LDJIN & MHB: Monologues

Monologues or extended speech is a key dramatic convention used by playwrights for different purposes. In both LDJIN and MHB, monologues allow for a deeper level of characterization because characters often reveal unknown details or flashbacks to the audience.

 As Mary's drug addiction began to be more transparent to the audience, Mary started to have extended speeches on her past. Her monologues included confessions of her past dream to become a nun and a pianist and recalling the time she first met James Tyrone and fell in love with him, revealing her once youthful and innocent self. The effect of the monologues allow the audience to be exposed to Mary's inner thoughts, rather than relying on her dialogue with her family which is often unreliable or distorted as implied by stage direction. It demonstrates how Mary's past has undoubtedly left an indelible mark on her reality, thus reinforcing the hauntedness of her past. For example, when she is talking to Cathleen about how she used to be so infatuated by James' charming appeal, she gradually brings up how her father used to spoil her and how her mother disapproved of her father buying whatever she wanted and introducing her to James Tyrone, she even disapproved of their marriage and wanted Mary to become a nun instead. The back-story on how she met James and also her parents spontaneously led to Mary describing her beautiful, ornate wedding gown, indicating that Mary was once happy and pampered unlike her present day marriage with James Tyrone that has drained the beauty out of her.

Likewise, in MHB the kite scene is an important monologue to reveal how much Sam cares for Hally and how he had to step up to replace Hally's father as Hally's father figure. He wanted Hally to feel liberated and that he could achieve anything he wanted to by showing that flying the poorly made kite was not impossible. Yet at the same time the flashback does hold bitter memories for Sam because he was not allowed to fly the kite with Hally since it was a "White-Only" bench. The kite event was also one of the happiest memories shared by Hally and Sam just like how Mary first met James Tyrone and played the piano in her convent days. These flashbacks allow the characters to relive these moments but it also contrasts the present day reality with the past. However, the kite scene monologue was used to instill hope and rekindle their friendship whereas for Mary, recalling her past only seems to reinforce Mary's feeling of regret for having married a man who couldn't provide her the ideal home for her family, thus indicating that things have changed for the worse.