What is 'A Cream Cracker under the settee' really about and how does it work as a drama

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Claire Thomas

What is ‘A Cream Cracker under the settee’ really about and how does it work as a drama?

The subject of the drama is about an old, lonely woman called Doris, who is isolated in her own home.  All the way through the play she is making gradual steps in deciding to die.  She regrets not having children because her husband has died and her only baby was still born.  She doesn’t know many people anymore.  She used to know Mrs and Mr Marsden, who lived across the street, but they moved away and families started moving in.  She is scared of going into Stafford House.  You can tell this because she says that they ‘smell of pee’. This shows that she will smell of pee if se goes into a home.  

      The play is written in a monologue, which means there is only one person in the half an hour play.  She talks about her life, the past and present.  When she starts getting upset the camera zooms in to show her emotions in a close-up shot.

      The play was written in 1987 and the actors were Thora Hird as Doris and Steven Beard as Policeman. (You don’t actually see him). There are many ways in which Doris comes to the conclusion that she wants to die.

      Doris is growing old and her body life is coming to an end.  You can tell this by her nipping her leg at the beginning of ‘scene 2’ by the door.  This shows her leg is decaying away, starting from her legs next to the rest of her body. Her muscles are wasting away making it difficult for her to move.

      Doris’ memory is bad about what happened 10 minutes ago, but it is fantastic about what happened 60 years ago.  You can tell this by her talking about her past especially Baking Night when she was a little child.  This shows that she had better times as a child.

      She has had to cope with death of her husband Wilfred and her only baby that was stillborn. She was horrible to Wilfred because she would never let him have what he wanted.  He wanted a dog but Doris said ‘Yes and whose province would all the little hairs be’. This shows that she doesn’t want to have a dog because the cleaning would be her responsibility. She thinks it will be a 5 minute wonder like the ‘mushrooms in the garden’. Wilfred got over it just like that. She needed more time. She did give in but she clearly said she didn’t want a ‘Great lolloping, lamp post-smelling articles’.  This shows us that she doesn’t mind a dog, but it has to be clean and doesn’t make a mess.  She regrets being horrible to him now and see wishes she has a dog to keep her company.  This stops her from being nice because of her obsession with hygiene.

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      She wanted to call him John but the midwife said ‘He wasn’t fit to be called anything’.  This shows in those days, they would just chuck it in the rubbish.  Doris wanted to look after it, but it went.  This shows that Doris is caring and loving.  She wanted something else to love.

     Doris feels he is being singled out because of her age.  Zulema wants her to go into Stafford house.  You can tell this by how she says ‘I am the only person that stands between you and Stafford House’.  This shows she ...

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