Time, space and action in the dramatic monologue : Men, women and mice.

This thesis combines critical and creative writing in an inquiry into the presentation of time, space and action in the dramatic monologue, positing that the conventions surrounding the presentation of time and space in lyric poetry affect the interpretation of the communicative context of dramatic monologue. A critical discussion and analysis in five chapters is followed by a collection of original poetry, the production of which informed the critical investigation. The first chapter gives an overview of the critical field and is concerned with definitions of the genre. A definition of the Browningesque dramatic monologue is offered, one which places the idea of 'action in the present' at the centre. Chapter two outlines the methodology of the project; primarily that of deictic analysis. Keith Green's work on the occurrence and behaviour of deixis in lyric poetry (in particular his concepts of 'coding' and 'content' time and place) is used as a starting point to consider how deictic elements might operate differently in the context of the dramatic monologue. The third and fourth chapters apply this methodology to specific texts. Chapter three provides original readings of Robert Browning's 'Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister' and 'A Grammarian's Funeral'. These serve to highlight Browning's 'dramatic' approach. Chapter four offers new readings of poems from 'The World's Wife' by Carol Ann Duffy, revealing a lyric, rather than dramatic, employment of time and space. Finally, a reading of Julia Copus' poem 'The Particella of Franz Xaver Sussmayr' enables further examination of dramatic devices and their effects in the context of contemporary poetry.The fifth chapter offers an analysis of Men, Women and Mice, the accompanying volume of poetry. It is therefore suggested that the collection of poetry is read between chapters four and five. The collection of poetry and chapter five jointly address issues such as the status of the addressee, the border between the lyric and the dramatic, and problems surrounding the signalling of the dramatic in contemporary poetry. The discussion of these practice-related issues enables further conclusions to be reached regarding the operation and employment of deixis in the Browningesque dramatic monologue.