interior monologue

American  

noun

1. Literature. a form of stream-of-consciousness writing that represents the inner thoughts of a character.

2. Movies, Television. the device of showing a character on screen who does not appear to speak, although the character's voice is heard on the soundtrack to create the illusion that the audience is hearing the character's thoughts.

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interior monologue British  

noun

1. a literary attempt to present the mental processes of a character before they are formed into regular patterns of speech or logical sequence See also stream of consciousness

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Etymology

Origin of interior monologue

First recorded in 1920–25

Example Sentences

Peppered with amusing person-on-the-street commentary, set off in their own smaller frames, this is a woman's interior monologue brought to life as both candid semi-autobiographical memoir and cinematic fantasia.

From Washington Post • Oct. 5, 2020

The interior monologue of a character is not particularly reproducible as film, and that’s why so much of Roth has been hard for people to adapt.

From Slate • Apr. 20, 2020

He may not remember the occasion but his interior monologue is bound to be saying: “Yeah, that sounds like me.”

From The Guardian • Oct. 6, 2019

Lacey’s 2014 debut novel, “Nobody Is Ever Missing,” revolved around an interior monologue about a woman traveling across New Zealand.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 16, 2017

The two friends conjectured his mental labor from his concentrated look, and the low exclamations which were escaping him like the echoes of an interior monologue.

From The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse by Jordan, Charlotte Brewster