In Irene’s case, I get the impression that ever since her mother died she hasn’t been the same. She has been lonely ever since. Irene has several memories of her mother. For example there is a pen that her mother bought for her and she says, “It’s been a real friend.” This is a sign of her loneliness. This is probably the same pen she uses to write all the letters she did. I think Irene knows that she’s lonely, but due to it, it causes her to act in a certain way that she thinks is absolutely fine when it’s not. The connection between her and Wilfred is that they’re both unaware of social morals (unacceptable) and they seem to be more concerned with those around them more than themselves. Irene always seems to have a negative outlook towards things. For example she’s given advice from a friend saying:
“Maureen says I should listen to…these phone in things…She says they’re very effective in alleviating loneliness and a sense in being isolated in the community.”
This person is obviously aware of Irene’s loneliness and isolation and wants to help her out which is why she gives her this advice. But like I said, Irene’s negativity causes her to say, “They’re very effective in bumping up the phone bill.” This is an example of her negativity. Someone offers her advice and help and she refuses to take it. She knows that she’s lonely but she doesn’t want to accept help or have friends, which is why she’s so negative about everything. What she’s not aware of is her negativity.
As a result of this loneliness it causes both characters to act, feel and think in a certain and different way to normal people. For Wilfred, he constantly has children on his mind no matter how hard he tries. He’s always thinking about them. For example, he says, “They do it in the playground too…where the kiddies slide along with their bottoms.” This quote is an example of his thoughts; he never talks about anything else but kids. This is also giving us an idea of the kind of environment he’s working in; to me this symbolises dirtiness, filthiness and corruption. He acts in a different way to normal people. He’s always going to the sweet shop and buying sweets, even the shopkeeper tells him, “You’re always buying sweets but you never get fat.” When he goes in the sweet shop, it’s not a good sign because you know something bad is about to happen. Even his wife has warned about not going to the shop and he goes anyway despite promising that he wouldn’t go there anymore. The reason he never gets fat is because he’s using the sweets to attract kids and that’s how he gets himself into trouble. He’s the one bringing temptation to himself due to his feelings and thoughts. As a result of this he gets himself into a lot of trouble by abusing small children. He tries to resist the temptation by with a girl called Samantha by saying, “My shop’s closed.” But then she pushes him until he gives in and then he says, “She must have known what she was doing…so I took her in the bushes.” This is the result of his thoughts and feelings and acts. He gets himself into yet another mess that he can’t help. Before long he finds himself back in prison and in yet another position where he is going to have to go somewhere else.
For Irene, her loneliness causes her to get involved in other people’s business. There are so many things that cause Irene to get into trouble. She has an attitude that doesn’t mix well with other people and she seems to be so out of touch with change. When the vicar came to her house she had trouble letting him in. She said, “I was still a bit dubious, and then I saw he had cycle clips on so I let him in.” She wouldn’t let the vicar in because he was young and wasn’t dressed as a vicar. Another reason is because she doesn’t believe in God. That’s an example of the prejudice she has against certain people. But when she saw he had cycle clips on she let him in. She writes letters to people a lot that are quite disturbing. This all happens until the court puts her “on what’s called a suspended sentence…if I write anymore letters I get sent to prison.” Basically the quote is saying that she has done enough damage with these letters and if she writes another one, she’ll be sent to prison. She does write another letter and so the police come over to her house. The police ask her, “Was it you who’d been writing these letters?” Even with the police she still has an attitude. She then asks, “Why are you asking me?” They reply by saying:
“…Because who was it who wrote to the chemist saying his wife was a prostitute? Who was it that gave the lollipop man a nervous breakdown?”
These are some of the examples of what kind of letters she was writing. The monologue then takes an unexpected turn when we find out that the kid across the street dies. Irene asks, “What of Neglect? She said, ‘No. Leukaemia.’” Up to this point in the monologue there is no reason to doubt her assumptions. This quote is like the turning point in the monologue, we as the audience are starting to get more involved. We actually feel as if we’re there and start to get more emotional. This is like the climax if you like. She then ends up in prison as expected.
I think the past plays a great part for the reason as to why Irene and Wilfred are lonely and isolated today. Wilfred always seems to be reminded of his past somehow and that affects the way he is today and is the reason he is isolated. Everywhere he goes he seems to remind of his past. Especially at his work place, people are always recognising him from previous places. For example, a policeman asks, “Weren’t you a lollipop man once?” Even Irene mentions something about a “Lollipop man,” interfering with children once as well. There is a connection here between to the 2 monologues. Maybe Irene and Wilfred are linked in someway. Wilfred says at some point, “One snap and they’re scarred for life.” This quote has a lot of relevance to Wilfred’s situation because what he did once has left a permanent scar on his life that will never leave him because no matter where he goes and no matter how many times he tries to start afresh he always finds himself back at square one again. In Irene’s case I think that ever since her mother died that she has been really lonely and isolated. She’s not like normal singles. When she was put on a suspended sentence even the magistrate said that she was more to be “pitied than anything else.” This means that because she is so lonely and so isolated she goes around getting involved in business beyond her concern and ruining people’s lives, which is why she is to be pitied. At one point in the monologue she said, “After I’d had my tea I sat in the front room in the dark watching the house.” This shows how lonely and abnormal she is. Normal people would not sit in the dark and watch the house if there weren’t something wrong with them. This is another connection between Wilfred and Irene they both have a psychiatric with them.
The thing is that Wilfred and Irene are unaware of their loneliness and isolation. They don’t understand certain things about themselves but we as the audience understand those things perfectly well. For example certain things they say reveal what they’re really like and this is what they’re unaware of. This also makes it impossible for the audience to sympathise with them. The 2 characters seem to care more about others than themselves and lack awareness. This is the part of the reason why they go to prison. They both seem to be slightly out of touch with the modern world. Irene is very critical of other people and they’re appearance as well. For example, when she says, “Looked a bit of a drinker,” it shows how she acts towards other people she doesn’t know. She likes running down people around her. She’s obsessed with judging people and appearance. I think this also has something to do with her culture and her social position. She thinks she’s higher than everybody else so that puts her in a position to criticise other people. If it weren’t for her social class I don’t think she’d be in any position to say anything even though she shouldn’t have anyway but it would make it more unacceptable. Wilfred also thinks that lying and cheating is going to go unnoticed. For example he tells a lie about his name so that no one will recognise him, he uses the name, “Mr. Hargreaves.” Wilfred thinks he’s doing himself some good and he thinks he’s getting off the hook by lying but in the end it all comes back to him. That’s what he’s not aware of. This also tells me that he has gained no self-awareness from all the experiences he had. Because of the unawareness of Wilfred and Irene, they both end up going to prison and end up even more lonely and isolated.
I don’t think there is a way out of loneliness for these 2 characters. I think the only thing they wish they could do is turn back the hands of time. They both have certain things that made them lonely. Take Wilfred, his problem is beyond amendable and no matter where he goes he is always going to be reminded of his past. For example when he says, “One snap and you’re scarred for life,” that said it all. He can never go back to how it used to be now even if he tried, as prison doesn’t help at all. Prison only makes his isolation worse. With Irene, I think her Isolation and her loneliness is mainly to do with her Mum’s death. I don’t think there is a way out of it for her because she loved her Mum and she’s obviously hurt about it. She says the pen her Mum gave her “has been a real friend.” That’s maybe the pen she used to ruin all those lives and meddle in them because she has no life of her own since her Mum died. If you look at it like that, I guess you could sympathise with her. But what she doesn’t realise is that her actions are damaging to other people which is unacceptable.
For each character’s situation there were a lot of different emotional reactions. I only felt sympathy for them to a certain extent. I pitied Irene for her foolish acts as a result of her isolation. Throughout these 2 monologues though, my feelings about each character varied. For example, throughout ‘Playing Sandwiches,’ my feelings don’t change because I see Wilfred as a hopeless case and I don’t feel sympathy for him. After looking at his past especially after he ends up doing it again and finding himself back at square one and the thing is he’s never going to get over kids, which doesn’t help his isolation. I guess what he says is true, after one fault like that you are indeed “scarred for life.”
For Irene I pitied her because she has clearly lost something irreplaceable and I think that’s had a devastating effect on her as a person and emotionally. It has made her lonely, isolated and unhappy conclusively. She says, “I don’t suppose I shall ever be happy.” I think there is a lot of meaning behind this one. I think what she’s saying here is that because she won’t find happiness, she clearly doesn’t want anybody else to and so she goes meddling in people’s lives and trying to find ways to ruin them. What’s worse is she doesn’t realise it, which only makes me pity her. She makes a lot of assumptions about people, “Looked a bit of a drinker.” We have no reason to doubt these until one point in the play. This is where she finds out the ‘kiddy’ dies of “Leukaemia.” This seemed to have struck her quite a bit as she was reminded what it is like to lose a loved one. This is the part in the monologue where we as the audience were emotionally involved; we were feeling the tension there. There is also another part in the monologue where she’s sitting in the prison cell crying with the lights out and she says, “I’m so happy.” That bit moved me a lot because it was quite obvious that she isn’t. What gave her away was the tone of voice she used and the tear falling down her face. Prison has just made her more lonely and isolated and it’s all since her Mother died. This is the reason I sympathise with Irene. But my emotions with Irene are played around, at times I didn’t sympathise with her and times I did. Whereas with Wilfred they don’t seem to change because I know their history and backgrounds and that’s where I make my decisions. That is why I didn’t sympathise with Wilfred.
I found ‘A Lady of Letters’ more convincing than ‘Playing Sandwiches.’ This is because I know where Irene was coming from and what she did was not really a crime she just “disturbed the peace.” With Wilfred I see his composition more as a warning if anything else, that no matter how hard people try, in some situations some people will never be able to change which is why we should always be aware of our surroundings because you never quite know where crazy people are. Both monologues are also about people denying the truth about themselves. This is because although both Wilfred and Irene know they have problems, they deny it not once but severally which makes it worse in the end and as a result they become even more lonely and isolated. This is the reason they both end up in prison; it’s because of their lack of awareness and fail to admit their problems.
In conclusion, I found ‘A Lady of Letter’ more convincing and moving than the other one because Irene was relating to something that we can all sympathise with her for whereas Wilfred just makes us feel sick that he can’t even change. The only thing I got out of “Playing Sandwiches was a warning.” A warning to never lie and do deceitful things because they will come back to you. But from Irene if there’s one thing I learnt, is that I should always be willing to accept the truth about myself and do something about it. Although this message came across in ‘Playing Sandwiches,’ it came across clearer in ‘A Lady of Letters,” as I felt I could relate to Irene’s situation more. We should always be self aware of other people’s feelings and emotions otherwise we will turn out just like Wilfred and Irene, lonely and isolated.
