merely a certain class or the residents of a certain city or section
only, the very theme--for instance, some purely local happening
or trade interest--that you would avoid using in a monologue planned
for national use, would be the happiest theme that could be chosen.
But, as the ambitious monologue writer does not wish to confine
himself to a local or a sectional subject and market, let us
consider here only themes that have universal appeal.

II. A FEW THEMES OF UNIVERSAL INTEREST

Politics Woman Suffrage
Love Drink
Marriage Baseball
Woman's Dress Money

While there are many more themes that can be twisted to universal
interest--and anyone could multiply the number given--these few
are used in whole or in part in nearly every successful monologue
now being presented. And, they offer to the new writer the surest
ground to build a new monologue. That they have all been done
before is no reason why they should not be done again: the new
author has only to do them better--and a little different. It is
all a matter of fresh vision. What is there in any art that is
really new--but treatment?

Do not make the fatal mistake of supposing that these few themes
are the only themes possessing universal interest. Anything in
the whole wide world may be the subject for a monologue, when
transmuted by the magic of common sense and uncommon ability into
universal fun.