Article Abstract

This study examines Robert Browning’s selected dramatic monologues: ‘My Last Duchess’, ‘Porphyria’s Lover’, ‘The Laboratory: Ancien Régime’, and ‘Andrea del Sarto’, as a lens to explore the depth of the human mind. By analysing the psychological and emotional processes revealed through the speakers’ voices, the paper investigates how neurosis manifests in both individual and social contexts. Browning’s monologues function as a literary “psychological laboratory,” where repression, projection, obsessive desire, aggressive impulses and existential anxiety are dramatized through language, narrative structure and address. The study draws on psychoanalytic theories of Freud and Jung, socialpsychological insights from Karen Horney, Lacanian language theory, the philosophical ideas of Santayana, and existential perspectives from Viktor Frankl and Rollo May to interpret the intricate workings of the neurotic psyche. It also explores how Browning connects earthly experience with spiritual continuity. Findings reveal that Browning’s characters simultaneously conceal and disclose their unconscious conflicts, negotiating inner desires and social expectations through their speech. The poems highlight the tension between conscious self-presentation and hidden impulses, demonstrating how literature can map mental processes with remarkable depth. Overall, Browning’s dramatic monologues offer a multi-layered, nuanced representation of human psychology, showing how internal conflicts, interpersonal pressures, and existential concerns shape thought, feeling and behaviour. The study confirms that these literary works serve not only as artistic expressions but also as analytical tools for understanding the neurotic mind, bridging literature and psychology in a meaningful way and presenting the human soul as an evolving consciousness striving for meaning within the limits of earthly life.
Keywords: Browning, Dramatic Monologue, Neurotic Psyche, Psychoanalysis, Existential Psychology, Obsession