An Italian Person of Quality Indeed!
Robert Browning’s “Up at a Villa-Down in the City” is a dramatic monologue, a fact unnoted by criticism. Browning employs irony throughout that undercuts the stated views of the speaker, who is not a person of quality, as the subtitle has announced. The speaker reveals himself to be a man of little...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Sciendo
2017-11-01
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| Series: | Romanian Journal of English Studies |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1515/rjes-2017-0002 |
| _version_ | 1811311873459486720 |
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| author | Crowder Ashby Bland |
| author_facet | Crowder Ashby Bland |
| author_sort | Crowder Ashby Bland |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Robert Browning’s “Up at a Villa-Down in the City” is a dramatic monologue, a fact unnoted by criticism. Browning employs irony throughout that undercuts the stated views of the speaker, who is not a person of quality, as the subtitle has announced. The speaker reveals himself to be a man of little experience in art and literature, of meager taste, poor judgement, and in general dull and inflexible. Browning cleverly sets up the clues whereby the reader can distinguish between what the speaker intends and what the reader understands. The speaker’s repudiation of the countryside actually makes clear the virtues of country life, and his praise of city life makes it clear what is undesirable in it. Browning accomplishes this manipulation through imagery, ambiguity in language, and by reference to outside facts. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T10:26:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-c5649af98e534c5e8c8b10014e454f63 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1584-3734 2286-0428 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T10:26:33Z |
| publishDate | 2017-11-01 |
| publisher | Sciendo |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Romanian Journal of English Studies |
| spelling | doaj.art-c5649af98e534c5e8c8b10014e454f632022-12-22T02:50:18ZengSciendoRomanian Journal of English Studies1584-37342286-04282017-11-0114181310.1515/rjes-2017-0002rjes-2017-0002An Italian Person of Quality Indeed!Crowder Ashby Bland0Hendrix College in Arkansas, Arkansas, USARobert Browning’s “Up at a Villa-Down in the City” is a dramatic monologue, a fact unnoted by criticism. Browning employs irony throughout that undercuts the stated views of the speaker, who is not a person of quality, as the subtitle has announced. The speaker reveals himself to be a man of little experience in art and literature, of meager taste, poor judgement, and in general dull and inflexible. Browning cleverly sets up the clues whereby the reader can distinguish between what the speaker intends and what the reader understands. The speaker’s repudiation of the countryside actually makes clear the virtues of country life, and his praise of city life makes it clear what is undesirable in it. Browning accomplishes this manipulation through imagery, ambiguity in language, and by reference to outside facts.https://doi.org/10.1515/rjes-2017-0002dramatic monologuerobert browningtechnique in dramatic poetryunreliable speaker |
| spellingShingle | Crowder Ashby Bland An Italian Person of Quality Indeed! Romanian Journal of English Studies dramatic monologue robert browning technique in dramatic poetry unreliable speaker |
| title | An Italian Person of Quality Indeed! |
| title_full | An Italian Person of Quality Indeed! |
| title_fullStr | An Italian Person of Quality Indeed! |
| title_full_unstemmed | An Italian Person of Quality Indeed! |
| title_short | An Italian Person of Quality Indeed! |
| title_sort | italian person of quality indeed |
| topic | dramatic monologue robert browning technique in dramatic poetry unreliable speaker |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1515/rjes-2017-0002 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT crowderashbybland anitalianpersonofqualityindeed AT crowderashbybland italianpersonofqualityindeed |