Summary of "The Pragmatics of Silence, and the Figuration of the Reader in Browning's Dramatic Monologues"

Dramatic monologue was not invented by poets of the nineteenth century but was made famous by them especially by Robert Browning

Robert Browning's dramatic monologues often have an aggressive speaker who is often threatening and is almost always superior. Browning's poetry usually has a silent auditor. It's actually quite fascinating the reasoning behind doing this because by silencing the auditor the speaker actually gets put on the spotlight and keeps the implied listener in the dark. In Browning's poetry the silent listener is crucial. Not only does the silent listener increase the drama in a situation, but the drama is only created because of the others presence. There are disagreements in Browning’s usage of the speaker however. According to linguistic pragmatics, having a speaker who is narcissistic and aggressive violates the access rights of the auditor.

Jennifer A. Wagner-Lawlor, the author of The Pragmatics of Silence, and the Figuration of the Reader in Browning’s Dramatic Monologues silence is a crucial part of dramatic monologues and especially for Browning’s dramatic monologues. The separation and distinction between the speaker and the auditor is an important factor in creating this silence since the speaker overtakes the auditor making the auditor silent. Having a passive, non-aggressive, and silent listening figure creates a gap in dramatic monologue, perhaps the biggest gap in dramatic monologue. Browning’s monologues highlights that the reader will have difficulty to have sympathy for either the speaker or the auditor. This lack of sympathy from the reader will allow for them to have more freedom in to analyze the silences in the text from the auditor mainly and allows them to further explore the silences that they can make speak themselves.

Browning, Robert, James F. Loucks, and Andrew M. Stauffer. Robert Browning's Poetry. New York:  W.W. Norton, 2006. Print.