Analyse Bennett's scene directions and language in the play. How does he convey the complexity and her feelings about society?
Analyse Bennett's scene directions and language in the play. How does he convey the complexity and her feelings about society?
By Jamie Theobald 10sjw
Alan Bennett's portrayal of a lonely old woman provokes many contrasting emotions from the reader and audience, two of which are sympathy and antipathy.
Due to the fact that the chosen medium is a monologue stage directions play a very important part (Bennett also likes to take control of how his plays are interpreted). The first stage direction mentions 'her semi-detached house', this indicates that the character of Doris is aspirant middle-class, this along with other things helps to stress her snobbish personality. The house has 1960s furnishings and shows how Doris doesn't want to move on from her prime (when she was happily married to Wilfred and was pregnant with her first child) and tends to dwell in the past, this indicates the insecurity of her character about the death of her baby and the loss o f her husband.
We can also see net curtains in the background; this suggests that Doris likes to pry at her neighbours. The implication that Doris likes to watch other people's lives indicates that she leads a dull life and tries to distract herself from it by watching the interesting lives around her. It may also be Bennett trying to make Doris seem more of a stereotypical OAP so that the audience can relate to her.
Another key scene direction is the, 'Go to black' that ends certain sections; these signify Doris moving from one area to another. In most plays scenes are ended by the lights turning of instantly, but by making the light fade off Bennett could be showing the audience how Doris' life-force is slowly dwindling. Another interpretation is that the go to blacks reflect Doris growing weary; the slow fading out of the lights against the slow fading out of her strength.
Throughout the play Bennett uses implicit scene directions, 'I've managed to get back on the chair'. The ...
This is a preview of the whole essay
Another key scene direction is the, 'Go to black' that ends certain sections; these signify Doris moving from one area to another. In most plays scenes are ended by the lights turning of instantly, but by making the light fade off Bennett could be showing the audience how Doris' life-force is slowly dwindling. Another interpretation is that the go to blacks reflect Doris growing weary; the slow fading out of the lights against the slow fading out of her strength.
Throughout the play Bennett uses implicit scene directions, 'I've managed to get back on the chair'. The choice of placing scene directions within the monologue helps to create more of an image for anybody who is reading the play and not seeing it performed. It also makes the character of Doris appear slightly more senile, 'Cracked the photo', by saying things to herself it almost seems as if Doris is speaking to somebody else in the room, maybe her deceased husband Wilfred? Many elements of paralanguage are implied by syntax and diction e.g. explanation marks imply anger or humour. These implicit scene directions affect the audience by making Doris to appear sarcastic, 'Garden! It's only the size of a tablecloth', which adds to her characters bitter nature.
The other predominant character in the monologue is Zulema, Doris' shoddy cleaner and helper. The relationship between the two women is one of total lack of respect for one another. Doris thinks that Zulema is a useless cleaner who constantly bullies her is always cuts corners with the house work, 'She half-dusts'. Zulema thinks that Doris is a daft old lady, who can't take care of herself, 'doesn't have the sense she was born with'. Throughout the monologue Doris is presented as a very strong willed women who doesn't want to be controlled, but during her dialogue with Zulema we see a weaker side, 'I said 'Yes Zulema.'. Given Doris' earlier comments about Zulema, she is surprisingly docile in her response. Bennett is showing how powerless the elderly are, even strong-minded women like Doris. Zulema's role as an 'official' voice could mean Doris has to go into a home and both of them know this. Zulema is also highly unsympathetic and even threatens Doris, 'You're on trial here'. When somebody is put on trial it means that they've done something wrong. This is Zulema trying to bring Doris down. In a way it's Bennett saying how old people are bullied and victimised.
After the first paragraph Bennett introduces the character of Wilfred, Doris' dead husband.
When Doris is talking about Wilfred she seems to become a very different person; her voice becomes softer, she laughs and smiles. Both these things give evidence that Doris' character thinks very fondly of her past. I think that the fondness Doris has towards her past years is part of a semantic field that Bennett uses throughout the play; the sense of nostalgia and the idea that modern society is somewhat degraded compared to the past.
The sense of nostalgia is amplified when Doris drops her wedding photo and says, 'we're cracked Wilfred.' Cracked signifies something is broken or damaged. This could refer to Doris' past happiness being lost. It also links to the cream cracker in the title as both are euphemisms, 'cream crackered' for tired and 'cracked for 'mad'. Bennett is also using subtle humour here to try and make the character of Doris seem much more appealing to an audience but also to make her seem more vulnerable by having an affectionate side.
Later on in the monologue Bennett gives hints that Doris had a child, 'A kiddy'd've solved all that', '...had the pram'. It isn't until about two thirds of the way through when Doris starts to properly talk about her stillbirth; this shows how hard it is for Doris to talk about it. She tells how when the baby was born the mid-wife treated it like a piece of dead meat, with no more feeling for than she would for a dead animal, '...wasn't fit to be called anything'. I think this is Bennett trying to make the audience feel more sympathy with Doris as she went through a very traumatic experience without any help or counselling. In contrast to the rest of the play I think Bennett is saying how that in some ways modern society has improved by becoming more humane and wanting to help people.
Bennett increases the stereotypical appearance of his character by giving her typical 'old peoples' views on modern society, 'Don't know anybody round here now'. I think that the whole play is based on this opinion. The title, 'Cream cracker under the settee', is about something that used to be good and is now discarded and rotting, it's the same thing with the main character; an old lady, somebody that used to be very happy and has slowly degraded to become sad and dying. The whole thing is a metaphor for the decaying, hostile appearance of modern society that Bennett believes has rotted since the golden days of the past.
Jamie Theobald 10sjw
Page 2
