Date of Award
1927
Document Type
Thesis - Restricted
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
English
Abstract
In this paper I shall attempt to prove that the dramatic monologue was peculiarly suitable to the genius of Browning. This will necessarily, first of all, call for a short discussion of the age in which Browning lived, since every poet of merit is always, more or less, a spokesman of his age. I shall therefore briefly point out the special features of the Victorian Age and state how the factors at work in that age brought about particular literary forms, the dramatic monologue being one of these forms. Then I shall define the dramatic monologue and endeavor to trace its probable origin in the soliloquy of the earlier dramas, end account for its development and use in the nineteenth century. And finally I shall endeavor to show how the dramatic monologue, as such, became in the hands of Browning a practically new literary type, a distinctive form, intimately associated with the name of Browning; what range and flexibility he gave to it, and how admirably the dramatic monologue by its very form lent itself to the expression, to mankind, of his message of courage, and trust in his fellowman and in God. This last I shall try to accomplish by selecting some of Browning's typical monologues with a view to pointing out the suitableness of this form of poetry to the genius of Browning.
Recommended Citation
Lepine, Mary Olive, "The Dramatic Monologue As Peculiarly Suitable To the Genius of Browing" (1927). Master's Theses (1922-2009) Access restricted to Marquette Campus. 1470.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/theses/1470