# Classical monologues, shortest first

> Full text, run times, and cut points, so you can pick a speech that fits the slot.

- URL: https://www.offbook.com/monologues
- Last updated: 2026-10-08

Audition notices usually set a time limit, often one to two minutes. Every speech here is timed from its exact text at a conversational 150 words a minute, so you can see at a glance what fits before you spend a week learning it.

| Monologue | Play | Words | Run time |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Macbeth: Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow](https://www.offbook.com/monologues/tomorrow-and-tomorrow) | Macbeth | 90 | 36 seconds |
| [Juliet: ’Tis but thy name that is my enemy (What’s in a name?)](https://www.offbook.com/monologues/whats-in-a-name) | Romeo and Juliet | 93 | 36 seconds |
| [Puck: If we shadows have offended (Puck’s epilogue)](https://www.offbook.com/monologues/if-we-shadows-have-offended) | A Midsummer Night’s Dream | 94 | 36 seconds |
| [Ophelia: O, what a noble mind is here o’erthrown!](https://www.offbook.com/monologues/o-what-a-noble-mind) | Hamlet | 99 | 42 seconds |
| [Lady Macbeth: The raven himself is hoarse](https://www.offbook.com/monologues/the-raven-himself-is-hoarse) | Macbeth | 128 | 54 seconds |
| [Romeo: But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?](https://www.offbook.com/monologues/but-soft-what-light) | Romeo and Juliet | 204 | 1.4 minutes |
| [Helena: How happy some o’er other some can be!](https://www.offbook.com/monologues/how-happy-some) | A Midsummer Night’s Dream | 208 | 1.4 minutes |
| [Viola: I left no ring with her](https://www.offbook.com/monologues/i-left-no-ring-with-her) | Twelfth Night | 208 | 1.4 minutes |
| [Macbeth: Is this a dagger which I see before me](https://www.offbook.com/monologues/is-this-a-dagger) | Macbeth | 263 | 1.8 minutes |
| [Hamlet: To be, or not to be](https://www.offbook.com/monologues/to-be-or-not-to-be) | Hamlet | 276 | 1.8 minutes |
| [Titania: These are the forgeries of jealousy](https://www.offbook.com/monologues/these-are-the-forgeries-of-jealousy) | A Midsummer Night’s Dream | 277 | 1.8 minutes |
| [Mercutio: The Queen Mab speech](https://www.offbook.com/monologues/queen-mab) | Romeo and Juliet | 326 | 2.2 minutes |
| [Hamlet: O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!](https://www.offbook.com/monologues/o-what-a-rogue-and-peasant-slave) | Hamlet | 454 | 3.0 minutes |

Want the size of a whole part? [Line counts for every role](https://www.offbook.com/plays).