The dramatic monologue

In The Dramatic Monologue, Elisabeth A. Howe defines the characteristics of the subject as a genre, clearly differentiating it from the lyric poem. One feature she discusses is the double voice of the dramatic monologue - the reader hears simultaneously the voices of the poet and the speaker. This dialogical effect distinguishes the dramatic monologue both from lyric poetry and from narrative poems written in the first person. The use of a persona allows the poet to distance himself or herself from the poem. Howe investigates the origins of the dramatic monologue before examining poems by…