Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister

Quiz: "Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister" by Robert Browning

1. Recall – Form & Genre: What type of poem is "Soliloquy of the Spanish Cloister," and what is the defining feature of that form that Browning pioneered?

1. Recall – Speaker & Setting: Who is the speaker of the poem, and where does the action take place?

1. Recall – Key Image: What object belonging to Brother Lawrence does the speaker mock as evidence of vanity, and what detail on it particularly irritates the narrator?

1. Recall – Symbol: What does the speaker plan to hide among Lawrence's greengages, and what does the fact that he owns this item reveal about his own character?

1. Comprehension – Plot: Briefly describe the three schemes the speaker devises in order to bring about Lawrence's spiritual or physical destruction.

1. Comprehension – Irony: The speaker accuses Lawrence of sinful lust when two women are nearby. What detail from the poem undercuts the speaker's accusation and turns it back on himself?

1. Comprehension – Symbol: The speaker brags about sipping his drink in exactly three portions as a tribute to the Trinity. What does this ritual reveal about the nature of his religious practice?

1. Analysis – Dramatic Irony: How does Browning use the speaker's own words to expose his moral corruption, even though the speaker believes he is exposing Lawrence's faults? Refer to at least two specific details from the poem in your answer.

1. Analysis – Tone: How does the poem balance fury with dark comedy? What effect does this tonal mixture have on the reader's perception of the speaker?

1. Analysis – Theme: The poem explores the theme of faith alongside the theme of identity. In what sense does the speaker's obsessive hatred call his own religious identity into question?

Answer Key

1. It is a dramatic monologue, a poem in which a single speaker addresses an implied listener and, in doing so, unintentionally reveals their true character. Browning is widely credited with making this form his own.

1. The speaker is an unnamed monk; the setting is a Catholic monastery in Spain, likely during the early modern period.

1. The speaker mocks Lawrence's goblet, which is engraved with the initial "L" — a detail he interprets as self-important vanity, though it also shows how obsessively he has catalogued Lawrence's possessions.

1. The speaker plans to hide a pornographic French novel among Lawrence's greengages. The fact that he owns such a book — and knows exactly which page is most incriminating — directly contradicts his pose as a righteous, devout monk, exposing his own hidden corruption.

1. First, he plots to trick Lawrence into reciting a passage from Galatians that the speaker claims contains dozens of damnations, timing it so Lawrence dies in a state of sin. Second, he schemes to plant the obscene French novel among Lawrence's belongings to corrupt him spiritually. Third, and most drastically, he considers selling his own soul to the Devil in exchange for the Devil destroying Lawrence's prized rose-acacia, while secretly planning to outsmart the Devil with a contractual loophole.

1. The speaker is the one describing the women in vivid, appreciative detail and noting their hair-washing with obvious attention — suggesting that if anyone's eye is "glowing," it may be his own rather than Lawrence's.

1. The ritual illustrates hollow religiosity: the speaker has reduced an act of devotion to a mechanical performance, using it as a self-righteous tally against Lawrence rather than as genuine worship. It exposes faith as a competitive weapon rather than a sincere practice.

1. Answers will vary but should include at least two details, such as: the speaker possessing a pornographic novel while accusing Lawrence of lust; secretly sabotaging his own plants while criticizing Lawrence's generosity with the melons; or contemplating a pact with the Devil while presenting himself as the spiritually superior monk. In each case, the reader sees the gap between the speaker's self-image and his actual behavior — the hallmark of Browning's dramatic monologue technique.

1. The furious, snarling tone (evident from the opening growl of frustration) is undercut by the absurdity and pettiness of the speaker's grievances — obsessing over cutlery placement and fruit-sipping rituals. This darkly comic contrast makes the speaker seem less a genuine villain than a figure consumed by a ridiculous obsession, inviting the reader to laugh at him even while recognizing the real ugliness of his envy and hatred.

1. The speaker defines himself as devout and morally superior, yet every scheming thought — from owning forbidden literature to contemplating a deal with the Devil — dismantles that identity. His hatred has so thoroughly colonized his spiritual life that his religious acts (the Trinity sips, the cross of cutlery) become mere weapons of comparison rather than expressions of belief, leaving his identity as a man of faith deeply hollow.