Robert Browning Through his work has been noted by many critics as having contributed greatly to the poetic form; dramatic monologue. Dramatic monologue can be seen as a poem which spoken by the persona and is meant to be read to an audience. In this sense, to say that a poem is a dramatic monologue then suggests that there is one speaker who seems to be talking to another person, however in actuality, there are no other speakers or characters, but the poem hints or implies the presence of someone else. Browning as well as many other poets tend to use this form of poem to create a persona who is independent of them and who can address controversial issues without any negative feedback falling on the authors. Therefore the form; dramatic monologue allows authors to cross boundaries which were once impassable to them, often showing different perspectives or opinions than that of the author. According to critic Glenn Everett, there are three defining characteristics of browning’s dramatic monologue. These characteristics will be further discussed within this essay with reference to his poems “My Last Duchess” and “The Bishop Orders his Tomb at Saint Praxed Church” here after: “Saint Praxed Church”. The first distinguishing characteristic according to Everett is the point of entry which browning focuses on the psychology of the speaker as he explores the speaker’s point of view through imaginative sympathy. Everett suggest that Browning’s monologue is similar to that of the Wordsworthian lyric. However, what differentiates them is that with the Wordsworthian lyric the reader’s job is to achieve the sympathy whereas, on the other hand, with Browning’s monologue the reader’s job is to take the part of the listener and this point of view is always obtainable within the form of the poem. This can be seen within “My Last Duchess” as the Duke of Ferrara, in talking to his companion and to himself attempt to create a sympathetic reader by portraying his wife as very promiscuous, ungrateful and silly. The Duke suggests “She had A heart – how shall I say? -- too soon made glad/ Too easily impressed; she liked whate’er/ She looked on, and her looks went everywhere. (lines 20-23)”. However, the sympathetic effect that he attempts to evoke onto the reader does not take root but instead the Duke manages to create the opposite effect as he continues to attempt to justify his actions by saying “She thanked men, -- good! but thanked/Somehow -- I know not how -- as if she ranked/My gift of a nine-hundred-years-old name/With anybody’s gift. (lines 30-33)” Through his speech, the Duchess is then revealed as the innocent victim within the situation and the Duke shows himself to be an egoistic and prideful man who was outraged by his wife’s indiscretions after he gave her his nine-hundred-year old name and so took her life. Then within “Saint Praxed Church” this same manipulation is seen as the bishop lies on his dying bed. Browning in using plain verse and having the priest speak plainly, produces a character which brings a sense of sympathy to the listener. The fact that we can tell that the priest is well educat