Dramatic Monologue Analysis

Often times when we think about the dramatic monologue the thing that might come to mind are monologues that are often seen in Shakespeare’s work whether that be Hamlet’s monologue To Be or Not to Be. Or the dramatic monologue that is echoed in Romeo and Juliet when Juliet cries out, Romeo, Romeo, Wherefore Art Thou Romeo? The dramatic monologue is defined as a type of poem where the speaker is talking directly to a person or addressing another person. Normally in these types of works the speaker speaks alone which is known as a one-way conversation. The setting is typically dramatic, in the sense that they have a theatrical feel to them, but also its intended to be read to an audience. The concept of the dramatic monologue separates the

He used the dramatic monologue as a way to avoid exposing himself explicitly to his reader. He avoided confessional writings. Furthermore, he tried to write plays as an attempt to avoid soul searching narratives or lyrics. Robert Browning used this style of writing because through imaginary speakers it enabled him to avoid explicit autobiography. One evident poem that uses form of the dramatic monologue is the story of My Last Duchess in which the duke speaks to his dead wife. We read about a one sided conversation, all the while trying to piece together the situation from both past and present and figure exactly what it was that happened to the

The word “Fra Lippo Lippie” is a word that means brother. In the poem, Fra Lippo Lippie the speaker is a monk who has done things that should not be mentioned in the monastery. He is caught by guardsmen and is faced with interrogation. In his drunken state Fra Lippo Lippi gives his entire life story and tells the guards that he was a poor man at a time in his life. But has now grown up to be an artistic monk who is able to support himself. The monks don’t like his work and tell Lippo Lippi that he should focus on the glorification of the soul and the Lord. Lippo Lippi doesn’t agree with this and goes back to his wildish ways. Furthermore, in his drunken state, he states his own philosophy even though it differs from the church. Fra Lippo Lippi is a dramatic monologue about a man of the world living in the midst of the monasteries. Lastly, Tennyson’s Ulysses describes Ulysses dissatisfaction and boredom at his house in Ithaca. The monologue is spoken by Ulysses where he expresses his discontentment and describes his desire to keep sailing. He’s getting older and doesn’t have a lot of time left, because of this he wants to get busy living rather than dying. In the end of the poem he decides, “to strive, seek and to find and not to yield.” Likewise, we see Tennyson had stated his own to keep going forward and brave the struggle of life.” The monologue is viewed as the art of going forward after a