As well as presenting Doris as fearful he also shows to the audience her anger both with society and herself. She is angry about loosing her independence and having to accept help, which she feels, is unnecessary. In addition Zulema’s cleaning is not to Doris’ standards.
“Well Zulema I bet you haven’t dusted the top of that……And she hadn’t. Thick with dust. Home help. Home hindrance. You’re better off doing it yourself.”
She also feels angry with herself for trying to do something that she was not capable of doing, and falling. This again adds to the audiences understanding of Doris’ situation, that of an elderly lady feeling frightened and vulnerable in her own home and being forced to accept help against her wishes.
It perhaps appears to the audience also that Doris is lonely, however, past memories and some of her surroundings suggest that she is quite the opposite. She is not entirely on her own, as she is visited once a week by her carer Zulema and she also has the comfort of the passing people like the policeman. Even though she does not talk in depth to them, they are still a comfort to her and we learn this through the way in which Bennett allows Doris to talk fondly of them and shows that she is familiar with their calls. Also the way in which she reacts to them compared to the young boy indicates that she is reasurred by their presence.
“The policeman comes past now and again. If I can catch him. Maybe the door’s a better bet.”
In addition to this, Bennett also uses Zulema as a symbol of modern care and her relationship with Doris enables the audience to explore Doris’ isolation and facets of character. Bennett shows to the audience a ‘love-hate’ relationship between Doris and Zulema in which there is evidence that they both do actually have feelings for each other. This is evident when Doris finds a cracker under the settee and realises that she could use it to report Zulema to the council for not cleaning properly. Doris then shows her hidden affection and eats the cracker, because without Zulema she would be in Stafford house and left without a friend. Bennett uses this device to leave the audience to decide whether or not she ate the cracker because she was hungry or because she did not want to go in to Stafford house. He also makes this part of the play symbolic giving Doris jubilation. This is unusual for Doris to eat something that has been on the floor for a long period of time, but this captures the audience’s attention.
“I’m going to save that cream cracker and show it her next time she starts going on about Stafford house. I’ll say. Don’t Stafford house me, lady. This cream cracker was under the settee.”
Zulema is in a powerful position and has a great deal of control and influence over Doris’ life and future. Bennett uses her bossy attitude for the audience to see that this is for the purpose of helping and protecting Doris, which further highlights Doris’ vulnerability. Although Zulema’s character is faceless in the play, her presence allows the audience to see the independence of Doris’ character, which is paramount in enabling the audience to understand Doris’ actions at the end of the play that result in her death. Zulema also plays a part in making the audience aware of Doris’ obsessive qualities with cleanliness and hygiene. Bennett achieves this through Doris’ objections to her inadequate cleaning.
Consequently the audience can recognise Doris’ obsessive qualities with cleanliness and hygiene through the way in which Bennett constantly has Doris referring to the importance of hygiene. Bennett uses this effect to show Doris as being very clean, in contrast to how she sees the elderly in Stafford house. This also highlights to the audience that this lady has got great determination and she does not want to loose the independence she has got.
“I don’t want to be stuck with a lot of old lasses. And they all smell of pee. And daft half of them. Banging tambourines.
It is also through the language Bennett uses to deliver Doris’ thoughts and emotions to the audience, that Bennett’s ideas are also revealed and reinforced. Doris’s formal language suggests intelligence when she expresses herself. She uses it especially when conveying her will and putting forward her strong opinions. It also suggests to the audience that the older person is not as useless as today’s society thinks. Bennett uses this dramatic effect to make the audience aware of her past education, but most of all giving her ability to express her feelings. The effect this has on the audience is that it indicates that Doris is articulate in speech proving that her thoughts and opinions are not to be taken lightly.
“Wilfred said he would be prepared to undertake that responsibility. The dog would be his province.”
Whilst Doris uses formal language, Bennett also allows her to use colloquial expressions. These indicate to the audience Doris’ traditional working class background and her past origins. Bennett uses these in order for the audience to relate better to Doris and therefore increases their compassion and understanding. There are examples of colloquialism throughout the play.
“We’re cracked Wilfred”
“I’m am H.A.P.P.Y. I am not H.A.P.P.Y. I am un-H.A.P.P.Y. Or I would be.”
However Bennett allows the audience to warm to Doris as a character and thus empathise with her predicament through the use of irony and ironic humour. Bennett has attributed such quick wit to Doris in order to place emphasis on Doris’ mental capabilities. She comes across as being able to think for herself and be opinionated about the situation she is in. This humour captures the audience’s attention and further supports her reasons for staying in her own home.
“I’ve only got to send this cream cracker to the Director of Social Services and you’ll be on the carpet. Same as the cream cracker.”
Clearly Doris’s language and character allows the audience to reflect on her feelings and determination. Setting too is used for dramatic effect to highlight the themes of Doris’ life and identity, and to emphasise her vulnerability and isolation within her house. The opening scene is with Doris perched on the end of her sofa and during the course of the play Doris is seen in increasingly helpless situations. She moves into the hall in search of help with the door being her only way to the outside world, but ultimately ends up back by the sofa. Bennett places her here because he feels this is where she belongs. He also uses the device of the cream cracker to link it to Doris’ situation, so that the audience can see that Doris’ is also like the cream cracker and has been in her home for a long period of time. He wants the play to end here with Doris surrounded by her belongings, in this isolated room where she spent most of her life. Doris’ house symbolises her whole life and identity, as this is where she grew up with the man she loved. It is also where she had her miscarriage and unfortunately, where Wilfred died. Doris is a lady who is very sentimental and likes to talk about the happy memories she has.
“I’ve got umpteen pillowcases, some we got given when we were first married. Never used. And the blanket I knitted for the cot. All its little coats and hats.”
Bennett has shown her past to enable the audience to see that she was not lonely during her life, but more importantly to emphasise that she is still far from lonely, being surrounded by familiar things, having visits from Zulema and the company of people calling. He restricts the setting to the lounge and hallway, emphasising Doris’ confinement and isolation within her ‘inside’ world. Bennett uses the garden and other characters, such as the boy, policeman and postman to indicate Doris’ only contact with the ‘outside’ world and society. This allows the audience to see how isolated Doris has become, and furthermore her misunderstanding of modern society. This is shown by her reaction to people coming into her garden that ‘behave like animals’. In addition to this, Bennett uses irony to emphasise Doris’ seclusion in her own home. She talks of her fear of being ‘under lock and key’ in Stafford house, but in reality the audience could see her as being imprisoned in her own home. The effect this has is to increase the audience’s pity for Doris but may also lead them to question why she feels so strongly about staying in her own home. The dramatic effects used in the play are enhanced by Bennett’s use of pauses and breaks of black to show the time in which Doris has been there. This gives the audience an opportunity to think about the previous scene and can therefore relate to what she is thinking. This increases the audience’s sympathy and empathy with Doris.
In conclusion, through the use of character, language and setting, Bennett has successfully conveyed his ideas to the audience. He has developed a character in Doris with which the audience can easily relate and empathise with. His use of language and setting enables the audience to see this restricted, determined and intelligent lady that has had to come to terms with today’s society.
Although the audience can empathise with Doris, because she is an able minded person within a failing body, at the same time Bennett highlights Doris’ stubborn side to her nature. This is indicated, particularly when, in her last moments of life she turns her back on help.
Jenny Willis
