DOCSLIB.ORG

The Dramatic Monologue Author(S): Ina Beth Sessions Source: PMLA, Vol

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
The Dramatic Monologue Author(S): Ina Beth Sessions Source: PMLA, Vol The Dramatic Monologue Author(s): Ina Beth Sessions Source: PMLA, Vol. 62, No. 2 (Jun., 1947), pp. 503-516 Published by: Modern Language Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/459275 . Accessed: 12/02/2014 08:55 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. Modern Language Association is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to PMLA. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 155.207.156.2 on Wed, 12 Feb 2014 08:55:36 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions XXIX THE DRAMATIC MONOLOGUE THROUGH the years detailed attention has been given to the lyric, epic, short-story, drama, novel, and other literary forms, but compara- tively few references have been made to the dramatic monologue. A be- ginning towards the understanding of this neglected form was made by Stopford A. Brooke, who devoted one chapter to a discussion of Tenny- son's use of the dramatic monologue in his Tennyson, His Art and Re- lation to ModernLife.' S.S. Curry in his Browning and the Dramatic Mono- logue made a study of three characteristics of the form: speaker, audience, and occasion. He likewise gave a short history of the genre, and analyzed the methods for presenting examples of the form orally.2 R. H. Fletcher classified Browning's dramatic monologues.3 Claud Howard traced the development of the type in his pamphlet The Dramatic Monologue: Its Origin and Development.4Phelps devoted one chapter to analyzing the content of Browning's dramatic monologues.5 Bliss Perry defined the type, mentioned the same characteristics Curry had enumerated, and stated that the form is somewhat akin to the lyric.6 The present writer stressed the necessity for definiteness of each of the aforementioned char- acteristics and suggested that continuous interplay between speaker and audience be added as a clear-cut, fourth characteristic. Examples in both American and continental literature were grouped as follows: typical, for- mal, and approximate.7 Perhaps a reason for the relative neglect of this interesting genreis that it seems to be a familiar form easily understood because it has appro- priated several characteristics of related types.8 When, however, a lead- ing anthology continues to classify both Locksley Hall and Rizpah9 as Stopford A. Brooke, Tennyson, His Art and Relation to Modern Life (New York: G. P. Putnam & Sons, 1903). In a letter to the present writer, July, 1933, Dr. L. P. Jacks of Oxford, son-in-law of Brooke, wrote: "I think he (Brooke) would have said Tennyson's 'Northern Farmer' is about the best dramatic monologue in English." 2 S S. Curry, Browning and the Dramatic Monologue (Boston: Expression Company, 1908). References in this paper refer to the third edition, 1927. 3 R. H. Fletcher, "A Classification of Browning's Dramatic Monologues," Modern Lan- guage Notes, xxIII, April (1908), 108 ff. Claud Howard, The Dramatic Monologue: Its Origin and Development ("Studies in Philology," iv; Chapel Hill, N. C.: University of North Carolina Press, 1910). 5 W. L. Phelps, Browning How to Know Him (Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1915). 6 Bliss Perry, A Study of Poetry (Boston: Houghton-Mifflin Co., 1920). 7 Ina Beth Sessions, A Study of the Dramatic Monologue in American and Continental Literature (San Antonio, Texas: Alamo Printing Company, 1933). 8 Note the relationship between the dramatic monologue and such types as the lyric, letter, soliloquy, monologue per se, and drama. 9 Locksley Hall conforms to the dramatic monologue requirements only in the opening 503 This content downloaded from 155.207.156.2 on Wed, 12 Feb 2014 08:55:36 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 504 The Dramatic Monologue dramatic monologues,'? and when there is no universally accepted classi- ficationl1 for a host of important poems of this type, further analysis of the form becomes desirable. The purpose of this paper, therefore, is further to define and discuss the dramatic monologue as an independent and important type of literature and to analyze its sub-classifications. Brooke was of the opinion that dramatic monologues "belong directly to the tragedy and to the comedy of life."12Tennyson's Rizpah, Despair, and The First Quarrel were given as examples of tragedy; and all dialect examples were listed as illustrations of comedy. Brooke did not overlook poems of social or ethical implications, as can be noted in his discussion of the second Locksley Hall and The Wreck. In comparing Tennyson and Browning as writers of the dramatic monologue, Brooke stated that the former "scarcely varies at all" in his use of the type; whereas, the latter's examples are "sometimes lyrical, sometimes narrative, sometimes reflective.""3 When Curry discussed the genre he said that as Browning exem- plified it the dramatic monologue was "one end of a conversation" and that a definite speaker was present in a dramatic situation.14Further, he said that "usually" a well-defined hearer was present, "though his char- acter is understood entirely from the impression he produces upon the speaker."'5 In elaborating on the occasion, he explained that the "con- versation" is not an abstract affair but "takes place in a definite situation as a part of human life."'6 The evolution of the dramatic monologue, said Curry, can be traced in the "conflict between poet and stage, between writer and stage art- stanza.Rizpah is a Perfectexample of the type. (See TableI for a list of the characteristics of the Perfectform.) 10Lieder, Lovett, and Root, British Poetry and Prose (Boston: Houghton-Mifflin Com- pany, 1938), ii, 518; 550. 11In Snyder and Martin's, A Book of English Literature, 4th ed. (New York: The Mac- millan Company, 1943), n, Rizpah (p. 522) is called a "tragic ballad," and Ulysses (p. 495) is termed "one of the noblest of dramatic monologues." In the Lieder, Lovett and Root anthology, Ulysses (p. 517) is said to contain a speaker who "soliloquizes." Neither of these anthologies classifies the dramatic monologues Fra Lippo Lippi, Andrea del Sarto, and The Bishop OrdersHis Tomb in St. Praxed's Church,although both books properly list My Last Duchess as an example of this type. In the Harcourt, Brace and Company publica- tion The CollegeSurvey of English Literature (vol. 2, 1946), Ulysses is listed as a dramatic monologue (p. 490); and so are Locksley Hall (p. 491), Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister (p. 537), and My Last Duchess (p. 538). The editors of this anthology state that "Browning varies the technique of his dramatic monologues: the Spanish monk soliloquizes, but the Duke of Derrara ... talks to the envoy" (p. 538). 12 Stopford A. Brooke, op. cit., p. 436. 13Ibid., p. 431. 14 S. S. Curry, op. cit., p. 7. 16 Idem. 16Idem. This content downloaded from 155.207.156.2 on Wed, 12 Feb 2014 08:55:36 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Ina Beth Sessions 505 ist."'7 The form did not evolve in direct opposition to the play, but rather as a "new and parallel aspect of dramatic art."18 Two of the best points that Curry made were that the dramatic mono- logue derives its unity from the character of the speaker; and that the "listener as well as the speaker must be realized as continuously living and thinking."19On the other hand, Curry is confusing when he says the letter is nearest to the monologue,20then shortly adds that the "mono- logue . is nearer to the dialogue than to the letter."21 Examples cited by Curry as dramatic monologues do not conform to any one set definition. Poems as different as Browning's Clive, Pippa's soliloquies in Pippa Passes, The Flight of the Duchess, and Tennyson's Ulysses are termed the same literary form. Now, Curry did say that he recognized variations in form and would even admit a "partial intro- duction of dialogue,"22without feeling that the effectiveness of the dra- matic monologue fominhad been disturbed. Neither a rule for form nor for variation was given, however, and the resultant difficulty in determin- ing classifications is obvious. According to Fletcher, Browning's "dramatic monolog is found to be represented as a literal transcript of words spoken, written, or thought at some definite time by some person who may be either historical or imaginary."23This definition holds true in the whole poem with the ex- ception of a few instances where "there is a brief introduction or conclud- ing descriptive or narrative paragraph supplied by Browning himself or by some other person not the monologist."24 Examples give in vivid fashion "some action of external crisis or of moral signifiance" and a character analysis of one or more people. Theoretically, soliloquies are not dramatic monologues, but practically the two forms "shade into each other," and in Browning's poetry it is impossible to distinguish them sharply. Claud Howard, in his discussion of the type, said its development passed through two stages: one from the origin of its use to Browning; the second from Browning's day until the present.25The type arose "in re- sponse to a need for a new form of literary expression which would reveal more directly and forcibly the new phases of modern culture and experi- ence."26 Howard seemed to agree with Curry in stressing the importance of the speaker and in saying that the speaker's thoughts are influenced by the hearer.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • RAPHAEL JONATHAM DE OLIVEIRA SOARES.Pdf
    UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAL DO PARANÁ RAPHAEL JONATHAM DE OLIVEIRA SOARES HA PRAZER EM CANTAR: UMA INTRODUÇÃO À POESIA DE ROBERT BROWNING CURITIBA 2017 RAPHAEL JONATHAM DE OLIVEIRA SOARES HÁ PRAZER EM CANTAR: UMA INTRODUÇÃO À POESIA DE ROBERT BROWNING Dissertação apresentada ao Curso de Pós- Graduação em Letras, Setor de Humanas, da Universidade Federal do Paraná, como requisito parcial à obtenção do título de Mestre em Letras. Orientador(a): Prof(a). Dr(a). Caetano Waldrigues Galindo. CURITIBA 2017 FICHA CATALOGRÁFICA ELABORADA PELO SISTEMA DE BIBLIOTECAS/UFPR - BIBLIOTECA DE CIÊNCIAS HUMANAS COM OS DADOS FORNECIDOS PELO AUTOR ___________ Fernanda Emanoéla Nogueira - CRB 9/1607_____________________ Soares, Raphael Jonatham de Oliveira Há prazer em cantar : uma introdução à poesia de Robert Browning. / Raphael Jonatham de Oliveira Soares. - Curitiba, 2017. Dissertação (Mestrado em Letras) - Setor de Ciências Humanas da Universidade Federal do Paraná. Orientador : Prof. Dr. Caetano Waldrigues Galindo 1. Browning, Robert, 1812-1889 - Crítica e interpretação. 2. Poesia inglesa. 3. Tradução e interpretação. I. Galindo, Caetano Waldrigues, 1973-. II. Título. CDD - 821.8 MINISTÉRIO DA EDUCAÇÃO UNIVERSIDADE FEDERAI DO PARANÁ PRÓ-REITORIA DE PESQUISA E PÓS-GRADUAÇÃO Setor CIÊNCIAS HUMANAS . UFPR Programa de Pós-Graduação LETRAS TERMO DE APROVAÇÃO Os membros da Banca Examinadora designada pelo Colegiado do Programa de Pós-Graduação em LETRAS da Universidade Federal do Paraná foram convocados para realizar a arguição da Dissertação de Mestrado de RAPHAEL JONATHAM DE OLIVEIRA SOARES intitulada: HÁ PRAZER EM CANTAR: UMA INTRODUÇÃO Á POESIA DE ROBERT BROWNING,após terem inquirido o aluno e realizado a avaliação do trabalho, são de parecer pela sua CÁ s -> > -» t /O, no rito de defesa.
    [Show full text]
  • Title: the Disclosure of Self in Robert Browning's Dramatic Monologues
    Title: The Disclosure of self in Robert Browning's dramatic monologues Author: Agnieszka Adamowicz-Pośpiech Adamowicz-Pośpiech Agnieszka. (2014). The Disclosure of Citation style: self in Robert Browning's dramatic monologues. W: W. Kalaga, M. Mazurek, M. Sarnek (red.) "Camouflage : secrecy and exposure in literary and cultural studies" (S. 112-126). Katowice : Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego Agnieszka Adamowicz-Pośpiech The Disclosure of Self in Robert Browning’s Dramatic Monologues “To read poems,” wrote George Eliot in a review of Browning’s work, “is often a substitute for thought; fine-sounding conventional phrases and the sing-song of verse demand no co-operation in the reader; they glide over the mind.”1 Contrary to Eliot’s assessment, the aim of this paper is to show that by creating a disturbing persona characterized by a fluctuating self-consciousness which was distinctive not only of the fictional character but also of the listener/reader and the writer, Browning hampers uninvolved reading. In his dramatic monologues, the poet employs certain techniques to hide the real nature of his monologists, and the reader is forced painstakingly to gather the dispersed allusions, implications and insinuations so as to uncover the secrets of the speakers. Doubleness in Victorian poetry has been perceived by some critics as one of its defining characteristics.2 Amongst the terms coined to describe it is E.D.H. Johnson’s “dark companion”: “The expressed content [of a poem] has a dark companion, its imaginative counterpart, which accompanies and comments on apparent meaning in such a way as to suggest ulterior motives.”3 Isobel Armstrong proposed a parallel concept “double companion.”4 However, the essential words, seem to me, to be the “imaginative counterpart” – since it is only in the imagination of the reader that the counterpart may arise on condition that the reader becomes involved in unraveling the text.
    [Show full text]
  • Robert Browning: a Dramatic Monologue Marvel Moulavi Nafchi, Asghar; Sobhani Zadeh, Morteza; Mirzayee, Mitra
    www.ssoar.info Robert Browning: a dramatic monologue Marvel Moulavi Nafchi, Asghar; Sobhani Zadeh, Morteza; Mirzayee, Mitra Veröffentlichungsversion / Published Version Zeitschriftenartikel / journal article Empfohlene Zitierung / Suggested Citation: Moulavi Nafchi, A., Sobhani Zadeh, M., & Mirzayee, M. (2015). Robert Browning: a dramatic monologue Marvel. International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences, 63, 225-232. https://doi.org/10.18052/www.scipress.com/ ILSHS.63.225 Nutzungsbedingungen: Terms of use: Dieser Text wird unter einer CC BY Lizenz (Namensnennung) zur This document is made available under a CC BY Licence Verfügung gestellt. Nähere Auskünfte zu den CC-Lizenzen finden (Attribution). For more Information see: Sie hier: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/deed.de International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences Online: 2015-11-30 ISSN: 2300-2697, Vol. 63, pp 225-232 doi:10.18052/www.scipress.com/ILSHS.63.225 © 2015 SciPress Ltd., Switzerland Robert Browning: A Dramatic Monologue Marvel Asghar Moulavi Nafchi*, Mitra Mirzayee, Morteza Sobhani Zadeh Senior Lecturer, Hakim Sabzevari University, Iran, *E-mail address: [email protected]. MA Students of English Language and Literature, Semnan University, Iran. Keywords: Dramatic monologue, Emotion, Psychoanalytic view, Robert Browning, Victorian poetry. ABSTRACT. One of the most effective literary devices within different didactic and aesthetic forms is the dramatic monologue. The dramatic monologue distinguishes the speaker’s character from that of the poet’s. The double meaning that lies at the heart of the dramatic monologue, conveys the speaker’s version or variety of meaning and intentions. The Dramatic monologue has been practiced for a very long time, but it was Robert browning who invested it with a deeper level of meaning giving it frequency in an attempt to support preexisting aesthetic values in favor of a poem that valued form over content.
    [Show full text]
  • University Microfilms, a XERQ\Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan
    72- 19,021 NAPRAVNIK, Charles Joseph, 1936- CONVENTIONAL AND CREATED IMAGERY IN THE LOVE POEMS OF ROBERT BROWNING. The University of Oklahoma, Ph.D. , 1972 Language and Literature, general University Microfilms, A XERQ\Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan (^Copyrighted by Charles Joseph Napravnlk 1972 THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED THE UNIVERSITY OF OKIAHOMA GRADUATE COLLEGE CONVENTIONAL AND CREATED IMAGERY IN THE LOVE POEMS OP ROBERT BROWNING A DISSERTATION SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE FACULTY in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY BY CHARLES JOSEPH NAPRAVNIK Norman, Oklahoma 1972 CONVENTIONAL AND CREATED IMAGERY IN THE LOVE POEMS OF ROBERT BROWNING PROVED DISSERTATION COMMITTEE PLEASE NOTE: Some pages may have indistinct print. Filmed as received. University Microfilms, A Xerox Education Company TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION...... 1 II. BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE.................. 10 III, THE RING, THE CIRCLE, AND IMAGES OF UNITY..................................... 23 IV. IMAGES OF FLOWERS, INSECTS, AND ROSES..................................... 53 V. THE GARDEN IMAGE......................... ?8 VI. THE LANDSCAPE OF LOVE....... .. ...... 105 FOOTNOTES........................................ 126 BIBLIOGRAPHY.............. ...................... 137 iii CONVENTIONAL AND CREATED IMAGERY IN THE LOVE POEMS OP ROBERT BROWNING CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION Since the founding of The Browning Society in London in 1881, eight years before the poet*a death, the poetry of Robert
    [Show full text]
  • The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms
    The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms CHRIS BALDICK OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS OXFORD PAPERBACK REFERENCE The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms Chris Baldick is Professor of English at Goldsmiths' College, University of London. He edited The Oxford Book of Gothic Tales (1992), and is the author of In Frankenstein's Shadow (1987), Criticism and Literary Theory 1890 to the Present (1996), and other works of literary history. He has edited, with Rob Morrison, Tales of Terror from Blackwood's Magazine, and The Vampyre and Other Tales of the Macabre, and has written an introduction to Charles Maturin's Melmoth the Wanderer (all available in the Oxford World's Classics series). The most authoritative and up-to-date reference books for both students and the general reader. Abbreviations Literary Terms Oxford ABC of Music Local and Family History Paperback Accounting London Place Names* Archaeology* Mathematics Reference Architecture Medical Art and Artists Medicines Art Terms* Modern Design* Astronomy Modern Quotations Better Wordpower Modern Slang Bible Music Biology Nursing Buddhism* Opera Business Paperback Encyclopedia Card Games Philosophy Chemistry Physics Christian Church Plant-Lore Classical Literature Plant Sciences Classical Mythology* Political Biography Colour Medical Political Quotations Computing Politics Dance* Popes Dates Proverbs Earth Sciences Psychology* Ecology Quotations Economics Sailing Terms Engineering* Saints English Etymology Science English Folklore* Scientists English Grammar Shakespeare English
    [Show full text]
  • Victorian Supplemental
    Revised Spring 2019 WESTERN UNIVERESITY DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH PhD QUALIFYING EXAMINATION READING LIST English 9914 (SF)/ 9934 (PF) SUPPLEMENTARY LIST FOR THE VICTORIAN PERIOD 1. Additional Instructions Students for whom the nineteenth century is their Primary Field should supplement the general list with material chosen from the following, as suits the particular focus of their studies. Students who choose to concentrate on the Victorian Period within their major field should reduce the material on the Romantic part of the nineteenth-century list by approximately two thirds, and should replace this material with material drawn from the following list. In addition, the list for the major or primary field should contain 20% more material overall than for the secondary field. OPTIONAL TEXTS POETRY E. Barrett Browning: “A Sea-Side Walk”; “Felicia Hemans”; “Bertha in the Lane”; “Grief”; “To George Sand: A Desire”; “To George Sand: A Recognition”; “Hiram Powers’ ‘Greek Slave’”; “Sonnets from The Portuguese”; Aurora Leigh; “Lord Walter’s Wife”; “The Best Thing in the World”; “Mother and Poet”. Alfred Lord Tennyson: Song (‘A spirit haunts the year’s last hours’); “The Kraken”; “The Hesperides”; “To---. With the Following Poem”; “The Palace of Art “St Simeon Stylites”; “Break, Break, Break”; “Locksley Hall”; from The Princess ‘Sweet and low, sweet and low’; ‘Tears, idle tears’; ‘Now sleeps the crimson petal’; ‘Come down, O maid’; “The Eagle”; “Ode on the Death of the Duke of Wellington”; “The Charge of the Light Brigade”; “Enoch Arden” ; “The Higher Pantheism”; “Rizpah”; Idylls of the King; ‘Frater Ave atque Vale’; “Demeter and Persephone”; “Far—Far—Away”; “To the Marquis of Dufferin and Ava”; “Crossing the Bar” Edward Fitgerald: The Rubayiat of Omar Khayyam.
    [Show full text]
  • The Tomb of the Author in Robert Browning's Dramatic Monologues
    Előd Pál Csirmaz The Tomb of the Author in Robert Browning’s Dramatic Monologues MA Thesis (for MA in English Language and Literature) Eötvös Loránd University (ELTE), Budapest, Hungary, 2006 Supervisor: Péter Dávidházi, Habil. Docent, DSc. Abstract Even after the death of the Author, its remains, its tomb appears to mark a text it cre- ated. Various readings and my analyses of Robert Browning’s six dramatic mono- logues, My Last Duchess, The Bishop Orders His Tomb at Saint Praxed’s Church, Andrea del Sarto, “Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came,” Caliban upon Setebos and Rabbi Ben Ezra, suggest that it is not only possible to trace Authorial presence in dramatic monologues, where the Author is generally supposed to be hidden behind a mask, but often it even appears to be inevitable to consider an Authorial entity. This, while problematizes traditional anti-authorial arguments, do not entail the dreaded consequences of introducing an Author, as various functions of the Author and vari- ous Author-related entities are considered in isolation. This way, the domain of metanarrative-like Authorial control can be limited and the Author is turned from a threat into a useful tool in analyses. My readings are done with the help of notions and suggestions derived from two frameworks I introduce in the course of the argument. They not only help in tracing and investigating the Author and related entities, like the Inscriber or the Speaker, but they also provide an alternative description of the genre of the dramatic monologue. Előd P Csirmaz The Tomb of the Author ii Contents 1 INTRODUCTION 1 2 THE THEORY OF THE AUTHOR 1 2.1 A History of the Death of the Author 2 2.2 From the Methodological to the Ontological and Back: The Functions of the Author and its Death 3 A.
    [Show full text]
  • My Last Duchess Porphyria's Lover Robert Browning 1812–1889
    The Influence of Romanticism My Last Duchess RL 1 Cite strong and thorough Porphyria’s Lover textual evidence to support inferences drawn from the Poetry by Robert Browning text. RL 5 Analyze how an author’s choices concerning how to structure specific parts KEYWORD: HML12-944A of a text contribute to its overall VIDEO TRAILER structure and meaning as well as its aesthetic impact. RL 10 Read and comprehend literature, Meet the Author including poems. SL 1 Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions. Robert Browning 1812–1889 “A minute’s success,” remarked the poet character in an emotionally charged situation. Robert Browning, “pays for the failure of While critics attacked his early dramatic years.” Browning spoke from experience: poems, finding them difficult to understand, did you know? for years, critics either ignored or belittled Browning did not allow the reviews to keep his poetry. Then, when he was nearly 60, him from continuing to develop this form. Robert Browning . he became an object of near-worship. • became an ardent Secret Love In 1845, Browning met the admirer of Percy Bysshe Precocious Child An exceptionally bright poet Elizabeth Barrett and began a famous Shelley at age 12. child, Browning learned to read and write romance that has been memorialized in both • achieved fluency in by the time he was 5 and composed his film and literature. Against the wishes of Latin, Greek, Italian, and first, unpublished volume of poetry at Barrett’s overbearing father, the two poets French by age 14. 12. At the age of 21 he published his first married in secret in 1846 and eloped to • wrote the children’s book, Pauline (1833), to negative reviews.
    [Show full text]
  • Dramatic Monologue: Defining the Genre
    Abstract THROWN VOICES: A SERIES OF DRAMATIC MONOLOGUES, WITH A DISCUSSION OF THE GENRE by Matt Finch June 2010 Director: John Hoppenthaler Department of English This thesis examines the complex nature of the poetic genre of the dramatic monologue by providing multiple perspectives on the genre—namely, those of the literary critic and the creative writer. This thesis provides a selection of original dramatic monologues in various styles and featuring characters ranging from the prophet Jeremiah to a modern-day plastic surgeon, tied together by the theme of imaginatively filling in historical gaps and erasures with speakers in times of great political or cultural upheaval. Prefacing this collection of poems is a discussion of the genre of dramatic monologue, beginning with a general overview of the development and features of the genre, followed by a discussion of specific issues involved in writing this collection. ©Copyright 2010 Matt Finch A Thesis Presented To The Faculty of the Department of ENGLISH East Carolina University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts by Matt Finch June 2010 THROWN VOICES: A SERIES OF DRAMATIC MONOLOGUES, WITH A DISCUSSION OF THE GENRE by Matt Finch APPROVED BY: DIRECTOR of THESIS: ________________________________________ John Hoppenthaler, MFA COMMITTEE MEMBER: ____________________________________________________ E. Thomson Shields, PhD COMMITTEE MEMBER: ____________________________________________________ Anne Mallory, PhD CHAIR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH: ________________________________________________
    [Show full text]
  • The Transformation of the Dramatic Monologue Across the Works Of
    Modifying the Mask: The Transformation of the Dramatic Monologue Across the Works of Robert Browning, Norman Dubie, and Frank Bidart Kristin Gulotta A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts University of Washington 2016 Committee: Andrew Feld Linda Bierds Program Authorized to Offer Degree: Creative Writing Gulotta 1 ©Copyright 2016 Kristin Gulotta Gulotta 2 University of Washington Abstract Modifying the Mask: the Transformation of the Dramatic Monologue Across the Works of Robert Browning, Norman Dubie, and Frank Bidart Kristin L Gulotta Chair of the Supervisory Committee: Director Andrew Feld Creative Writing A look at how the dramatic monologue as a poetic form has transformed since the 19th century by examining representative works from poets Robert Browning, Norman Dubie, and Frank Bidart. Gulotta 3 In the mid-twentieth century, the New Critics championed a novel way of examining and critiquing literature: instead of considering the artist’s life a necessary component for understanding and appreciating his or her writing, the New Critics believed in examining a work’s strengths as a “self-contained, self-referential object” (Abrams). Although the movement itself was fairly short-lived, to me there still seems merit in the ideas, especially when I consider how I create my own poetry. I am most often drawn to writing in voices that are not my own, and instead of highlighting myself, I prefer to write from the perspectives of others, in dramatic monologues. Consequently, my personal biography would not seem to give any insights into my work or to determine whether or not a reader should like or dislike it.
    [Show full text]
  • Overseas 2011
    overSEAS 2011 This thesis was submitted by its author to the School of Eng- lish and American Studies, Eötvös Loránd University, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts. It was found to be among the best theses submitted in 2011, therefore it was decorated with the School’s Outstanding Thesis Award. As such it is published in the form it was submitted in overSEAS 2011 (http://seas3.elte.hu/overseas/2011.html) C ERTIFICATE OF R ESEARCH By my signature below, I certify that my ELTE MA thesis, entitled “And I Choose Never to Stoop”: Focalisation and Diegesis in Robert Browning’s Complementary Dramatic Monologues is entirely the result of my own work, and that no degree has previously been conferred upon me for this work. In my thesis I have cited all the sources (printed, electronic or oral) I have used faithfully and have always indicated their origin. The electronic version of my thesis (in PDF format) is a true representation (identical copy) of this printed version. If this pledge is found to be false, I realize that I will be subject to penalties up to and including the forfeiture of the degree earned by my thesis. Date: 2nd May 2011. Signed: ....................................................... “And I Choose Never to Stoop”: Focalisation and Diegesis in Robert Browning’s Complementary Dramatic Monologues „Márpedig sértést nem tűrök”: Fokalizáció és diegézis Robert Browning párverseiben SZAKDOLGOZAT Vesztergom Janina Témavezető: Dr. Csikós Dóra egyetemi adjunktus MA in English Anglisztika MA Eötvös Loránd Tudományegyetem 2011 Abstract The first and foremost aim of my thesis is to demonstrate that a comparative analysis of Robert Browning‟s complementary dramatic monologues, “My Last Duchess – Ferrara” and “Count Gismond – Aix en Provence”, does not only lead to a better understanding of the individual poems, but also draws the readers‟ attention to significant aspects of interpretation which otherwise would remain unnoticed.
    [Show full text]
  • Robert Browning: a Dramatic Monologue Marvel
    International Letters of Social and Humanistic Sciences Online: 2015-11-30 ISSN: 2300-2697, Vol. 63, pp 225-232 doi:10.18052/www.scipress.com/ILSHS.63.225 CC BY 4.0. Published by SciPress Ltd, Switzerland, 2015 Robert Browning: A Dramatic Monologue Marvel Asghar Moulavi Nafchi*, Mitra Mirzayee, Morteza Sobhani Zadeh Senior Lecturer, Hakim Sabzevari University, Iran, *E-mail address: [email protected]. MA Students of English Language and Literature, Semnan University, Iran. Keywords: Dramatic monologue, Emotion, Psychoanalytic view, Robert Browning, Victorian poetry. ABSTRACT. One of the most effective literary devices within different didactic and aesthetic forms is the dramatic monologue. The dramatic monologue distinguishes the speaker’s character from that of the poet’s. The double meaning that lies at the heart of the dramatic monologue, conveys the speaker’s version or variety of meaning and intentions. The Dramatic monologue has been practiced for a very long time, but it was Robert browning who invested it with a deeper level of meaning giving it frequency in an attempt to support preexisting aesthetic values in favor of a poem that valued form over content. Although such a dialogue is called dramatic, it is not a theatrical device, proper. The speaker of the poem delivers such comments on the slice of life at disposal that would leave us with a deep emotional experience. By listening to the words pouring out of the speaker’s mind, the reader/listener obtains a psychoanalytic view of the speaker. The current article aims to study Robert browning, the prominent Victorian poet, by putting on the pedestal his essential role in investing the dramatic monologue in English literature with an essential poetic significance and role by reviewing a number of his major poems.
    [Show full text]