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
Every art has a technique. The modulations of the voice and the actions of
the body must be directly studied, or there can be no naturalness.
Meaningless movements and modulations lead to mannerisms. The reader must
know the value of every action of voice or body, and so master them that
he can bring them all into a kind of subconscious unity for the expression
of the living realization of a thought or situation.
The interpreter must use no artificial methods, but must study the
fundamental principles of the expressive modulations of voice and body and
supplement these by a sympathetic observation of nature.
The questions to be settled by the reader have been shown by the analysis
of the structure of the monologue. He must first consider the character
which he is to impersonate, and his conception of it must be definite and
clear as that of any actor in a play. In one sense, conception of
character is more important in the monologue than in the play, on account
of the fact that the speaker stands alone, and the monologue is only one
end of a conversation. In a play the actor is always associated with
others; has some peculiarity of dress; has freedom of movement, and his
character is shown by others. He is only one of many persons in a moving
scene, and often fills a subordinate place. But in the monologue, the
interpreter is never subordinate, and has few accessories, or none. He
must not only reveal the character that is speaking, but also indicate the
character of the supposed listener. He must suggest by simple sounds and
movements, not by make-up or artificial properties. Thus the
interpretation of a monologue is more difficult than that of a play. The
actor has long periods of listening when another is speaking, so that he
has better opportunities to show the impression produced upon him by each
idea. The interpreter of a monologue must often show that he, too, is
listening, and express the impression received from another.
To illustrate the necessity of the vocal rendering of a monologue and the
peculiar character of the interpretation needed, take one of the simplest
examples, a humorous monologue of Douglas Jerrold's, one of "Mrs. Caudle's
Curtain Lectures."
Take, for example, the lecture she gives after Mr. Caudle has lent an
umbrella:
MR. CAUDLE HAS LENT AN ACQUAINTANCE THE FAMILY UMBRELLA
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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