made himself a costume. I mean, is everyday life really so
exciting? Are schools and offices so thrilling that I'm the only one who fantasized about this? Come on,
be honest with yourself. At some point in our lives we all wanna be a superhero. That's not me, by the
way. That's some Armenian guy with a history of mental health problems. Who am I? I’m Kick Ass!
 Intrigue – created by the non-specific opening line, leaves the audience curious
 Breaking fourth wall – ‘talking’ to the audience, ‘be honest with yourself’, giving insight into
the character directly and not through another person/implied through character interaction
 Use of rhetorical questions and answers – to establish genre, character and plot, explicitly
ensuring the audience are aware of his identity and importance during the film, ‘I’m Kick Ass!’