Isolation is another main subject in the play. It consumes most of Doris’ life and I think it also links in with the relationships she has with people. Bennett has made his character Doris lonely and isolated to make the audience feel real sympathy and emotion for her. The only relationship Doris has in her life is with her carer/cleaner Zulema. Zulema is described by Doris as very controlling and patronising,’ you cant run anywhere. You’re on trial here’. There is a real sense of anger and emotion in Doris’s voice whenever she mentions Zulema.’I was glad when she’d gone, dictating!’ We can easily tell from the first line of the script that Doris has a great disliking for Zulema by the fact that she imitates Zulema’s voice; she also uses a mocking and sarcastic tone. Zulema has one up on Doris and she Doris knows this, therefore it makes Zulema seem like a threat. It seems very sad that the only person in Doris’ life is oppressing her and this adds sympathy. We know that Doris is obsessed by hygiene and likes to be independent however Zulema portrays the loss of control Doris has over her life. Zulema is seen as a dictator by Doris and this makes us really feel for Doris. Doris is aware that at any time Zulema has the power to send her to Stafford House (local old peoples home), which would mean Doris would lose her freedom and, she thinks, be deprived of the cleaning, ‘Doris I am the only person who stands between you and Stafford House.’ We as an audience can see how frustrated Doris is and this also adds sympathy. There is a big contrast between Zulema’s ‘god like’ power, and Doris’ vulnerability.
Despite all of this I think that Doris is actually grateful for the small bit of company she gets, as Zulema is the only person Doris ever gets to speak to. We already know that Doris has no family left and that’s upsetting for an old person, however Doris doesn’t even have friends, she is totally alone, ‘we were always on our own Wilfred and me. We weren’t the gregarious type.’ This indicates that Doris is almost excusing their lonely lives, and in a way pretending and trying to convince herself that it was ok, this is very sad. In the past when Doris had Wilfred she didn’t see the need to have friends, consequently once he died she was left with no one. Although Doris may have been satisfied with being alone, she now longs for a friend or caller. Doris therefore tried to keep track of her neighbours as it gave her a sense of control and also made her feel comfortable in the knowledge that there were people around her she could call on if she was ever in trouble. But Doris explains that she no longer knows them, as a result there is no one left to help, ‘Don’t know anybody round here.’ Bennett has formed a very lonely and isolated world for Doris and at one part in the script we find out that she is so alone that she even wishes for a leaflet distributor or random caller to talk to she is also in desperate need of help, ‘It never is a bona fide caller, I never get a bona fide caller.’ For the audience this is a very emotional and depressing state to see an elderly person in, therefore it creates a lot of sympathy on Doris’ behalf, also the repetition emphasises her lonliness. The last piece of evidence that proves Doris is lonely is the fact that she talks to herself. We know that you would have to be very miserable and desperate to do this so it adds to our sympathy for her.
For many people death is a terrifying and avoided subject, but with Doris, it’s different. Doris feels that because she is old, alone and sad that she doesn’t have anything to really live for; thus she has accepted death as a part of life and is not afraid It almost seems as if Doris believes it is the end for her. There is one significant statement that backs up this point, ‘graves, and gardens, everything’s to follow.’ For an audience to hear Doris talking about death in such a blasé manner makes us feel very powerless and sympathetic. In one-way Doris may be willing for death to come as she realises that the two things she likes the most have gone. To begin with she spends most of her time cleaning, so when Zulema took that right away Doris was left feeling bored and frustrated. Secondly Doris liked to feel in control, however as she got older she started to lose this control and again it irritated her,’ the cheeky monkey he’s spending a penny…. Get out, go on, clear off!’ However Doris acts before she thinks, and soon after she had said this to the boy, she realised that she had just scared away possibly the only person that could have helped her. This scene shows us Doris personality.
The use of dramatic devices plays a very big and important part in the drama. They can set a mood, add emotion and produce sympathy. The first dramatic device I will explore is the use of music. We first hear music when Doris begins to reminisce on Wilfred and her relationship with him. The beat and resonance of the music is very slow and soothing. It immediately sets up a sad mood. The music also manages to create a lonely and sympathetic atmosphere, which carries on throughout the play. The music only plays at significant times in the monologue as the tone of music needs to fit the mood and subject of which Doris is talking about at that moment, i.e. when Doris reminisces on the good times the music becomes lighter; but when she talks about the death of John the pace of the music slows and becomes duller. The use of music alone can form an overwhelming sympathy if appropriately used.
The second dramatic device in the play is lighting. The play begins in broad daylight and eventually ends in total darkness. The light gradually gets darker as Doris deteriorates more and this creates grief. The darkness at the very end implies the end of her life. The lighting along with the music becomes dim and depressing when Doris reminisces because they also need to reflect her mood. There is also a great use of blackouts in the play. The blackouts represent a passage of time in which Doris has moved to a different room or is in a different position. Using blackouts means that for one, Doris retains her dignity and two gives the audience a chance to assimilate their thoughts so far.
Lastly it’s the different shots and camera angles that create sympathy. At important moments when Doris speaks the camera zooms in very close to her face. It does this to show every emotion she is feeling by giving us a chance to explore her facial expressions and movements. We also get a chance to see her age more clearly; we can see every line and wrinkle. Zooming in on her face is very important for an audiences understanding of the play. Again we only get a close up when Doris is either very emotional or when she is talking about something very significant.
At one scene in the play Doris is sitting at the bottom of the stairs. She is in an emotional state as she is talking about her son John. The camera shoots from above Doris so that we are looking down on her. This makes Doris look small, helpless and vulnerable and the audience feel very sorry for Doris. The aerial view also cuts to close ups on her face at this point to add variety and so we can see her feelings. The use of camera angles let us see things from different perspectives and makes us consider and think about what Doris is saying.
It is each of these things when put together to create the whole dramatic piece that makes the audience feel sympathy for Doris right the way through the play.
