Dramatic Monologue

Dramatic Monologue  (Types of Poetry Lecture 3) 

Video link

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https://youtu.be/24vAzFjQo_E

A Dramatic monologue is a type of poem in which through an abrupt beginning, an imagined speaker addresses and interacts with a presumed audience whose presence can be felt even through their silence. The speech is compressed into a single vivid scene and serves a narrative sense of the speaker’s history and psychological insight into his character.  

M.H. Abrams identified the three following features of a dramatic monologue _____

• A single speaker not the poet will utter the speech in a specific situation 
• The speaker will speak to one or more than one characters whose presence will be hinted by the speaker’s address or clues
• The speech of the speaker will be a revelation of his own character and psychology. 

Some notable examples of a Dramatic Monologue 

• Robert Browning's My Last Duchess, Andrea del Sarto, "The Bishop Orders His Tomb at St. Praised Church", "Fra Lippo Lippi”
• Tennyson’s Ulysses
• T. S. Eliot's The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock 

Difference between a Dramatic Monologue and Dramatic Lyric 

• A dramatic lyric is a longer, emotionally expressive lyrical monologue by an imagined, unnamed speaker to an implied listener, focusing on the emotional argument rather than a specific character's revelation of identity or psychological insight. 
• The key difference is that the monologue is a narrative character-driven speech, while the dramatic lyric is an expressive, emotionally-focused argument without a defined, named speaker. 
• In the dramatic lyrics like John Donne’s “The Canonization” or “The Good Morrow” an unidentified speaker, possible the poet expresses the evolution of his thoughts with an emotional spontaneity, whereas the Duke, a narrative speaker in “My Last Duchess” reveals his cruelty, jealousy and possessiveness through his address to the envoy of the Count of Tyrol. 

Difference between Dramatic Monologue and Soliloquy 

• A soliloquy is a character speaking their personal thoughts aloud, typically when alone or believing themselves to be alone, to reveal their true feelings to the audience. In contrast, a dramatic monologue is a long speech by one character that is directed to another, silent listener who is part of the scene as well as the audience. 
• The key difference lies in the presence of a silent listener in a dramatic monologue, which is absent in a soliloquy. 

Example : In Act 1 scene 7 soliloquy Macbeth reveals his dilemma to kill Duncan when he was alone on the stage. The purpose was to inform audience about his emotional conflict. 

Whereas the Duke in My Last Duchess speaks to the envoy that his inner psychology is revealed. 

Difference between a Soliloquy and a Dramatic lyric 

Soliloquies are used in dramas for characters to speak their thoughts aloud, imagining themselves to be alone. While a dramatic lyric is a type of poem where the focus is on the speaker's emotional expression. 

Both soliloquies and dramatic lyrics express the speaker's emotions. But soliloquies are dramatic devices and dramatic lyrics are part of poetry. 

Soliloquies are mostly spoken by dramatic characters as we see Macbeth revealed his dilemma before murdering Duncan in Act 1, scene Vii soliloquy. But in dramatic monologue the speaker can be the poet himself or a poetic persona using first person narration as Wordsworth revealed his pantheist outlook on Nature in Tintern Abbey or John Donne's poetic persona reflects his transition from sexual to spiritual love.

Video link: 

https://youtu.be/24vAzFjQo_E