Virtual and Ideal Readers of Browning's “Pan and Luna”: the Drama in the Dramatic Idyl

Most of “Pan and Luna” is addressed not to an internal auditor but to what Gerald Prince calls the “virtual reader,” the reader the author imagines himself or herself to be writing to – in the case of “Pan and Luna,” the Victorian reading public. Prince observes: Every author, provided he is writing...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Browning Institute Studies 1987, Vol.15, p.151-160
Main Author: Flowers, Betty S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Dramatic monologues
Earths Moon
Love
Narrative poetry
Narrators
Pastoral poetry
Poetry
Saturnian satellites
Tales
Victorians
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Summary:Most of “Pan and Luna” is addressed not to an internal auditor but to what Gerald Prince calls the “virtual reader,” the reader the author imagines himself or herself to be writing to – in the case of “Pan and Luna,” the Victorian reading public. Prince observes: Every author, provided he is writing for someone other than himself, develops his narrative as a function of a certain type of reader whom he bestows with certain qualities, faculties, and inclinations according to his opinion of men in general (or in particular) and according to the obligations he feels should be respected. This virtual reader is different from the real reader: writers frequently have a public they don't deserve. (9) In addition to the distinction between the virtual reader and the real reader, Prince makes a further distinction between the real reader and the ideal reader. From the writer's point of view, “an ideal reader would be one who would understand perfectly and would approve entirely the least of his words, the most subtle of his intentions” (9).
ISSN:0092-4725
1060-1503
2163-2014
DOI:10.1017/S0092472500001917