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Time, Space and Action in the Dramatic Monologue : Men, Women and Mice Time, space and action in the dramatic monologue : Men, women and mice. ROCHE-JACQUES, Shelley J. Available from Sheffield Hallam University Research Archive (SHURA) at: http://shura.shu.ac.uk/20287/ This document is the author deposited version. You are advised to consult the publisher's version if you wish to cite from it. Published version ROCHE-JACQUES, Shelley J. (2013). Time, space and action in the dramatic monologue : Men, women and mice. Doctoral, Sheffield Hallam University (United Kingdom).. Copyright and re-use policy See http://shura.shu.ac.uk/information.html Sheffield Hallam University Research Archive http://shura.shu.ac.uk Sheffield Hallam University Learning and Information Services s Adsetts Centre, City Campus jj Sheffield S1 1WD REFERENCE ProQuest Number: 10700932 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 complete 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 10700932 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 Time, Space and Action in the Dramatic Monologue Men, Women and Mice Shelley Jane Roche-Jacques A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Sheffield Hallam University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy September 2013 Candidate’s Statement and Acknowledgements The main objective of this practice-based project is a contribution to knowledge in the field of dramatic monologue. The work builds on existing ideas and theories of dramatic monologue and lyric poetry, using the analytical tools of stylistics. The production of an original volume of poetry also forms part of the inquiry, and both the critical and creative components inform each other. A full list acknowledging published and other sources of material consulted is provided under Works Cited. I would like to thank my supervisors Steven Eamshaw and Chris Jones for their excellent guidance and support. Abstract This thesis combines critical and creative writing in an inquiry into the presentation of time, space and action in the dramatic monologue, positing that the conventions surrounding the presentation of time and space in lyric poetry affect the interpretation of the communicative context of dramatic monologue. A critical discussion and analysis in five chapters is followed by a collection of original poetry, the production of which informed the critical investigation. The first chapter gives an overview of the critical field and is concerned with definitions of the genre. A definition of the Browningesque dramatic monologue is offered, one which places the idea of ‘action in the present’ at the centre. Chapter two outlines the methodology of the project; primarily that of deictic analysis. Keith Green’s work on the occurrence and behaviour of deixis in lyric poetry (in particular his concepts of ‘coding’ and ‘content’ time and place) is used as a starting point to consider how deictic elements might operate differently in the context of the dramatic monologue. The third and fourth chapters apply this methodology to specific texts. Chapter three provides original readings of Robert Browning’s ‘Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister’ and ‘A Grammarian’s Funeral’. These serve to highlight Browning’s ‘dramatic’ approach. Chapter four offers new readings of poems from ‘The World’s Wife’ by Carol Ann Duffy, revealing a lyric, rather than dramatic, employment of time and space. Finally, a reading of Julia Copus’ poem ‘The Particella of Franz Xaver Siissmayr’ enables further examination of dramatic devices and their effects in the context of contemporary poetry. The fifth chapter offers an analysis of Men, Women and Mice, the accompanying volume of poetry. It is therefore suggested that the collection of poetry is read between chapters four and five. The collection of poetry and chapter five jointly address issues such as the status of the addressee, the border between the lyric and the dramatic, and problems surrounding the signalling of the dramatic in contemporary poetry. The discussion of these practice-related issues enables further conclusions to be reached regarding the operation and employment of deixis in the Browningesque dramatic monologue. Part 1: Time, Space and Action in the Dramatic Monologue Introduction..................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 1. An introduction to the dramatic monologue...................... 2 1. Definitions.......................................................................................................................................2 2. The emergence of the term........................................................................................................ 10 3. Problems with the term.............................................................................................................. 12 4. Platform action verses simulated spontaneity......................................................................... 14 5. The limits of action.....................................................................................................................17 Chapter 2. Deixis and the Dramatic Monologue....................................20 1. Deixis in lyric poetry...................................................................................................................20 2. The construction of poetic voice.............................................................................................. 23 3. Deixis and imagined space........................................................................................................ 26 4. Temporal deixis and the dramatic............................................................................................ 27 5. Identifying the dramatic.............................................................................................................29 Chapter 3. Deixis and Drama in Browning’s Dramatic Monologues 31 1. Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister............................................................................................. 31 2. A Grammarian’s Funeral............................................................................................................44 3. Some conclusions........................................................................................................................ 57 Chapter 4. Contemporary practice and the dramatic monologue.... 59 1. The World’s W ife.......................................................................................................................59 2. The Particella of Franz Xaver Siissmayr................................................................................. 68 3. Some conclusions........................................................................................................................ 75 Chapter 5. An analysis of my creative practice....................................78 1. The status of the addressee and lyric-dramatic hybrids........................................................ 78 2. Historical dramatic monologues................................................................................................82 3. Dramatic monologue and contemporary settings...................................................................85 4. Some conclusions........................................................................................................................ 90 Works Cited................................................................................................... 92 Part 2: Men, Women and Mice................................................................95 Introduction This project investigates the presentation of time, space and action in the dramatic monologue, comparing it to that in lyric poetry. I argue that the distinguishing feature of the traditional or Browningesque dramatic monologue is that some kind of action is seen to take place within the physical environment inhabited by the speaker. This environment is dramatically-realised and the action is presented as ‘literal*. This stands in contrast to the simulated spontaneity associated with the dramatisation of situation and self in lyric poetry. This difference in communicative context means that deictic elements in the dramatic monologue must be understood differently from those in lyric poetry. I suggest that the dominance of the lyric mode can, however, sometimes lead to the misinterpretation of deixis in the dramatic monologue; to the dramatic monologue being read through the prism of lyric poetry. I also argue that many contemporary poems labelled as dramatic monologue are actually written in the lyric mode, using deictic analysis to illustrate this. I draw on Keith Green’s work on the occurrence and behaviour of deixis in lyric poetry and consider how this might differ with regard to the context of dramatic monologue, appropriating Green’s concept of coding and content time and place for use on the dramatic monologue. This approach provides me with the stylistic tools to explore the presentation of time, space and action in dramatic poetry, enabling me to produce
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