The Angry Woman's Case Against the Mask Lyric; Or, Redefining the Dramatic Monologue

Abstract

Feminist scholars have broadened the canon of dramatic monologues to include the works of women poets and have questioned the dynamics of sympathy and judgment central to Robert Langbaum's foundational study of the genre. I argue for two further consequences of their work. First, Ralph Rader's category of the mask lyric can no longer be considered a distinct genre. Second, I propose that we redefine the dramatic monologue so as to recognize that individual examples can fall within various positions on four axes: 1) the speaker's difference from the poet, 2) the speaker's representative status, 3) the poet's identification with the speaker's predicament, and 4) the poet's agreement with the speaker's statements and opinions. This definition may allow us to see more clearly the polemical content, and the range of rhetorical goals and techniques, in monologues by both men and women.