Literature Glossary
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Dramatic Monologue
Definition:
The term dramatic monologue is a little misleading because dramatic monologues are usually poems. They're meant to be theatrically read to an audience—hence the "dramatic" part—and they contain the words and feelings of a single speaker, hence the "monologue" part.
Poets often use the speaker in a dramatic monologue to express views that are different from their own. Dramatic monologues also commonly address a specific person (or persons) whose identity is made clear only through context clues. In that respect, they have a lot in common with passive-aggressive Facebook statuses. (Bridget, when you post "It's a shame that some people think they can rock a French braid," we all know you're talking about Sarah.)
Dramatic monologues hit their peak popularity during the Victorian Era, and Robert Browning was pretty much the Michael Jordan of the form. His most famous work is "My Last Duchess," in which the speaker tells a houseguest all about his wife—whom he probably had killed for being a flirt. Those wacky Victorians.
P.S. Want to really dig in? We have an entire course devoted to the dramatic monologue.