Shakespeare monologues: full text, run times, and what every line means
Speeches from the tragedies and comedies, timed from the exact text, each with a line-by-line guide.
The Offbook team
Oct 18, 2026
A Shakespeare speech asks more of you than a modern one: the verse sets a rhythm, the words are old, and the thought often runs past the end of the line. That is why each speech here comes with a guide that explains every line in plain English before you learn it.
Every page has the full text with line numbers, its run time at three speaking paces, cut points near 60 and 90 seconds where the text allows, and a first-letter version to test yourself from. For the craft of speaking verse, read how to perform Shakespeare monologues and how to memorize Shakespeare.
The monologues, shortest first
Listed here: every monologue in the library from a play by William Shakespeare that has its full guide.
Run times are the words of each speech at a conversational 150 words a minute, before pauses, counted from the full text of public domain editions from Standard Ebooks. To time your own pace, paste a speech into the monologue timer.
How to choose one for an audition
- Start with the time limit in the casting notice. Pick a speech that runs a little under it at a natural pace, so you never have to rush the end.
- Choose a character you could be cast as now, close to your age and in a situation you understand.
- Look for a turn: a moment where the character changes their mind or makes a decision. A speech that only describes gives you nothing to play.
- Know who you are talking to. A speech aimed at another character, or straight at the audience, gives you someone to change.
- If the notice asks for two pieces, pair contrasting ones; see how to choose contrasting monologues. Need it shorter? Read how to cut a monologue.
About each speech
Macbeth: “Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow”
Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 5 · Verse · about 36 seconds at 150 words a minute
Macbeth hears that his wife is dead and sees his whole life as meaningless. It is short, about a dozen lines, so every word has to carry weight.
Juliet: “’Tis but thy name that is my enemy” (What’s in a name?)
Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 2 · Verse · about 36 seconds at 150 words a minute
Juliet, alone on the balcony, argues that a name is only a word. Romeo is listening, but she does not know it. It is short, which makes it a good first classical piece.
Puck: “If we shadows have offended” (Puck’s epilogue)
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 5, Scene 1 · Verse · about 36 seconds at 150 words a minute
Puck closes the play and asks the audience to forgive it as a dream. It is short, rhymed, and spoken straight to the house.
Ophelia: “O, what a noble mind is here o’erthrown!”
Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1 · Verse · about 42 seconds at 150 words a minute
Ophelia, left alone after Hamlet’s attack in the nunnery scene, mourns the man he was. It is short and complete in itself, which makes it a common classical audition piece.
Lady Macbeth: “The raven himself is hoarse”
Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 5 · Verse · about 54 seconds at 150 words a minute
Lady Macbeth hears that Duncan will stay the night and calls on dark spirits to strip away her pity. It is short and intense, and one of the most requested classical pieces for women.
Romeo: “But, soft! what light through yonder window breaks?”
Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 2 · Verse · about 1.4 minutes at 150 words a minute
Romeo, hidden in the Capulet orchard, sees Juliet at her window. The speech is pure wonder, spoken while she cannot hear him, so the actor has to play to her without being heard.
Petruchio: “Thus have I politicly begun my reign”
The Taming of the Shrew, Act 4, Scene 1 · Verse · about 1.4 minutes at 150 words a minute
Alone after he has called the supper burnt and thrown it at the servants, Petruchio tells the audience his plan: tame Katharina the way a falconer tames a hawk, with no food and no sleep, all while claiming it is done out of care for her. It ends by daring the house to suggest a better way, so it is played straight out to the audience.
Helena: “How happy some o’er other some can be!”
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 1, Scene 1 · Verse · about 1.4 minutes at 150 words a minute
Helena, alone, complains that Demetrius loves Hermia, and decides to tell him about the lovers’ escape. It is rhymed and funny-sad, and a popular comic piece for women.
Viola: “I left no ring with her”
Twelfth Night, Act 2, Scene 2 · Verse · about 1.4 minutes at 150 words a minute
Viola realizes that Olivia has fallen for her disguise. It is a thinking-aloud soliloquy with a comic tangle at its heart, and one of the most-used classical pieces for women.
Jaques: “All the world’s a stage”
As You Like It, Act 2, Scene 7 · Verse · about 1.4 minutes at 150 words a minute
Jaques, a lord in exile with Duke Senior in the forest, picks up the Duke’s remark that the world is a theatre and walks through a man’s life in seven ages, from the crying infant to toothless old age. It is the most famous speech in a comedy, but it is wry and thoughtful rather than a joke, so it shows wit and control more than broad comedy.
Macbeth: “Is this a dagger which I see before me”
Macbeth, Act 2, Scene 1 · Verse · about 1.8 minutes at 150 words a minute
Alone before the murder, Macbeth sees a dagger in the air. The speech moves from doubt to resolve and ends on the bell that sends him to Duncan’s room.
Hamlet: “To be, or not to be”
Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1 · Verse · about 1.8 minutes at 150 words a minute
Hamlet, alone, weighs whether to go on living. It is the most quoted speech in English drama, which is a reason many coaches advise against it for auditions: the panel has heard it a thousand times. As a study piece it is unbeatable.
Titania: “These are the forgeries of jealousy”
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Act 2, Scene 1 · Verse · about 1.8 minutes at 150 words a minute
Titania answers Oberon’s accusations: their quarrel has thrown the seasons out of order. It is a long, image-rich speech that needs strong breath control.
Mercutio: The Queen Mab speech
Romeo and Juliet, Act 1, Scene 4 · Verse · about 2.2 minutes at 150 words a minute
Mercutio spins a fantasy about the fairy who brings dreams, and it runs away with him until Romeo stops him. The fun is the speed; the challenge is the turn into darkness near the end.
Hamlet: “O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I!”
Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2 · Verse · about 3.0 minutes at 150 words a minute
Hamlet has just watched an actor weep for Hecuba, and turns his anger on himself for doing nothing. It is long and builds to the plan to catch the King with a play, so it rewards an actor who can pace a climb.
More monologue lists
- Monologues for women
- Monologues for men
- Dramatic monologues
- Comedic monologues
- Every monologue in the library, shortest first
- Acting scripts: scenes to practice with a partner
Questions actors ask
What is the shortest Shakespeare monologue on this list?
Macbeth’s Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow (Macbeth, Act 5, Scene 5): 12 lines and 90 words, about 36 seconds at 150 words a minute. The longest is Hamlet’s O, what a rogue and peasant slave am I! (Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2), about 3.0 minutes.
Which Shakespeare monologues run a minute or less?
Macbeth’s Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow (about 36 seconds); Juliet’s ’Tis but thy name that is my enemy (What’s in a name?) (about 36 seconds); Puck’s If we shadows have offended (Puck’s epilogue) (about 36 seconds); Ophelia’s O, what a noble mind is here o’erthrown! (about 42 seconds); Lady Macbeth’s The raven himself is hoarse (about 54 seconds). Times are speech only, so add a few seconds for pauses and check the casting notice for its limit.
Which edition is the text from?
The public domain Standard Ebooks edition of each play. Editions differ in small ways, such as spelling and line breaks, so if your production uses another edition, check your lines against it.
How do I learn a Shakespeare monologue quickly?
Understand it before you memorize it: read the plain-English guide, then learn it one thought at a time, out loud, cue word to cue word. The first-letter version on each page lets you test yourself without the full text in view.
Keep reading
- Comedic Monologues: Classical Speeches, TimedSpeeches for auditions and class, timed from the exact text, each with a guide to every line.
- Dramatic Monologues from Shakespeare’s TragediesSerious speeches for auditions and class, timed from the exact text, each with a guide to every line.
- Laban Efforts for Actors: The Eight Efforts and How to Use Them on a CharacterWeight, time, space, and flow in plain words, the eight efforts from Punch to Float, how to pick a character’s effort from the way they talk, how efforts change your voice, and a solo exercise that runs one scene two different ways.
- Hamlet: “To be, or not to be”Full text from Hamlet, run time, cut points, and a first-letter version.