Abstract
The calm, the cheerfulness, the disinterested objectivity have disappeared: the dialogue of the mind with itself has commenced; modem problems have presented themselves; we hear already the doubts; we witness the discouragements of Hamlet and of Faust. Matthew Arnold, Preface to Poems (1853) ‘Soliloquy’ retains its original meaning as established by the Latin soliloquium: it is a talking to oneself. Coined by St. Augustine, soliloquium refers to solitary speech that may in practice merge into prayer or an internal series of thoughts. 1
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© 1987 Carol Hanbery MacKay
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MacKay, C.H. (1987). Introduction. In: Soliloquy in Nineteenth-Century Fiction. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-08658-0_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-08658-0_1
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
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