"The dramatic monologue is traditionally associated with Victorian poets such as Robert Browning and Alfred Tennyson, and is generally considered to have disappeared with the onset of modernism in the twentieth century. Glennis Byron unravels its history and argues that, contrary to belief, the monologue remains popular to this day. Alongside the canonical figures of Tennyson and Browning, she includes in her analysis lesser-known poets such as Charles Kingsley and recently rediscovered women writers such as Augusta Levy and Charlotte Mew. By focusing on monologue's status as a form of social critique, the author successfully demonstrates the longevity and relevance of the form, and accounts for its current popularity due to the increasingly politicised nature of contemporary poetry with reference to the work of poets such as Ai and Carol Ann Duffy." "This clear guide provides students with a compact introduction to a key topic in literary studies."--Jacket.