A soliloquy is a most popular literary device among playwrights. A character conveys his thoughts and feelings without speaking to any of the other characters. In the play Wit, the author, Margaret Edson, uses soliloquy as a tool to demonstrate the feelings of the protagonist, Vivian Bearing, who often breaks the fourth wall to speak directly to the audience. Margaret Edson uses soliloquy to give Vivian Bearing a chance to express how she feels and what she thinks throughout the play. By using the soliloquy Margaret Edson is able to invoke sympathy, rather than pity, in the audience towards the constant struggle that Vivian faces. Rather than simply watch Vivian suffer through her painful trials, they are subjected to vivid memories of her suffering as she exposes her thoughts to the audience. Since this is a play, some would say that Edson's use of soliloquy is not very effective because the audience sees Vivian's pain with their own eyes. However, the soliloquies undoubtedly add to the viewer's experience as Vivian breaks the fourth wall to express her feelings and describe the agony she is facing. Without Vivian's monologues, the audience might see Vivian suffer, but would not be able to truly sympathize with her. By putting Vivian's torment into words rather than representing it on stage, Edson ensures that the main character transcends the stage and becomes a presence that the audience can understand rather than a fictional character that the viewer pities. important and informative soliloquy. In the opening soliloquy, Vivian Bearing establishes her character and plot as she introduces the audience to her situation. L... in the center of the card... more than sympathize with her because she is more than just a character on stage. The audience then witnesses firsthand the collapse of a strong, independent character as her torment gets the better of her. Margaret Edson sets up Vivian's soliloquies in a way that follows the character's decay. In the first soliloquies, Vivian establishes herself as a great literary scholar with an immense ego. However, over the course of the show, viewers are exposed to increasingly morbid passages in which Vivian breaks the fourth wall to speak directly to the audience and convey her growing affliction. As the show progresses, we witness Vivian's destruction as her situation takes its toll. Margaret Edson's use of soliloquies greatly helps the audience capture the essence of Vivian Bearing's suffering. Works Cited Edson, Margaret. With a comedy. London: Faber & Faber, 1999. Print.