Breaking Down the Subtext of Your Monologue

Breaking down the subtext of your monologue will help you understand the subtleties of your character and the scope of the script’s theme.

The mission of subtext is to uncover all that you can beneath the words in order to realize the true nature of your monologue.

Subtext refers to the underlying intentions, motives, and feelings of the given text.

How do I break down the subtext of my monologue?

There are a few ways to go about figuring out the subtext of your monologue:

1. Read the Text Thoroughly

• First reading: You can only receive a first impression once. When you first read your monologue, try to be alone, without distraction. This will help you receive the transmission of the monologue’s intent, and how it makes you emotionally respond.
• Punctuation: As you examine your work further, you can begin to use the punctuation as a tool to give you clues. The commas, periods, exclamation points, dash, and semicolon are all part of the musical composition and phrasing. Good writers are careful to put down the dialogue they hear through punctuation that informs the truth of expression. Samuel Beckett is a prime example of how powerful punctuation can be. When the actor gives themselves over to the rhythm and pacing of the text, a deeper truth may emerge.
• Understanding the overall context: Even though you will be working on your chosen monologue, reading the entirety of the play script will prove beneficial to your overall understanding of the theme and your character.

2. Ask Key Questions

Asking a series of questions is all part of uncovering the deeper aspects of your character.

• What does your character want? What does your character want in the scene? Are they trying to convince someone to lend them money? Your character’s intention (objective) will inform the subtext.
• Why is your character saying what they are saying? What is your character’s motivation?  Why do they feel the need to say what they are expressing?
• What is your character concealing? Equally valid is what your character chooses not to say. Comprehending what isn’t said will help drive the monologue forward emotionally. What is your character withholding? What are they trying to avoid?

3. Finding Contradictions

• Words and Posture: Sometimes the words of a character and what they do (posture/behavior) are two different things stemming from the same core. It is up to you to figure out where that inner core derives from.

4. Identify Emotional Beats

• Break the monologue into emotional beats: Good monologues will have a continuous lifestream that shifts emotionally throughout. By paying attention to such emotional beats, you will better understand where other subtextual layers can be revealed.
• Use emotional opposites: Sometimes subtext can involve moments of emotional contradiction. If your character is angry, they may reveal what they feel through humor. If they are sad, they may release what they feel through laughter.

5. Pay Attention to Word Choice

• Analyze the language: We analyze Shakespeare’s words not only because the text was written hundreds of years ago but also because we desire to have a deeper understanding of what the character means when they speak. That same curiosity and desire to know the text must also be applied in today’s literature. What vocabulary is your character using? Their choice of words can often disclose their demeanor and where they are from.
• Pinpoint repetition: Repeated phrases or words can also be a method used by the writer to signify the importance of what the character is confronting.

6. Consider the Character’s Relationships

• Who’s listening?: If your monologue is directly or indirectly aimed at another person, what is the nature of your character’s relationship with them? How someone speaks to their mother may adjust to how they speak to the teller at a bank. This also informs the subtextual content of your monologue.
• Outside forces: Are there outside forces affecting what your character is feeling? Are they spoken about or pushed aside, present but lingering in the shadows?

7. Interpret the Subtext in Relation to Your Character’s Arc

• Character growth: How does the moment of your monologue capture the ongoing evolution of your character? Does the subtext reveal something about their internal growth, change, or ultimate goal?

8. Connect to the Play’s Theme

• Contextualize within the play: How does your character have purpose in the story’s overall narrative structure? What instrument does your character play in the orchestra? Considering in what way, shape, or form your character plays a role inside the larger scope of the story is another key to discovering subtext.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Penetrating beneath the words of your monologue is an ongoing creative process.

Feel free to use some of the suggestions provided here. Remember that you will have your own process, and what works for you may not work for someone else. An actor’s mind is unique; use whatever may work for you.