The Dream of a Ridiculous Man

The story is told entirely from a first-person point of view. The narrator is the main character, and only his account of events, the events that he is at the center of, is heard in the story. The subjective nature of the first-person narration and the sense that the narrator is thinking out loud give the story the quality of a dramatic monologue. No other character’s point of view is heard, allowing the author to explore the psychology of the narrator.

A monologue is a long speech performed by a single character. The narration of “The Dream of a Ridiculous Man” takes the form of a monologue, as though the character were thinking out loud or speaking informally to someone. At various points, he backtracks, digresses, and addresses his hearers with phrases like “you see…” Although not written as such, the story has often been performed as a dramatic monologue, meaning a monologue written or delivered as if it were a one-person play. Notably, a British television adaptation called The Dream starring Jeremy Irons was produced in 1989.