A dramatic monologue is a type of poem where a single person gives a long speech. The speaker talks to someone who does not respond and shares their thoughts and emotions. M. H. Abrahms describes it as a mix of drama and lyric genres. A lyric poem, in contrast, is a relatively short poem where a single speaker expresses their thoughts, feelings, and perception.
The dramatic monologue form, It is not known who invented it, but it was widely used by Victorian poets such as Robert Browning and Alfred Tennyson in “Ulysses”, as well as Dante and more recent poets like Ezra Pound’s “The River Merchant’s Wife: A Letter”, Amy Lowell, Robert Frost’s “The Pauper Witch of Grafton”, T. S. Eliot’s “Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”, Robert Hayden’s “Night, Death, Mississippi” and other poets from the twentieth century. The dramatic monologue is often considered the most significant contribution of Victorian poetry.
The use of dramatic monologue is a notable innovation in poetry during a particular era, gaining popularity among numerous poets after the 1830s. Robert Browning is often linked to this form, but there are also Old English poems like “The Wanderer” and “The Seafarer,” as well as Robert Burns’ “Holy Willie’s Prayer,” that are considered dramatic monologues. Greek dramas also showcase this technique. However, in recent decades, there has been ongoing debate about the origin of this form, with some critics suggesting it likely emerged during the Victorian period.
The dramatic monologue, with its unique and innovative nature, has sparked a significant body of literature. We will explore the characteristics and individuals associated with this genre. Despite being a highly theatrical form, the dramatic monologue paradoxically exists in an untheatrical realm. It incorporates the essential elements of live theatre, including the pacing, transitions, and cadence of actor-spoken dialogue. Nevertheless, it remains a poetic and personal creation found within a collection of privately enjoyed poems.
Within the framework of a fifty- or hundred-line poem, the vastness of theatrical time and space seems condensed and more elliptical. In simple terms, a dramatic monologue can be viewed as a play that has been reduced to the speech of one character. Although we can infer a broader dramatic situation from this speech, it is the speech itself that represents the larger reality. This form requires us to immerse ourselves in the dramatic scene, using inference and imagination. Hence, these texts act as guidelines for readers to engage in an imagined drama.
Victorian poetry, composed during the 19th century, drew significant inspiration from the cultural circumstances of the Victorian era, encompassing philosophy, psychology, and politics. Commonly delving into themes of introspection and psychological turmoil, it is important to acknowledge that the concept of the dramatic monologue actually originated in the 20th century. Thus, it becomes apparent that there were additional influences shaping this unique poetic style.
M.H. Abrams, an American critic famous for his contributions to Literary Terms and as a general editor of the Norton Anthology of English Literature, argues that it is not feasible to completely track the evolution of aesthetic trends, practices, and ideas that shape the birth and exploration of a genre. Nevertheless, he delineates three essential characteristics of the dramatic monologue in poetry:
- A single person utters the speech that makes up the whole poem in a specific situation at a critical moment. The person may or may not be the poet.
- This person addresses and interacts with one or more people; however, we only know about their presence and what they say or do from clues in the discourse of the single speaker.
- The main principle that controls the poet’s choice and formulation is what is revealed to us about what the lyric speaker says. This enhances its interest along with revealing aspects such as their temperament and character. The poet uses psychology as a subject for their poem where speakers may use either complaining or argumentative tones.
The text indicates the presence of a second point of view, which we agree with. The use of specific rhetorical language separates the dramatic monologue from the soliloquy. The speaker in the dramatic monologue may interact with one or more silent listeners, and information about them is given through hints in the conversation. In dramatic monologues, the listeners can be either physically present or implied by the reader.
Since the listener is not physically there all the time, the true importance has been misinterpreted in most critical evaluations. Although the listener remains silent, they are essentially the second speaker and lose the representation. The presence of the other listener, who remains completely passive, allows us to have a reference point within the narrative and react. A significant part of the reader’s experience lies in piecing together the other side of the story based on hints and implications from the poem.
The primary purpose of self-revelation serves as a distinguishing factor between dramatic monologue and its closely related form, dramatic lyric. Both are monologues spoken in a specific situation during a dramatic moment. However, in a dramatic monologue, the subject being discussed is typically less captivating than the unintentional revelations made by the speaker themselves. According to Robert Langbaum, one of the most influential definitions, the form can be seen as an extension of the inherently Romantic “poetry of experience,” which creates a tension between sympathy and judgment for the reader.
The poet’s obsessions are only visible when we empathize with the speaker, and this impact can be observed in the works of Ezra Pound and T. S. Eliot during the twentieth century. In Eliot’s “The Love Song of J,” the poet’s voice is hidden behind a mask, which is a technique that Eliot perfected throughout his career. Recently, multiple poets have presented their own versions of this style, including Sylvia Plath with “Mirror” and “Lady Lazarus,” as well as John Ashbery with “Daffy Duck in Hollywood.”
John Berryman, Robert Hayden, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and Christina Rossetti are all poets who utilized the form of dramatic monologue in their works. Berryman used this form in his series of Dream Songs, with poems featuring shifting narrators such as his alter egos Henry and Mr. Bones. Hayden’s poem “Night, Death, Mississippi” demonstrates the interplay between a dramatic monologue and the audience’s perception. Rossetti wrote several dramatic monologues including “Jenny” and “The Blessed Damozel,” while Christina Rossetti also wrote several, including “The Convent Threshold.” Swinburne’s poem “Hymn to Proserpine” falls under the category of dramatic monologue.
