http://wjel.sciedupress.com World Journal of English Language Vol. 12, No. 7; 2022, Special Issue Published by Sciedu Press 303 ISSN 1925-0703 E-ISSN 1925-0711 Monodrama and Self- Reconstruction: Exploration of Form in Selected Arab Plays Ieman Abdulrahman Alkhayal 1 ¹ Department of English Literature, College of Languages, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Correspondence: Dr. Ieman Abdulrahman Alkhayal, Department of English Literature, College of Languages, Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Received: August 31, 2022 Accepted: October 31, 2022 Online Published: December 12, 2022 doi:10.5430/wjel.v12n7p303 URL: https://doi.org/10.5430/wjel.v12n7p303 Abstract This research attempts to explore the importance of monodrama as an extended monologue that opens a discovery journey of a man‘s solitary existence in the twenty-first century. The form offers subsequent polyvocal variations, which explores a set of questions inherent in estrangement, isolationism, and failure to articulate one‘s thoughts. Hence, those themes are usually projected in, seemingly, fragmented forms. Dramatic episodes characterized by fragmentation, yet ironically laden with symbolic meanings, draw on mythical, historical and imaginary figures. The resulting combination demonstrates more than just a private experience, but a universal dilemma of alienation and confusion. Inspired by Hamlet‘s debate of man‘s inner struggle between ―What the flesh is heir to‖ and ―of what we suffer‖ internally, the paper attempts to investigate the selected Arab dramatist‘s use of monodrama. The inner struggle in each monologue resembles core thematic trends, which extend to the twenty-first century, performed by actors who open a series of multi-roles that reflect on life, history, culture and other identity factors. Therefore, the paper will be paying extra attention to the weaving of multi-voices and consciousness within a monologue of a single character that embodies all. The main goal is to convey an internal conflict, or a journey to self-discovery, representing the ‗everyman‘ reflection on his use of theatrical devices. By intermixing reality and the subconscious, the performer and the audience become pulled into inner realms of the unconscious, giving self- evaluation a more interesting dimension. This will further help reveal the monologue‘s significance in treating psychological and social complexities through a concentrated dose of self-reflection in a dream-like framework. Keywords: Monodrama, Monologue, Realms of the Subconscious 1. Introduction When discussing the Arab contemporary drama, one will not help but notice a revitalization of the time-old relationship between art and reality. An interesting vantage point to look at the form of Arab mono-drama is to see it as a shaping agent, which also encompasses content unification as a desirable vision. In other words, the relationship between form and content unification becomes a goal in and of itself in the process of making, not just a natural end result that happened by chance. Thus, form in these plays exists as an equal to the artist‘s moral vision, which becomes a way of ordering life‘s experience. This research study explores selected plays by Arab writers, within specific social, economic, and historical contexts. Tracing the historical, social, and economic context of each author‘s life is important in understanding how they helped shape and construct a pre-determined moral vision of the play. The study advocates pluralism as a relevant approach to help understand the dramatic text, author, and audience as a complex network making up a unified whole. Meanwhile, contemporary developments and transformations combined with the attempt of tracing origins will be taken into consideration whilst forming an analysis on each play. To cater to these intricate relationships, the study will also keep in mind the hypothesis that these plays are a clear demonstration of the outdated concept of form and content as inseparable. The following plays— The Alley: A Monodrama for Actress by Samia Bakri, Actress J’s Burial Night by Jamal Hamdan, and Reflections of a Garbage Collector by Mamdouh Udwan, (Jayyusi, 2003) are all forms of monodrama and make up the main case studies for the paper. Each play is stamped with both specificity and universality, which communicate with the local needs of the audience and also relates to the external dilemma of the world. More importantly, the three plays are united by an interesting form of a single performer and a single vision. The choice of