A monologue is an expressive speech, which is usually directed towards a silent audience. It is an expressive style, aptly exploited during the Victorian ages. In case of poetry, dramatic monologue refers to a persona poem. It is quite similar to a theatrical monologue. It is characterized by an implied audience, lack of dialogue, as well as a poet speaking through an assumed voice, which can be a fictional or historical identity, or a persona. Now, since, a dramatic monologue is one person’s speech, it is usually not accompanied by any explicit scrutiny or annotations; and places emphasis on subjective qualities that are left to the audience to interpret.

Though this style of literary expression has been used in many ancient Greek dramas, yet the dramatic monologue as a poetic expression achieved its due recognition in the Victorian age, when poets like Robert Browning used this style effectively, to churn out great pieces of literature, like the world famous work, My Last Duchess. It was on the basis of the works of Robert browning, that subsequent poets were able to utilize this form and came up with some brilliant works.

Although Robert Browning was a genius, the world took some time to realize his genius. A major feature of his works is that, his monologues would interconnect the elements of the speaker, as well as the audience with such dexterity, and that the reader seems to feel like he/she is actually part of the happening. The effect of the works of Robert Browning was also evident in the literary pieces of poets like T.S. Eliot and Ezra pound. In fact, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock is one of the greatest examples of deft handling of dramatic monologue.

LET us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherized upon a table;
Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,
The muttering retreats
Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels
And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells:
Streets that follow like a tedious argument
Of insidious intent
To lead you to an overwhelming question …
Oh, do not ask, “What is it?”
Let us go and make our visit.
In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo.
The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes,
The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes
Licked its tongue into the corners of the evening,
Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains,
Let fall upon its back the soot that falls from chimneys,
Slipped by the terrace, made a sudden leap,
And seeing that it was a soft October night,
Curled once about the house, and fell asleep.

Dramatic Monologue is a twin edged sword and therefore, requires deft handling.  Any amateurish attempt would draw a lot of flak and hence those who created magic with this form have been raised to cult status.

Tags: poetic technique in dramatic monologue, poetic techniques, poetry terms