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The Laboratory
This carefully crafted ebook: "The Laboratory (From Dramatic Romances and Lyrics)" is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents.
"The Laboratory" is a poem and dramatic monologue. This poem, set in seventeenth century France, is the monologue of a woman speaking to an apothecary as he prepares a poison, which she intends to use to kill her rival in love. It was inspired by the life of Marie Madeleine Marguerite D'Aubray, marquise de Brinvilliers (1630-1676), who poisoned her father and two brothers and planned to poison her husband.
Robert Browning (1812-1889) was an English poet and playwright whose mastery of dramatic verse, and in particular the dramatic monologue, made him one of the foremost Victorian poets. His poems are known for their irony, characterization, dark humor, social commentary, historical settings, and challenging vocabulary and syntax. The speakers in his poems are often musicians or painters whose work functions as a metaphor for poetry.
"The Laboratory" is a poem and dramatic monologue. This poem, set in seventeenth century France, is the monologue of a woman speaking to an apothecary as he prepares a poison, which she intends to use to kill her rival in love. It was inspired by the life of Marie Madeleine Marguerite D'Aubray, marquise de Brinvilliers (1630-1676), who poisoned her father and two brothers and planned to poison her husband.
Robert Browning (1812-1889) was an English poet and playwright whose mastery of dramatic verse, and in particular the dramatic monologue, made him one of the foremost Victorian poets. His poems are known for their irony, characterization, dark humor, social commentary, historical settings, and challenging vocabulary and syntax. The speakers in his poems are often musicians or painters whose work functions as a metaphor for poetry.
- GenresPoetry
98 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 7, 2015
26 people want to read
About the author
Robert Browning
2,726 books454 followersRobert Browning (1812-1889) was a British poet and playwright whose mastery of dramatic verse, especially dramatic monologues, made him one of the foremost Victorian poets.
Browning began writing poetry at age 13. These poems were eventually collected, but were later destroyed by Browning himself. In 1833, Browning's "Pauline" was published and received a cool reception. Harold Bloom believes that John Stuart Mill's review of the poem pointed Browning in the direction of the dramatic monologue.
In 1845, Browning wrote a letter to the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, professing that he loved her poetry and her. In 1846, the couple eloped to Europe, eventually settling in Florence in 1847. They had a son Pen.
Upon Elizabeth Barrett Browning's death in 1861, Browning returned to London with his son. While in London, he published Dramatis Personae (1864) and The Ring and the Book (1869), both of which gained him critical priase and respect. His last book Asolando was published in 1889 when the poet was 77.
In 1889, Browning traveled to Italy to visit friends. He died in Venice on December 12 while visiting his sister.
Browning began writing poetry at age 13. These poems were eventually collected, but were later destroyed by Browning himself. In 1833, Browning's "Pauline" was published and received a cool reception. Harold Bloom believes that John Stuart Mill's review of the poem pointed Browning in the direction of the dramatic monologue.
In 1845, Browning wrote a letter to the poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning, professing that he loved her poetry and her. In 1846, the couple eloped to Europe, eventually settling in Florence in 1847. They had a son Pen.
Upon Elizabeth Barrett Browning's death in 1861, Browning returned to London with his son. While in London, he published Dramatis Personae (1864) and The Ring and the Book (1869), both of which gained him critical priase and respect. His last book Asolando was published in 1889 when the poet was 77.
In 1889, Browning traveled to Italy to visit friends. He died in Venice on December 12 while visiting his sister.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
May 14, 2023
she's in the business of misery (let's take it from the top)
January 15, 2021
I wrote my favorite English Lit paper about this poem. It’s amazing how many different emotions the speaker reveals only through her words.
January 7, 2026
Who could have imagined that 2025 would close on so dark a note for me? Pulmonary edema confined me to a bleak cabin in a nursing home—an existence measured by IV lines, injections, tasteless food, and an oppressive solitude. In those days, my only refuge was my iPad: its books, my Kindle, and the familiar quiet comfort of my Goodreads wall. It was there, in that isolation, that I began my reading and reviewing for 2026. I was released on the sixth of January, but the shadow of that time lingers still—a memory etched deeply into my mind, unlikely to fade.
Binge Reviewing Greatest Poems of all time
What is it all about?
The Laboratory is a dramatic monologue spoken by a woman calmly arranging the poisoning of her romantic rival.
Set in a 17th-century apothecary’s lab, the speaker delights—delights—in the process of choosing poisons, watching them bubble, and imagining their effects.
Her motivation? Jealousy. Her lover has abandoned her, and rather than grieve, she plots murder with unsettling glee.
What makes the poem chilling isn’t just the crime, but the tone. There’s no hesitation, no moral struggle. The speaker is playful, flirtatious, and almost ecstatic. Love, revenge, chemistry, and cruelty blend into one intoxicating cocktail. The laboratory becomes a space of power: here, she controls fate, pain, and death with her own hands.
Why does it rank among the greatest?
1) Because Browning turns psychopathy into poetry without blinking. This is dramatic monologue at its most ruthless. The speaker never says, “I am evil.” She doesn’t need to. Her delight exposes her more brutally than confession ever could.
2) The language is sensuous and precise—verbs fizz, liquids glow, death becomes aesthetic. Browning forces us inside a mind where violence is pleasure, not consequence. And crucially, he never intervenes to judge. The poem trusts the reader to recoil on their own.
3) Also: gender expectations detonated. A female speaker who is not nurturing, not passive, not repentant—but calculating and joyful in destruction. For Victorian poetry, this was borderline scandalous. For modern readers, it’s still unnerving.
Why read it in 2026 and thereafter?
Because it exposes how obsession curdles into entitlement. In an age of possessive love, online stalking, and “if I can’t have you” energy, The Laboratory feels terrifyingly current.
It also teaches how power can feel erotic—and how easily morality dissolves when desire feels justified.
This poem isn’t about poison. It’s about rationalizing harm.
And that lesson? Timeless.
Most recommended.
Binge Reviewing Greatest Poems of all time
What is it all about?
The Laboratory is a dramatic monologue spoken by a woman calmly arranging the poisoning of her romantic rival.
Set in a 17th-century apothecary’s lab, the speaker delights—delights—in the process of choosing poisons, watching them bubble, and imagining their effects.
Her motivation? Jealousy. Her lover has abandoned her, and rather than grieve, she plots murder with unsettling glee.
What makes the poem chilling isn’t just the crime, but the tone. There’s no hesitation, no moral struggle. The speaker is playful, flirtatious, and almost ecstatic. Love, revenge, chemistry, and cruelty blend into one intoxicating cocktail. The laboratory becomes a space of power: here, she controls fate, pain, and death with her own hands.
Why does it rank among the greatest?
1) Because Browning turns psychopathy into poetry without blinking. This is dramatic monologue at its most ruthless. The speaker never says, “I am evil.” She doesn’t need to. Her delight exposes her more brutally than confession ever could.
2) The language is sensuous and precise—verbs fizz, liquids glow, death becomes aesthetic. Browning forces us inside a mind where violence is pleasure, not consequence. And crucially, he never intervenes to judge. The poem trusts the reader to recoil on their own.
3) Also: gender expectations detonated. A female speaker who is not nurturing, not passive, not repentant—but calculating and joyful in destruction. For Victorian poetry, this was borderline scandalous. For modern readers, it’s still unnerving.
Why read it in 2026 and thereafter?
Because it exposes how obsession curdles into entitlement. In an age of possessive love, online stalking, and “if I can’t have you” energy, The Laboratory feels terrifyingly current.
It also teaches how power can feel erotic—and how easily morality dissolves when desire feels justified.
This poem isn’t about poison. It’s about rationalizing harm.
And that lesson? Timeless.
Most recommended.
November 14, 2024
In my humble opinion, she is a feminine icon (please don't fight me on this 😔)
- She went against societal norms. Rather than staying compliant, submissive, and accepting her being sidelined by her man, she's going to kill her competition.
- She's quite literally fighting for her rightful place of power within society.
- She isn't chasing, she's choosing what to do with her life, and she is picking herself.
- The poison's description adds a layer of sophistication to the archetypal femme fatale role she holds, rather than being a damsel in distress, she goes after what she wants even when it comes to harming others.
"Better sit thus and observe thy strange things, / Than go where men wait me and dance at the King’s."
- Her desire for power socially and over her love life, reminds me of Lady Macbeth.
- Although, her actions do fall under the influence of the patriarchy, pitting women against each other like they are fighter dogs. That is all she can do to reach what she values, power.
- She went against societal norms. Rather than staying compliant, submissive, and accepting her being sidelined by her man, she's going to kill her competition.
- She's quite literally fighting for her rightful place of power within society.
- She isn't chasing, she's choosing what to do with her life, and she is picking herself.
- The poison's description adds a layer of sophistication to the archetypal femme fatale role she holds, rather than being a damsel in distress, she goes after what she wants even when it comes to harming others.
"Better sit thus and observe thy strange things, / Than go where men wait me and dance at the King’s."
- Her desire for power socially and over her love life, reminds me of Lady Macbeth.
- Although, her actions do fall under the influence of the patriarchy, pitting women against each other like they are fighter dogs. That is all she can do to reach what she values, power.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 15, 2025
i support women's rights, and women's wrongs
December 22, 2025
Intriguing story behind it, told quite well here.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews