Interweaving Power Discourse: An Analysis of Dynamic Interaction Between the Dramatic Monologue and Imago of Confinement in My Last Duchess and Andrea Del Sarto
Abstract
Robert Browning, based on a story and a painting, reconstructed the inner voices of the story's protagonist and the figures in the painting within his poetry. His skillful use of "dramatic monologue" provided a stage for the characters' inner activities, and the image of confinement set the stage for conflicts between the characters and the flow of power discourse. This interactive and intertwined "dual stage" enhances the power of narrative and dramatic elements in Browning's poetry. The purpose of this paper is to find out the closed imagery employed by Robert Browning in My Last Duchess and Andrea del Sarto combined with Foucault's concept of "power discourse" to analyze how they interact and the change of "power discourse" in protagonist within the dramatic monologues, and further explore "transgression" within two poems. The author finds that the dramatic monologue offers a "big stage" for the conflict. Still, reading Browning's poetry needs to pay more attention to the "small stage" provided by the closed imagery, where the speaker who holds the power of speech changes his identity with the closed imagery and achieves the "transgression" through it.
References
- Xu, S. F.: On the Enclosed Imagery in Browning's Dramatic Monologues. Journal of Zhejiang Media College (06), 18-20 (2008).
- Browning, R.: Selected Poems of Robert Browning: My Last Duchess (E-book ed.). Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press (2001).
- Ruan, S. Q.: Starting from Unreliable Narration: Narratorial Authority in My Last Duchess. Jixi University Journal (01), 115-116 (2011).
- Browning, R.: Andrea del Sarto. Men and Women, 7-15 (1855).
- Vasari, G.: The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects. 1ndedn. Random House US, New York (2006).
- Wang, Y.: Imagery Criticism. 2ndedn. Chengdu: Sichuan Literature and Art Publishing House, Sichuan (1989).
- Liu, M. Y.: Discourse, Discipline, and Resistance: An analysis of Fences from the Perspective of Foucault's Theory of Power and Discourse, Inner Mongolia University, Inner Mongolia (2021).
- Ren, Z. J.: A Withered Flower in the Mirror of Patriarchy: An Evaluation of Robert Browning's My Last Duchess. Ningbo Radio and TV University Journal (01), 30-32+112 (2007).
- Fei, B. "Perfect" Elegy. Appreciation of Famous Works (04), 24-30 (1999).
- Browning, R. Bloom's Major Poets, edited and with an introduction by H. Bloom. New York: Info Base Publishing (2001).
- Zhang, S. On Bataille's Transgressive Theory: Animality, Taboo, and Totality. Journal of Tongji University (Social Science Edition) (03), 9-15+26 (2016).
- Jin, W. F.: Transgression and Literary Writing. Journal of Changchun University of Technology (Social Science Edition) (05), 140-145 (2012).