Summary and Analysis of “The Pragmatics of Silence, and the Figuration of the Reader in Browning’s Dramatic Monologues”

In this blog I will be summarizing an essay by Jennifer A. Wagner-Lawlor called “The Pragmatics of Silence and the Figuration of the Reader in Browning’s Dramatic Monologue”. I will then analyze her essay and relate it to when I read Browning’s “My Last Duchess” my first experience with dramatic monologues.

Summary

In the 1957 essay “The Pragmatics of Silence, and the Figuration of the Reader in Browning’s Dramatic Monologues” Jennifer Wagner-Lawlor turns the attention from the speaker of a dramatic monologue to the silent auditor. Lawlor believes that the silence of the auditor in dramatic monologues, specifically those written by Robert Browning, has a powerful effect on the reader. As a reader begins to read a dramatic monologue they read as if they were the silent auditor who is fit only to listen. This auditor is silent because they know their place in comparison to the speaker. They are inferior to the speaker often intimidated and know better than to speak. Lawlor claims that this leads the reader to sympathize with the silent auditor causing in the reader the same feeling of inferiority. The silent auditor in a dramatic monologue Lawlor says is an ambiguous element of the poetries form. The reader remains sympathetic for the silent auditor until the forced silence upon the auditor and the speaker’s ceaseless self-absorbed speech causes the reader to distinguish themselves from the silent auditor. Lawlor claims that when the reader separates themselves from the silent auditor is when they are free to interpret the speaker and begin formalizing their own perspective of them and the poem.

Analysis

Having read Browning’s “My Last Duchess” prior to reading this essay I was able to gather more insight into my experience reading “My Last Duchess”. Not having read any Victorian literature or any dramatic monologues before reading “My Last Duchess” made the experience that much more enjoyable. Although I enjoyed the poem at first I did not know why and I believe that is because I didn’t understand the effects a dramatic monologue has upon the reader. Lawlor’s “The Pragmatics of Silence and the Figuration of the Reader in Browning’s Dramatic Monologues” accurately describes my experience through reading “My Last Duchess as I am sure it does for others. I felt sympathy for the auditor at first like Lawlor claimed would happen and then I proceeded, as the Duke revealed himself more, to want to speak out and say something to this egotistical and insane Duke. Ultimately I was impressed at how well Lawlor describes the effect of a silent auditor in a dramatic monologue and how it helped me to understand my own experience reading one. 

Elizabeth Barrett Browning: Bio

              Elizabeth Barrett Browning was born March 6, 1806. Unlike her eleven younger siblings and over 200 years of ancestors, Elizabeth was born in England. It was her father, Edward Barrett Moulton, who chose to leave Jamaica where the family had lived so long and owned a slave operated sugar plantation. It was in her home in England where Elizabeth received her education. Taking a liking to literature at a young age, Elizabeth is believed to have read many highly regarded work s including Shakespeare by age ten. At age twelve Elizabeth had accomplished her first “Epic” poem which was four books containing rhyming couplets. Throughout her mid-teens Elizabeth developed a lung condition and suffered a spinal injury while mounting her pony. She was treated with morphine for the rest of her life.  

                After Elizabeth’s accident she was in no condition to do much outside of her bedroom. She continued her education on her own, including teaching herself Hebrew so she could read the Old Testament. Elizabeth was an enthusiastic Christian and focused some her studies on her religion, which would influence some of her later work.

In 1828 Elizabeth’s mother passed away.   Devastated by this loss, and with a struggling plantation her father sent her siblings away to Jamaica.   Elizabeth settled in London, however when she became sicker she had to be accompanied by her brother.  Her brother, “Bro”, drowned tragically during her stay.  This sent her packing.  For the next five years she stayed in her room at her fathers home.  Throughout this hard time Elizabeth did however gain notoriety, and continued to write from her bedroom.  Her next work, simply titled “Poems” got the attention of Robert Browning whom she had praised in her work.

Robert was so impressed by “Poems” and Elizabeth’s other pieces he sent her a letter. Elizabeth and Robert continued to write one another exchanging 574 over twenty months. Despite her father’s disapproval Elizabeth and Robert secretly marry in 1846. The couple settled in Florence, Italy where her health improved allowing her to have a child. Robert Wiedemann Barrett Browning was born March 9^th, 1849. After the birth of Robert Jr. Elizabeth’s father never spoke to her again.

Elizabeth’s literary focus was on political and social issues after she had started her family. The unification of Italy and child labor became the topics of some of her work. A major product of Elizabeth’s was published after starting a family. “Aurora Leigh” a novel about male domination of a woman became one of Elizabeth’s most well-known works. Although Elizabeth’s new interest in political and social issues decreased her popularity she continued to write. Elizabeth died on June, 29^th 1861 in Florence, Italy.

Elizabeth Browning had numerous popular works including….

-          An Essay on Mind, with Other Poems, anonymous (1826)

-          Prometheus Bound, Translated from the Greek of Aeschylus; and Miscellaneous Poems, anonymous (1833)

-          The Seraphim and Other Poems (1838)

-          Poems (1844)

-          Aurora Leigh (1857)

Elizabeth wrote pieces that inspired the everyday woman of 19^th century England. These woman were largely responsible for Elizabeth’s notoriety because many critics considered her work embarrassing. Critics claimed that Elizabeth’s painful dislocations were indecent and awkward. Although her contemporary critics were disapproving Elizabeth was loved by the common woman of her time which has caused her to be considered amongst today’s critics to be a major influence of Victorian Poetry. 

Summary of "The Dramatic Monologue: Sympathy versus Judgment"

The critical essay "The Dramatic Monologue: Sympathy versus Judgement" written by Robert Langbaum discusses the effects of a dramatic monologue and the conflict it creates for the reader. Langbuam believes that dramatic monologues haven't been given appropriate attention. Not being analyzed beyond basic categorization, which is "killing off further interest in the subject." The mechanical criteria for dramatic monologue being “…a speaker other than the poet but also a listener, an occasion, an some interplay between speaker and listener.”  Too often this mechanical criteria trumps the purpose of a dramatic monologue which is a sympathetic feeling for the speaker. Langbuam thinks the feeling of sympathy should be the decider in what is or is not a dramatic monologue.

Feeling sympathy is the essence of a dramatic monologue. The reader needs to be so involved in the speaker’s occasion that no matter how evil or immoral the speaker may be that there is still a feeling of sympathy. Langbuam used Brownings’ My Last Duchess as an example of the power of sympathy to overrule the fact that the Duke is a power hungry evil man. Langbuam believes this is the result of how Browning portrayed the Duke’s character in a way that appeals too historical accounts of the Renaissance era and intrigues the reader to understand the Duke’s wickedness. The Duke did not seem to the reader evil in his power lust but rather fascinating.

The power of sympathy seen in a dramatic monologue Langbuam claims helps Browning and other poets to address religious issues of their own.  Langbuam believes Browning had conflicts with accepting and understanding some Christianity’s claims and that this personal conflict arises in his dramatic monologues. The poems would have speakers of empirical thought whom the reader would side with due to the dramatic monologues ability to allow the feeling of sympathy to surmount any judgment.

Langbuam refers to the effect of sympathy taking control of judgment as “sympathy versus Judgment”. This conflict, Langbuam argues, is the result of a dramatic monologue and its most vital credential for the classification of being a dramatic monologue. Sympathy Langbuam says is felt by the reader due to a combination of psychological need to understand the speaker and the acceptance and fascination of a historical era’s difference from the present. The sympathy ultimately drives the readers’ judgment.