The object of this thesis is to study the monologue, a dramatic genre that re-emerged on the Spanish literary scene in the 1970s. Despite the fact that a number of well-known Iberian playwrights have cultivated this genre assiduously over the past three decades, their work has received relatively little critical attention from either academic or theatre circles. What is sought here, therefore, is the means to demonstrate the importance and richness of the monologue as an autonomous dramatic creation. To do this it was necessary to establish a sufficiently large corpus--some eighty long and short monologues--and identify those particular conventions and the structural diversity that would make possible the formulation of a theory of connected language functions in the monologue by adapting existing theoretical principles to the study of this singular genre. The application of this theoretical construct enabled me to determine the nature of the functions of expression, communication and persuasion present in the discourse of a single speaker. / Specifically, in considering the function of expression I reflect both upon the coherent discourse that derives from the (exterior) verbalization of (interior) thought and emotion, and upon the objectives and consequences of such expressions of the mental and emotional states of the individual. Secondly, I focus attention on the same verbal discourse inasmuch as it reflects the complex function of communication manifested in both an immanent and in a transcendental form. Such complexity derives from the fact that, if verbal discourse here is enunciated either in isolation or before an interiorized addressee (a fictional being), it is always emitted in the "presence" of an external addressee (the theatre audience/or reader). Finally, my study of the function of persuasion underscores the idea of empowerment: the authority of the word that is wielded by the monologist upon his/her addressee(s), a verbal manipulation that takes place both within the fictional world and beyond. / In short, this thesis seeks to show how the monologue as a fictional dramatic genre questions the viability of interpersonal relationships.

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The great literary movements affected Spanish drama less than that of any other country, though romanticism drew the public and stage closer. Realism and naturalism were slow in developing due to the "manifest incompatibility existing between the very spirit of the French realists and the Spanish national dramatic ideals."2 Spanish national drama deals in elemental passions, is poetic in situations, and magnificently conventional in tone; while its literary form is more important than its dramatic structure.2 French literature contains fine and subtle psychology, witty and ingenious, but is sometimes a little unsubstantial. Not universal theme but complex and involved feelings are characteristic. Spain has been slow to appreciate the modern French realistic play; indeed she has never adopted it in its original form. Attempts to imitate Ibsen3 and the foreign symbolism of Maeterlinck have been unsuccessful. The modern movement in the theatre starts at the end of the nineteenth century. Of all the writers the man most responsible for introducing modern drama, as we understand it in Europe, was Jacinto Benavente. No consideration of the modern theatre would be complete without a discussion of this interesting and brilliant dramatist. Wherever reforms have been accomplished, wherever barriers have been broken down, wherever new paths have been formed, he has been the leader.1 He is generally considered the greatest living dramatist in Spain, and worthy to rank with the best in any country. Of all the realistic dramatist of our time none is more realistic than Benavente. New ideals of literature and art, the method of the modern dramatist, more refined, more serious in aim than of old -- these are some of his contributions to modern drama. He has reacted on the drama and compelled it to change its traditional conventions for modern stage technique. Benavente is to be the master builder of modern Spanish drama; at the same time he mirrors the society of his time, its virtues and vices.