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.
Even as a big fan of Robert Browning's poetry, I need to be reminded about how complex the role of the listener can be, and this article is a good reminder. As students of literature, part of what we do it to interpret, but Browning's poems require an active listener who's different from the listener in non-dramatic monologues. Good blog, Vail.
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