Dramatic Monologue
A poem in which a single speaker, not the poet, addresses a silent listener and reveals their character.
In a dramatic monologue, one invented voice talks at length to an implied audience, unintentionally exposing their own psychology. Writers use it to explore a mind from the inside and to let readers judge a speaker who cannot see themselves clearly. The silent listener shapes what the speaker says.
Example
A duke describing his late wife’s portrait slowly reveals his jealousy and menace, condemning himself through his own smooth words.
My Last Duchess · Robert Browning
See it in action
Analyses on StoryBites that use dramatic monologue: