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Dramatic monologue

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Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A poem spoken by a fictional character to a silent listener, revealing character.

Explore this topic in depth (2)

Dramatic Monologue — A dramatic monologue is a poem spoken by a particular character in a charged situation, usually to a listener whose replies we must imagine. Its power often lies in the gap between the speaker’s self-image and the person the reader or listener gradually hears.

Metaphysical Poetry — Metaphysical poetry brings love, faith, science, death and the body into unusually close contact. Its poets—especially John Donne, George Herbert and Andrew Marvell—make poems that think aloud, argue fiercely and discover emotional force in surprising comparisons.

Detailed Definition
Dramatic monologue is a poetic form in which a single speaker addresses a silent listener, revealing their character, situation, and inner conflicts through speech; perfected by Browning in poems like “My Last Duchess,” it blends narrative, psychology, and theatricality without authorial commentary.
Example
Example in poetry:
In Robert Browning’s “My Last Duchess,” the Duke’s monologue reveals tyrannical control through dramatic monologue; In T.S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” urban anxiety unfolds in dramatic monologue; In Carol Ann Duffy’s “Mrs. Midas,” mythic wife speaks in dramatic monologue of marital betrayal; In Claudia Rankine’s “Citizen,” imagined dialogues function as dramatic monologue on race; In Ocean Vuong’s “Dear Rose,” letters to grandmother form dramatic monologue of linguistic loss.
Additional Notes
Dramatic monologue features a single speaker addressing a silent listener, revealing character through speech (e.g., Browning’s “My Last Duchess”); key elements include implied audience, psychological depth, and situational irony.
Also Known As
Soliloquy poem Character monologue Persona speech Theatrical voice Theatrical soliloquy Sermocinatio
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