Course description

The dramatic monologue is a poetic genre that was created (it seems) simultaneously and independently by Alfred Tennyson and Robert Browning. It became an important poetic vehicle during the nineteenth century and then lost much of its prominence during the twentieth century. The genre of the dramatic monologue itself has been difficult to define. This course will examine a variety of recent attempts to define the dramatic monologue and explain its origins. We will probably delve into the realms of psychology, gender theory, and opera to help us theorize about the genre. Our readings will include many of the great dramatic monologues of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries as well as scholarly essays by Robert Langbaum, Ralph Rader, Herbert Tucker, and others.