Browning and the Dramatic MonologueCurry, S. S. (Samuel Silas)
History
Browning and the Dramatic Monologue
Curry, S. S. (Samuel Silas)
Browning, Robert, 1812-1889 -- Criticism and interpretation; Dramatic monologues -- History and criticism
Quotations especially call for action as they reflect the opposition of
the character of the listener to that of the speaker; they are always
given with decided changes. The words only, however, and at times the
ideas only, are quoted; the feeling, the impression, are all the speaker's
own. Quotations are merely the conversational echo of the words of another
such as are frequently heard in every-day life, and demand both action and
vocal expression for their true interpretation.
The subject of quotations requires special attention in the monologue.
They must be given, not only with decided pauses, inflections, changes of
movement and variations in accentuation, and in all the modulations of the
voice, but with suggestive action, changes in the direction of the eye,
head, and body. In short, there must be a complete change in all the
expression from what preceded, because the impression produced by an idea
in the speaker's own mind is not so forcible as the effect of a word from
a listener; at any rate, the impression is different. In telling our story
to him, his attitude of mind, in demurring or assenting, will cause a
sudden change or recoil on our part. The difference in the impressions
made upon the speaker by his own ideas and by what his listener says must
be indicated, and this can only be indicated by uniting the language of
action and vocal expression with words. A change of idea or some
remembrance awakened in our own mind comes naturally, but a sudden remark
or interruption produces a more decided and definite impression upon us.
The surprised look and abrupt turn of the head are necessary to show the
sense of imaginative reality.
Observe the definite and extreme, even sudden, transitions which are made
in conversation. These abrupt leaps of the mind from one subject to
another are indicated by a simple turn, it may be, of the head, with
sudden changes in the face, and, of course, with changes of pitch and
movement. The monologue gives the best interpretation of these actions of
the mind to be found in literature.
As an example, note Riley's "Knee-deep in June." The more decided and
sudden the transitions in this poem, the better. The abrupt arrival of an
idea, the subtle start it gives to face or head or body, should be
naturally suggested.
Action is especially needed in all abrupt transitions in thought and
feeling. In many of the more humorous monologues, there is often a sudden
pathetic touch towards the last, requiring slower movement in the action
of the body. Occasionally, very sudden and extreme contrasts occur. The
reader must make long pauses in these cases, and accentuate strongly the
action, of which vocal expression is more or less a result.
As further illustrative of a sudden transition, note how in Riley's
monologue, "When de Folks is Gone," the scared negro grows more and more
excited until a climax of terror is reached in the penultimate line:
"Wha' dat shinin' fru de front do' crack?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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