"Is not outside seeming real as substance inside" : a Bakhtinian reading of the relationship between art and life in Robert Browning's dramatic monologues

TL;DRAbstract

Thoughout their extensive careers, both Robert Browning and W a i l Bakhtin were pre-occupied with the problem of aesthetics, with the position of the self in relation to others, in both art and Me.Although volumes of literature were produced by both the poet and the phlosopher, neither one of them came up with a theory of art that could be considered conclusive.Their work is forever marked by the movement that marks each of our lives -the movement of quest and question.Without providmg any conclusive answers, thls thesis engages Bakhtin's theories of answerability, dialogism, laughter, and speech genres (to name a few), in order to provide a new and enrichmg context w i b whch to explore three of Browning's more popular dramatic monologues: "My Last Duchess," "Andrea del Sarto," and "Fra Lippo Lippi."Following Bakhtin's belief that it is the "reader's reaction to reactions in the work of art that transforms a text into an event by giving it meaningN(A&A xxxi) an emphasis is placed on

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