Browning's Handling of Dramatic Monologue

Browning’s Handling of Dramatic Monologue
Browning’s greatest discovery was the dramatic monologue—though he did not

invent the form. It reflected the life just as his poetic vision took it to be. It mirrored
the individual finding his place in the universe. It depicted a situation in which the
soul was made manifests through circumstances. Browning did not first realize the
importance of this new poetic form but he discovered its ampler range through
experiments. The main stuff of dramatic monologue IS the speaker’s personality and
the situation in which he speaks. It seems more apt to the portraiture of the person,
so individual as to be abnormal, fanatic, and even madman.
Browning’s monologue is a synthesis of dramatic and lyric quality. It is dramatic

because it is the utterance of a single speaker who is different from the poet; at the
same time, it Lyrical because it is an expression of his own thoughts and inner
drama. The relation of the poet and the speaker is the dramatic monologue which is
quite complex. Sometimes it favorable sometimes it is complex. Another quality of
Browning’s monologue is that they are converted in tone; and its speaker talks day to
day life and this Language is to that of telegraphic language. In dramatic
monologues, Browning takes liberty with grammar and syntax. He uses all the words
of grammar-commas, interrogation, side remarks, etc. Browning calls it “Brothers
language”.
In a dramatic monologue, a speaker lays bare his soul that is why Browning’s
monologues are called “soul studies”. In Browning words:
“The soul is the stage moods and thoughts are characters”.
Among Browning’s soul studies there is a wide range. My Last Duchess is a hint of
them. It is a very short but keen analysis of a duke who reveals consciously his
character when he adores the picture of his wife. A Little thinking on the part of
readers is enough to make him think that he is a jealous person who can stop the
smile of his innocent without any reason:
“Oh sir, she smiles, no doubts

Whenever I passed her; but who passed without
Much the same smite?
This grew; I gave commands
Then all smiles stopped together. There she stands
As If alive”,
Browning takes us to the ranging situation in his dramatic monologues. He shows us

a rejected lover; and an old man who glorifies the old age; and a painter who sits
with his faithless wife. He shows us a rejected lover in The Last Ride Together but
the (over is not dissatisfied with what happened to him. He would be satisfied if she
would agree to last ride with him. When she grants his request, he feels lucky and
says:
“Fail I atone in words and deed?

Why all men strive and who succeeds?”
Similarly, the reader very easily understood that the speaker of Rabbi Ben Ezra is an
old man who glorifies the old age:
“Grow old with me

Best is yet to be
For which the first was made”
The opening of My Last Duchess is also dramatic
“This is my last duchess painted on the wall

Looking as if she were alive”
One disadvantage of his monologue is that they are known for their obscurity. The
best known of these is Bordello. After reading it Tennyson remarks that he could
understand only two lines of the poem, first and the last----
“who may read the Bordello’s story told

who would have hearted the Sourdough’s story tell”
And, he goes on saying that both were lies. The main reason for Browning’s
obscurity is that he wrote too much and revised a little, and he rings with some odd
scrap of information which he gains from his wide reading- - - which Is difficult for the
reader to understand.
Usually, in Browning’s dramatic monologues, we find there is a single speaker. For

instant, the poem “Andrea Del Sarto”, presents a single speaker Andrea, where we
feel the presence of the lister, Lucrezia. In the poem “My Last Duchess”, Duke who
is a sixteenth-century nobleman of Italy, is the speaker and the only silent listener is
the emissary who has come to him to negotiate for his second marriage with a
count’s daughter. In “Fra Lippo Lippi”, Lippo speaks to several watchmen. Again 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 and he speaks in a
dramatic situation. These speakers are not actually to be identified as Browning
himself. They are mere characters, as Hamlet or Macbeth are romantic characters,
not Shakespeare. Each of the dramatic monologues of Browning has an abrupt and
arresting. The poem “My Last Duchess”, starts with a dramatic suddenness:
“That’s my last Duchess painted on the wall
Looking as if she were alive:”
The poem “Andrea Del Sarto” has a dramatic beginning clearly:
“But do not let us quarrel any more

No, my Lucrezia, bear with me for once”
Here, Andrea directly addresses his wife and seeks a compromise. 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. Thus, these poems show between the speakers and the listeners.
Browning’s dramatic monologue provides an understanding of the character of the
speaker. For instance, in “Porphyria’s Lover”, we find the psychological makeup of
the speaker. He is afraid that the blissful moment of love will pass away. So, he kills
his beloved. Yet he suffers no sense of guilt, as he says in this poem:
“And all night long we have not stirred
And yet God has not said a word!”
The murder reminds us of the murder of the Duchess by the Duke in Browning’s “My
Last Duchess”. The Duke says:
“This grew, I gave command
Then All the smiles stopped together”
Porphyria’s lover is not as cruel as Duke. He just wants to get his beloved
permanently. In “Andrea Del Sarto”, we can see an uxorious husband whose love for
his wife destroys his career as an artist. Similarly, in “Fra Lippo Lippi”, we find a
monk who is morally loose. Thus, all those dramatic monologues successfully
concentrate on the personality of the speaker.
Regarding Browning’s exceptionally brilliant use of blank verse, Arthur Symons

rightly says that “He is perhaps the greatest master in our language” in heroic
couplets. He maintains a balance between his style and content. The language and
tone of “Porphyria’s Lover”, is equally remarkable for its simplicity and naturalness.
Porphyria has murdered his beloved. But he narrates the event so naturally that
reader does not hate the crime, as he says in this poem:
“No pain felt she

I am quite sure she felt no pain”
Realistic and beautiful nature-picture is another striking feature of Browning’s

dramatic monologue. These two are not taken from a single country. As he took his
character from various ages and various countries. Similarly, he picked up his nature
scenes and landscapes as background for human thought and emotion. For
example, the description of the lace where the Grammarian is to buried heightens.
The speaker says in the following ways in the poem:
“Here’s the top peak…..

Bury this man there?”
In light of our discussion, we can easily say that Robert Browning is very successful
in handling the form of dramatic monologue in his poems. Almost all the elements of
successful dramatic monologue are presented in his poems. Robert Browning’s
dramatic monologues are thoughtful, confessional, and self-revealing.
In sum, Browning's monologue is not a simple form. It combines reflection and

lyricism with dramatic properties of raising out of the definite situation it deals with;
and there is also an element of artificiality. One may add to it, he uses the form with
great care and liberty and does not try to overpass its Limits. Modern poets like
Pound, Eliot, and Read were highly influenced by Browning’s monologues. Ezra
Pound remarks “I stem from browning, why deny one’s father?” In the end, we can
conclude with the Idea that Browning evolved the dramatic monologue to its fullest
extent and even today he remains the greatest poet of this poetic form.

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Browning’s Handling of Dramatic Monologue

Browning’s greatest discovery was the dramatic monologue—though he did not

Browning’s monologue is a synthesis of dramatic and lyric quality. It is dramatic

“The soul is the stage moods and thoughts are characters”.

“Oh sir, she smiles, no doubts

Browning takes us to the ranging situation in his dramatic monologues. He shows us

“Fail I atone in words and deed?

“Grow old with me

The opening of My Last Duchess is also dramatic

“This is my last duchess painted on the wall

“who may read the Bordello’s story told

Usually, in Browning’s dramatic monologues, we find there is a single speaker. For

The poem “Andrea Del Sarto” has a dramatic beginning clearly:

“But do not let us quarrel any more

Regarding Browning’s exceptionally brilliant use of blank verse, Arthur Symons

“No pain felt she

Realistic and beautiful nature-picture is another striking feature of Browning’s

“Here’s the top peak…..

In sum, Browning's monologue is not a simple form. It combines reflection and

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