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Reconceptualising the Dramatic Monologue: the Interlocutory Dynamics of Carol Ann Duffy’S Poetry

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Reconceptualising the Dramatic Monologue: the Interlocutory Dynamics of Carol Ann Duffy’S Poetry Reconceptualising the Dramatic Monologue: the interlocutory dynamics of Carol Ann Duffy’s poetry Thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the Department of English, University of Lancaster in October 2002 by Jennifer Garrett, B.A.(Hons) M.A. ProQuest Number: 11003793 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 11003793 Published by ProQuest LLC(2018). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 Thesis submitted for Ph.D, October, 2002, by Jennifer Garrett, B.A.(Hons.), M.A. Department of English, University of Lancaster. Reconceptualising the Dramatic Monologue: the interlocutory dynamics of Carol Ann Duffy’s poetry Abstract Previous critics of the dramatic monologue have largely confined their interrogations to the ironic form in the work of male poets. Little attention has been paid to sympathetic and satiric variants of the form and the work of female poets. This thesis claims that a double-stranded inheritance of both an ironic form from Browning, and a sympathetic form from his contemporary Augusta Webster should be recognised for the dramatic monologue in the works of contemporary female poets. My research is focused on the work of Carol Ann Duffy, who is acclaimed as the foremost contemporary exponent of the form. My thesis argues that the recent development of feminist discourse is a contributory factor to the variation of form and diversity of content in the dramatic monologues of contemporary women poets. My findings demonstrate that much of Duffy's work with the form is inscribed with feminist polemic, and has the potential to disseminate the theories and concepts of'feminism' into the public domain. A subsidiary element of my research suggests that there is an interrelation between autobiographical writing and women's dramatic monologues. My readings of ironic, sympathetic and satiric dramatic monologues pay close attention to the interlocutory triad of speaker, audience in the poem, and the external audience, the readers. My method of stylistic and discursive analysis draws upon an eclectic body of feminist concepts and theories. My own life experience is also, at times, incorporated self-reflexively into my readings. The thesis is divided into an Introduction, four chapters of readings and analyses, and a Conclusion which ends with a dramatic monologue of my own. The Introduction interrogates existing critics of the form and defines the methodology of my research. Chapters One and Two consider sympathetic and ironic variants of the form. Chapter Three investigates Duffy's use of a multi-voiced variant. Chapter Four focuses on Duffy's fifth collection and assesses the engagement with feminist ideas. I declare that my thesis, Reconceptualising the Dramatic Monologue: the interlocutory dynamics of Carol Ann Duffy’s poetry, is my own work. It has not been submitted for the award of a higher degree elsewhere. fOI O 7. Jennifer Garrett CONTENTS Acknowledgements Abbreviations page no. Introduction The dramatic monologue form and the work 1 of Carol Ann Duffy Part I Definitions of the form, survey of the 3 field Part II The double-stranded inheritance, feminist 16 discourse, critics of Duffy's work Part III Methodology 27 Chapter One Sympathetic Dramatic Monologues 45 Chapter Two The Subject Matter and Rhetorical Strategies 108 of Duffy's Ironic Dramatic Monologues Chapter Three Multi-voiced Dramatic Monologues 170 Chapter Four Revisionary Mythology 236 Conclusion 285 Bibliography 294 Acknowledgements Firstly, I wish to acknowledge the support and constructive criticism of my supervisor, Dr Tess Cosslett in what has been a hard but intellectually exciting journey. Dr Lynne Pearce's enthusiasm and critical perception were invaluable at the outset of my research: her development of the postgraduate study culture in the English department was crucial to my achievement. I owe much to the supportive friendship of fellow postgrads Mavis Aitchison and Dr Penny Bradshaw. The department's secretaries and administration officers have been invariably helpful, and cheerful in the face of frequent tantrums by the photocopying machine. Finally, I thank my family and friends for their continuing affection and support during this last year when the word processor ruled my life, and sometimes theirs. A special thank you goes to Lewis Garrett for first-class technical back-up. Abbreviations Carol Ann Duffy's five major collections are referenced throughout the thesis by the indicated acronyms: SF N 1985 Standing Female Nude (London: Anvil Press Poetry, 1985) SM1987 Selling Manhattan (London: Anvil Press Poetry, 1987) TOC 1990 The Other Country (London: Anvil Press Poetry, 1990) M T 1993 Mean Time (London: Anvil Press Poetry, 1993) TW W1999 The World's Wife (London: Macmillan, 1999) 1 INTRODUCTION The Dramatic Monologue Form and the work of Carol Ann Duffy The relatively small body of critical writing on the dramatic monologue is focused on the work of male poets and is largely restricted to consideration of the ironic dramatic monologues of Browning, Eliot and Pound. There is a surprising lack of critical attention to the work of female poets, and to an alternative sympathetic, non-ironic, exemplar of the form. This omission is addressed to some extent by Leighton, Armstrong, and Leighton and Reynolds through their work on sympathetic, non-ironic dramatic monologues written by Victorian women poets.1 Their critiques (and celebrations) of Augusta Webster's work, allied to my own interest in contemporary women poets' work with dramatic monologue form, has led to this thesis. The variation of form, and richness and diversity of content in the dramatic monologues of contemporary women poets, such as Carol Ann Duffy, Jackie Kay and Liz Lochhead, necessitates a revision of previous critical writing and a reconceptualization of the form. My thesis pays close attention to ironic, sympathetic, and contemporary variants of the form and argues that the development of feminist discourse is a major influence in this variation and revitalisation of the dramatic monologue. My research is focused upon the work of Carol Ann Duffy who is critically acclaimed as the leading contemporary exponent of the dramatic monologue. Since the publication of her first collection Standing Female Nude in 1985 Duffy has been awarded many major poetry prizes.2 Duffy has five published collections of poetry substantially devoted to this form. My concentration on her work has enabled me to explore possibilities of the form in depth. Using her five published collections, I discuss the structure, themes, imagery, discursive contexts, and socio-political function of her dramatic monologue poems. 2 Duffy's dramatic monologues depict a wide range of protagonists, and correspondingly, many different representations of consciousness, from the pre-Oedipal infant of'Dies Natalis' (SMI987) (see Chapter Three), to the serial killer of'Psychopath' (SMI987) (see Chapter Two). In The World’s Wife her satiric re-visions of mythology and fable give a 'voice' to the silenced women of the past (see Chapter Four). It is evident from Duffy's own commentary on her work that she sees herself as an urban poet, and sees life as dependent upon socio-economic conditions, although there are occasional lyrical passages inscribing an intrusion of Romanticist individualism in her dramatic monologues.3 Dramatic monologue form is acknowledged to have an immediate appeal for readers, and Duffy's 'characters', depicted in contemporary syntax and diction, are accessible to a wide readership because of her use of speech styles and visual imagery familiar to many readers through mass-media entertainment and popular journalism. Like Browning, Duffy has a 'rogues' gallery of ironised characters but her work also includes many speakers whose non-ironic narratives reveal the injustices of twentieth- century society in their depiction, conscious or otherwise, of race, class and gender inequalities. These ironised and sympathetic voices bring into the public domain of poetry issues that should be addressed for the wellbeing of our society. Her poems have a moral and political function where her speakers expose the destructive role of social inequality and cultural difference in contemporary Britain. Yet however relevant to social reality, political perception does not necessarily create effective poetry. Literary value, however imprecisely defined, is an acknowledged characteristic of the poems discussed in this thesis: critical acclaim confirms that the 'crusading social sensibility' attributed to Duffy's work does not outweigh the crafting of language that tradition requires of poetry.4 Duffy's dramatic monologues bridge the disparate worlds of canonic and populist poetry. They also, as I argued above, exemplify a contemporary model for the moral function of 3 poetry: parts of society under pressure are dramatized by Duffy in her monologues, bringing the 'private moments' of many different, individual voices, clearly identified in their social specificities, into the
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