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Thread: Any Dramatic Monologues by Elizabeth Barrett Browning?

  1. #1
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    Any Dramatic Monologues by Elizabeth Barrett Browning?

    Say 'Dramatic Monologue' and you think Robert Browning. However, I was reading something recently that mentioned Dramatic Monlogues by his wife, Elizabeth Barrett Browning. I was intrigued and tried to find them on the internet. But of course with searching her name and 'Dramatic Monologue' together everything that came up was about Robert Browning. Don't get me wrong, I love RB's poetry but I want to know if EBB wrote any and what they are.

    All I have in my anthology of English Literature are a couple of poems, a few sonnets and some sections from Aurora Leigh.

    So, does anyone know of any 'Dramatic Monologues' by Elizabeth Barrett Browning?

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    Just realised there's a typo in the title! Should be 'monologue'. Oops!

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    Of Subatomic Importance Quark's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dark Lady View Post
    So, does anyone know of any 'Dramatic Monologues' by Elizabeth Barrett Browning?
    Hi, Dark Lady.

    From what I know EBB didn't write many dramatic monologues, and I believe she cautioned RB away from the form (thankfully he didn't take that advice). "Virgin Mary To The Child Jesus" is the only EB dramatic monologue that I remember. Although EBB experimented with many forms, I think she's best known for her narratives and sonnets.
    "Par instants je suis le Pauvre Navire
    [...] Par instants je meurs la mort du Pecheur
    [...] O mais! par instants"

    --"Birds in the Night" by Paul Verlaine (1844-1896). Join the discussion here: http://www.online-literature.com/for...5&goto=newpost

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    Other than the entirety of Aurora Leigh, I cannot think of any dramatic monologues by Elizabeth Barrett-Browning, at least none off the top of my head. Most of her Sonnets from the Portuguese seemed more internalized, though lovely to recite, monologues and meditations than dramatic ones.
    True Robert Browning seems the king of dramatic monologues. Poems like "Porphyria's Lover" and "My Last Duchess" appear as the dictionary-perfect examples that identify dramatic monologues, and a few other Victorian poets showed a few similar trends, too. EBB, to me, appeared much more about dialogues, of any kind, in Aurora Leigh, and wrote them well.

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    Thanks for the replies.

    I can't even remember where I read it now, as I'm reading so many bits and pieces for my exams.

    I've just always loved the story of the Brownings since we had our first lecture on them back in First Year. I've always read a lot more of RB, though, and so recently I've started reading more EBB. I thought it would be interesting if she had dramatic monologues that could be read alongside RB's.

    I'll probably read Aurora Leigh after my exams as I've wanted to read it for a while but just don't have the time right now.

    I'll check out 'Virgin Mary to the Child Jesus'.

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    Runaway Slave From Pilgrims Point is a dramatic Monologue by E.B.B.. Just thought I'd post that up here, it's quite a good poem.

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    Card-carrying Medievalist Lokasenna's Avatar
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    The Runaway Slave at Pilgrims Point is a particularly fine example. So is Bertha in the Lane
    "I should only believe in a God that would know how to dance. And when I saw my devil, I found him serious, thorough, profound, solemn: he was the spirit of gravity- through him all things fall. Not by wrath, but by laughter, do we slay. Come, let us slay the spirit of gravity!" - Nietzsche

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