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Dramatic Monologue

Dramatic monologue is a type of poetry that takes the form of a speech given by a single character. There are three key features: 1) A single character speaks the entire poem from their perspective in a specific situation or moment. 2) This character interacts with and addresses other people who are only known through the speaker's words. 3) The poet aims to reveal the speaker's personality and character through what they say.

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157 views1 page

Dramatic Monologue

Dramatic monologue is a type of poetry that takes the form of a speech given by a single character. There are three key features: 1) A single character speaks the entire poem from their perspective in a specific situation or moment. 2) This character interacts with and addresses other people who are only known through the speaker's words. 3) The poet aims to reveal the speaker's personality and character through what they say.

Uploaded by

Jean Ley
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Dramatic monologue, also known as a persona poem, is a type of poetry written in the

form of a speech of an individual character. M.H. Abrams notes the following three
features of the dramatic monologue as it applies to poetry:

1. A single person, who is patently not the poet, utters the speech that makes up the
whole of the poem, in a specific situation at a critical moment […].
2. This person addresses and interacts with one or more other people; but we know
of the auditors' presence, and what they say and do, only from clues in the
discourse of the single speaker.
3. The main principle controlling the poet's choice and formulation of what the lyric
speaker says is to reveal to the reader, in a way that enhances its interest, the
speaker's temperament and character.[1]
4. Dramatic monologue
5. A poem in which an imagined speaker addresses a silent listener, usually not the
reader. Examples include Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess,” T.S. Eliot’s “The
Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” and Ai’s “Killing Floor.” A lyric may also be
addressed to someone, but it is short and songlike and may appear to address
either the reader or the poet. Browse more dramatic monologue poems.
6. What is a dramatic monologue?
7. Dramatic monologue refers to a type of poetry. These poems are dramatic in the
sense that they have a theatrical quality; that is, the poem is meant to be read to
an audience. To say that the poem is a monologue means that these are the words
of one solitary speaker with no dialogue coming from any other characters. Think
of one person standing alone on a stage speaking to an audience. Certainly, you
are part of that audience, but the poem usually implies that the speaker is mainly
talking to a specific person(s).
8. The reason poets choose to write poems like this is to express a point of view
through the words of a character. However, the tricky part is that often the opinions
stated by that character are not the same as the views of the poet. Most of the
time, the speaker is trying to convince someone of something, and may or may not
be telling the whole truth. Sometimes what the speaker doesn't say is just as
revealing and interesting as what he or she does say in the poem.

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