Tirade

A tirade (French: tirade, from Italian: tirata, meaning a stretch) is a brief and powerful monologue, typically in a drama. It is a long phrase delivered in an elevated tone, notable for its resonance and calculated for external success. In a broader sense, a tirade is any long train of words or sequence of expression on a single theme, especially if it contains censure or reproof.

Due to its loose connection with the development of the drama's action and acting as an extraneous element, the tirade met with condemnation from the ancients. They strictly adhered to the principle of unity of action (semper ad eventum festinat, always hastening to the resolution). However, it found a place in the oratorical addresses of the ancient parabasis.

French tragedy is imbued with a rhetorical element and filled with brilliant tirades. These provided an opportunity for the author to display new aspects of their talent, for the actor to showcase their declamatory art, and for the audience to greet a resonant commonplace with sympathetic applause.