Shanto-Mariam University of Creative Technology

Department of English

Name Fahmida Easmin Tamanna

Id 183431003
Course Title The victorian poetry
Course code ENG 2303
Assignment topic In the field of dramatic monologue Robert Browning remained
unsurpassed …Do you agree??
Course Teacher Tasnim Ahmed Pinky
Submission date 12.8.2020

INTRODUCTION
Introduction to Dramatic Monologue

Dramatic monologue means self-conversation, speech or talks which includes

interlocutor presented dramatically. It means a person, who is speaking to himself
or someone else speaks to reveal specific intentions of his actions. However, in
literature, it is a poetic form or a poem that presents the speech or conversation
of a person in a dramatic manner.

A dramatic monologue has these common features in them.

1. A single person delivering a speech on one aspect of his life.

2. The audience may or may not be present.
3. Speaker reveals his temperament and character only through his speech.
Introduction to Robert Browning

Robert Browning was a prolific Victorian-era poet and playwright. He is widely

recognized as a master of dramatic monologue and psychological portraiture.
Browning is perhaps best-known for a poem he didn’t value highly, The pied piper
of Hamelin, a children’s poem that is quite different from his other work. He is
also known for his long form blank poem, The ring and the book, the story of a
Roman murder trial in 12 books. Browning was married to the poet Elizabeth
Barrett Browning.

COMPARISON
Robert Browning in Dramatic Monologue

Robert Browning was a poet, he is remembered mainly as a writer of such

dramatic monologues as ‘A Grammarian’s Funeral’, ‘Last Duches’, ‘Fra Lippo
Lippi’ and such other poems. Dramatic monologue is a type of poem in which
there is a speaker and a listener or listeners. The listener remains silent all
through the poem but we infer his presence from what the speaker say. The
speaker’s utterance is a response to an occasion or event of crucial importance in
his life.

In many poems by Browning, there is a single speaker. For instance, in ‘Fra Lippo
Lippi’, speaks to several watchmen. In ‘A Grammarian’s Funeral’, a disciple of the
grammarian speaks to the other members of the funeral party. In all these poems,
we find a single speaker who speaks in a dramatic situation. These speakers are
not to be identified as Browning himself.

In all these poems, there are some signposts by which we understand the
presence of the listener ore listeners. In ‘Last duches’ duke directly describing his
past wife character to the listener . Fra Lippo Lippi, on the other hand, directly
threatens a watchman saying that he will be hanged for his rude behavior. In ‘A
Grammarian’s Funeral’, the speaker often gives direction to the listeners.

Browning’s dramatic monologue provides an understanding of the speaker’s

character. For instance, in ‘Last Duches’ we find a greedy and a rude husband who
alltime had a big trust issue for his wife. Similarly, in ‘Fra Lippo Lippi’, we find a
monk who is morally loose.

In Browning’s poems, the speaker is placed in a critical situation of his life. Fra
Lippo Lippi is caught by the watchmen in a street visited by loose women. Andrea
del Sarto reaches a point in his life when he reviews his past, present and future.
The speaker in ‘A Grammarian’s Funeral’ is going to bury his dear master.

One interesting fact about Browning’s dramatic monologues is that in these

poems Browning portrays a wide variety of characters. There are the virtuous as
well as the vicious, the brave as well as the coward. The subjects Browning deals
with are also varied. They are love, art, philosophy, religion and crime. But they
are not treated from any particular point of view. They are presented from every
conceivable point of view. Browning was a lover of humanity. He valued earthly
life with all its aspects. In this respect his approach to life is realistic.

From the above discussion we find that Browning is very successful in handling
the form of dramatic monologue in his poems. Almost all the elements of a
successful dramatic monologue are present in his poems.

The style of Browning’s spiritual improvement is disinherited from all persons and
things, with his own discrete and separate charisma. At another point, he is
competent of proper intimacy with other persons. At this median point he may
begin to perceive his relation to God. In the end, he sees all creatures as
originating from God. At the highest of improvement, man perceives that he is
not an isolated human being with his own private and typical charisma.

Others Victorian poetry in Dramatic Monologue

Alfred lord Tennyson also a great name in Dramatic Monologue . The Dramatic
Monologues Of Browning And Tennyson Capture The Mood And Personality Of
The Characters.

I feel some capture the mood and personality of the main characters better than
others do. Often, a particular mood will be carried on throughout the monologue,
making it obvious to the reader of the character’s traits. It is very much
dependent on how well the writer provides us with a clear persona, whether it be
an arrogant character or a pathetic one. Of course, being monologues, we are
presented with four very biased accounts of events.

I agree with the idea that Browning and Tennyson capture the mood and
personality of the characters, however, I feel they achieve this in some
monologues better than in others.

Each monologue essentially, tries to grasp a mood that is representative of the

speaker. ‘Andrea Del Sarto by Browning is a monologue, which I feel captures the
mood of the speaker very well. We are given clear evidence of his pathetic
personality. It deals with a man who is superior as an artist, but feels he is inferior
as a man. He is jealous of others that are able to combine art with a happy life,
with the love of a woman. These are the main moods expressed in this
monologue, also by Robert Browning. It is clear that Andrea is jealous of others
and by the end of the poem, we feel he is pathetic and ridiculous.

Tennyson gives Ulysses sufficient charisma to keep him in the readers’ good
graces. He speaks with such confidence and eloquence in describing his past
achievements and adventures that the reader is almost as convinced of his
superiority as he is himself. More significant are Ulysses redemptive qualities, his
courage and lack of cynicism for instance. He may be old and unhappy in his
present situation, but the, genuine faith he has in his dream prevents anyone else
from questioning its validity.

Ulysses admits that they are not as strong as they were when they were young.
However, only their physical strength has deteriorated, as they are still strong in
will .

Nearing the end of the monologue, we are swept away by the confident, dramatic
lines. Come, my friends,/ Tis not too late to seek a newer world. This open
invitation to almost join Ulysses on his great adventure leave us feeling inspired
and strong, thus leaving a bond between reader and speaker. It is almost as if he
has brought out the hero in us all with his charismatic personality, and confident
words.

Tennyson captures the mood of the monologue perfectly in his last four lines. An
admission of his age, but also an inspiring confident, approach to the rest of
Ulysses life.

Also there have spme famous names also in that time.

Charles Dickens is the most famous Victorian novelist. With a focus on strong
characterization, Dickens became extraordinarily popular in his day and remains
one of the most popular and read authors of the world. His first novel, The
Pickwick Papers (1836–37) written when he was twenty-five, was an overnight
success, and all his subsequent works sold extremely well. The comedy of his first
novel has a satirical edge and this pervades his writing. Dickens worked diligently
and prolifically to produce the entertaining writing that the public wanted, but
also to offer commentary on social problems and the plight of the poor and
oppressed. His most important works include Oliver Twist (1837–39), Nicholas
Nickleby (1838–39), A Christmas Carol (1843), Dombey and Son (1846–
1848), David Copperfield (1849–50), Bleak House (1852–53), Little Dorrit (1855–
1857), A Tale of Two Cities (1859), and Great Expectations (1860–61). There is a
gradual trend in his fiction towards darker themes which mirrors a tendency in
much of the writing of the 19th century.
William Thackeray was Dickens' great rival in the first half of Queen Victoria's
reign. With a similar style but a slightly more detached, acerbic and barbed
satirical view of his characters, he also tended to depict a more middle class
society than Dickens did. He is best known for his novel Vanity Fair (1848),
subtitled A Novel without a Hero, which is an example of a form popular in
Victorian literature: a historical novel in which recent history is depicted

POEM DESCRIPTION

Most of the time, in Browning’s poems there is a sole speaker, for instance in “Fra
Lippo Lippi”, Lippo speaks to watchmen. Browning was interested in the soul of
man and was concerned with human problems despite their actions or
misdemeanors. His characters are both virtuous and vicious. His poems are full of
incidents and shocking events. Bergman (1980) delving into Browning’s
monologues and the development of the soul, comments on Browning’s choice of
characters by saying, Browning’s supposedly greater skill at presenting failed
artists and corrupt politicians becomes more understandable (and a less a
component of his psyche) when we observe that the approved model for the
dramatic monologue favors the depiction failure and corruption rather than saint
hood and heroism which are less commonly found on the street. (773) The style
of Browning’s spiritual improvement is disinherited from all persons and things,
with his own discrete and separate charisma. At another point, he is competent of
proper intimacy with other persons. At this median point he may begin to
perceive his relation to God. In the end, he sees all creatures as originating from
God. At the highest of improvement, man perceives that he is not an isolated
human being with his own private and typical charisma. Some critics believed the
characters in Browning’s poems never change. They remain the same from
beginning to end. But there is contradiction in “Fra Lippo Lippi”, because at the
first lines of poem Lippo is a “beast”: “I’m a beast I know,” (II. 270) and “It’s
natural a poor monk / Should have his apt word to excuse himself,” (III. 341-342)
but then he turns into a monk. “Fra Lippo Lippi” is one of the most popular of
Browning’s dramatic monologues in blank verse which is written in phrases over
the course of four hundred lines. The poem is based on the complicated levels on
the aim of religion, art, politics, and the inadequacy of moral figures. The poem is
about the philosophy and nature of art. Browning wrote the poem after reading
“Fra Lippo Lippi” in Vasari’s lives of the artists at the age of Renaissance paintings.
Lippi was a monk and the first realist painter in 15th century Florence in the
naturalist school. At the time Lippi was painting, art was concerned with religious
matters and following the shadowy moral shapes rather than depicting life as it is.
The poem satirizes the conflict between the Roman Catholic Church and the
Italian Renaissance tradition of art patronage. Browning wrote the poem, when
the Victorians were concerned again into the idea that art should have a moral
aim. He suggests that humans try to ignore the complexity of their lives. The
dilemma in painting the life as it is; thereby, disclosing its complexity through
moral principles. In fact, the themes of the poem are ideas about religion,
morality, lust, want, the ideal, reality, the function of art and natural beauty.
Lippo was a realist painter who tried to show in several places, contemporary
scenes and figures the importance of realism. He frequently reveals his love of life
and believes art should instigate beauty in the hope of evoking responses from
the audience, and exhibits the question of whether art should be realistic and
true to life or idealistic and instructive.

One of the main problems of the Victorian society is the pressure of the male-
dominated society upon the women who are held as captives, subjugated objects
and consider them as fallen women. Women in these kinds of poems do not have
a voice and they are always silent. They are oppressed because of their natural
sexuality and prostitution. Women consciousness is depicted as something
unnatural and they are considered as the second sex. The idea of seeing a woman
as “the other” and pose a master-slave relationship in order to hold the women as
second-class citizens of the Victorian society. The male characters are the
speakers of the dramatic monologues so the judgment of the readers is depended
on the male-oriented society. In “the last duchess”, a powerful poem by
Browning, the duke want more control over the duchess that leads to the death
of the duchess.

“My Last Duchess,” often considered the outstanding dramatic monologue of the
Victorian era, is the tale of a man, the Duke of Ferrara, who is firm that his wife
was not suitable to his needs and respect. So he has her murdered. He expected
absolute obedience from his Duchess: “…if she let/herself be lessened…” and
when he was disappointed, he ordered her death. “I gave commands; /then all
smiled stopped together”. In “the last duchess”, the women is dead, but the
portrait of her makes judgments among the people, who “strangers like you that
pictured countenance/ the depth and passion of its earnest glance” (7-8). By
looking into the painting on the wall, the face of the duchess shows that “‘twas
not her husband’s presence only, called that spot of joy into the duchess’ cheek”
(13-15), and this showed that the duchess was too simple or even unfaithful to
the duke. What is very conspicuous is that the duke is a very powerful performer
and this eases the exhibition of his character. The duchess “too soon made glad,
too easily impressed; she liked whatever she looked on, and her looks went
everywhere” (22-24). The duchess is punished by the domineering duke for her
natural sexuality and perhaps the story is not real at all. Perhaps the mind of the
duke is where all these occurrences take place. A mind that domineers a male
duke to want absolute power over the duchess. “Porphyria’s Lover” is another
example of violence told within dramatic monologue. It tells the tale of a woman,
Porphyria, who visits her lover, as she still takes the role of a passive wife, calling
to her lover, and, when he does not respond, making herself ready for him: “She
put my arm about her waist,/And made her smooth white shoulder bare,/And all
her yellow hair 230 Volume 63 displaced/…Murmuring how she loved me…” but
he chooses to murder her: “I found/A thing to do, and all her hair/In one long
yellow string I wound/Three times her little throat around/And strangled her.” He
justifies his murder but explaining to the auditor that she felt no pain “No pain
felt she; /I am quite sure she felt no pain” and that she now is happy “Her head,
which droops upon it still:/The smiling rosy little head/ so glad it has its utmost
will”. The art of persuasion of the listener through the mere justification of act is
thoroughly conspicuous in the layers of the dramatic monologue.

CONCLUSION
I totally agree that in the field of Dramatic Monologue Robert browning remain
unsurpassed.

The dramatic monologue is a persuasive form of poetry with the ability to be

influential for the readers. The dramatic constituents and psychological
significance make it a delighting form to be read. Robert Browning has been
considered the master of dramatic monologue. “The dramatic monologues of
Robert Browning represent the most significant use of the form in post romantic
poetry” (Preminger & Brogan 799). Browning’s situation in the history of English
poetry is incomparable because of the huge number of poems he wrote. It is not
for that he has created a circle of distinctive characters, but for the appliance of
the dramatic monologue he has exhibited principal truths uniting all men. In three
poems analyzed above, the persona Browning created is the main feature to
make difference between the speaker in the poem and the poet himself. In My
Last Duchess, Browning composed, the Duke of Ferrara, Alfonso II. In Fra Lippo
Lippi the illusion is composed that the reader is reading the monologue told by a
fourteenth century monk. In Porphyries’ Lover, a distorted lover is connecting
about how he murdered his partner. Even though Browning was writing for an
English audience, the settings of his most poems are set in Italy; such as, Fra Lippo
lippi and My Last Duchess. The first poem, Fra Lippo Lippi, is set in Florence where
Browning settled with his wife. In My Last Duchess, the fifth Duke of Ferrara,
Alfonso II. In Porphyries’ Lover the setting is undetermined and could be set
anywhere in the world. Another point about these three poems is the silent
auditor, which is an important feature in the genre of the dramatic monologue. In
My Last Duchess, the silent auditor is present in the model of the envoy. The
lines:” Will it please you sit and look at her?” (5) and “Will it please you rise?” (47)
are an indication to the reader that the Duke is not talking to himself, but another
person is present. In Porphyria’s Lover, a dead Porphyria is present during the
monologue but he talks about her in third person and does not consider her as an
interlocutor. In Lippo Lippi the presence of a silent auditor is International Letters
of Social and Humanistic Sciences Vol. 63 231 very clear in the poem. In Line 14
where Fra repeats a question the city guards asked him: “Who am I?” Is referring
to this auditor.