Richard Langbaum's essay on the dramatic monologue begins with his observation that there has been very few pieces written on the subject. He believes that people just are not quite sure about what to do with the dramatic monologue. They typically classify it simply and these classifications cause the complexities of the genre to be ignored. He wants the dramatic monologue to be seen as a poetry of sympathy and he thinks this will allow the readers to connect to it and therefore have a much better understanding of the form. He continues on with his essay and gives a brief history of the dramatic monologue. Browning and Tennyson created the dramatic monologue in a reaction against the romantics and their confessional style. However, Browning's name is associated with dramatic monologue over Tennyson's based on his style, even though Tennyson actually came first. Another note that Langbaum really brings home is that dramatic monologue is perfect tool for expressing many different points of view. It can project a historical point of view, moral viewpoints, and emotional viewpoints but it also allows the reader to understand the character. Langbaum explains this by using "My Last Duchess," as an example. Even though as readers we know the bishop is bad and has committed an evil act we are able to suspend our moral judgements in order to get to know the bishop. Overall the dramatic monologue requires sympathy to function and this sympathy connects the reader to the characters.