What, in your view, makes Alan Bennett's 'A cream cracker under the settee' an interesting piece of dramatic writing?
What, in your view, makes Alan Bennett's 'A cream cracker under the settee' an interesting piece of dramatic writing? The cream cracker under the settee is a well written and original script, obviously pushing Alan Bennett's creative skill to the limit. He has invented a strong character, Doris, and has conjured up a funny but heart-warming story in which she fits perfectly. On top of all that he has managed to fit it into just twenty minutes of screen time. I have a number of ideas about how he has done this. We know that Doris and Wilfred were married, as there wedding photograph was mentioned in the monologue. Doris obviously misses him as she mentions him so much. I think she misses mainly just his company, she grew tired of his 'mad ideas' and didn't really have any positive points to say about him, she was just needed someone to be there with her. She only realized how much she would miss him when he was gone, and she realized she was on her own. She would have had more company, love and care had she had her child, so she would not of had to let herself die if the miscarriage hadn't happened. Doris is given a very strong character, which is vital as she has to keep the interest of the audience for twenty minutes, all by herself. What makes her personality particularly powerful is her desire for independence, which sparks off the conflict between herself and Zulema.
Evil has been present since the beginning of time causing many conflicts throughout the world. It is an inborn and nurtured behaviour, which can be heightened by one's surrounding environment.
Evil has been present since the beginning of time causing many conflicts throughout the world. It is an inborn and nurtured behaviour, which can be heightened by one's surrounding environment. Evil can cause one to have a very cynical outlook on life. When one becomes overcome with evil one becomes ignorant towards others and has a tendency to be very selfish. When one is corrupted by evil, his or her conscious is overthrown by their id, causing one to become sinister and callous towards the well being of others. Evil can cause people to hide their real self, expressing it in hidden meanings or actions. Miss Strangeworth expresses her true feelings not by word, but by her letters, " Didn't you ever see an idiot child before? Some people just shouldn't have babies". (216) This expression of anger towards the Crane's has no bearing on Miss Strangeworth. It is an id driven letter that is hurtful to the Crane's with no guilt or consideration towards them. The thought of others is not relevant to Miss Strangeworth; however, the thought of being caught is definitely a concern. Not only does Miss Strangeworth send hurtful letters but also the letters remain nameless with no trace of who may have sent them. " She never got any answers, of course, because she never signed her name". (217) The vindictiveness that Miss Strangeworth displays is the work of her ego. This
Dear Thora, Congratulations on getting the part of Doris in our forthcoming production of 'A Cream Cracker Under The Settee'.
6, Abbots Close Edgware London LE5 1EH Thora Hird 26 Stobba Close Edgware London LH5 1HE Dear Thora Congratulations on getting the part of Doris in our forthcoming production of 'A Cream Cracker Under The Settee'. This play is set in modern times, and is about an old woman called Doris, in her seventies who likes to be very clean and tidy, but because of her age, will have to move into old peoples home if she is caught cleaning. Zulema comes for home help, and Doris believes that she doesn't do her job properly. Doris goes to prove her point, by getting down her deceased husband's photo, but unfortunately falls and hurts her leg. She stays like that, and later in the day, she sadly dies. The props will include a cracked photo of Doris's husband, Wilfred, to show that she was once not lonely and used to care for someone. The key themes in this play are society's treatment of the elderly, loneliness, and segregation. The writer is trying to show how old people, who think they are all well and fit, are not really and need a lot of care. He does this by giving Doris a fearless character and showing that your not as strong as you may seem to be to yourself Doris is alert, and aware of her situation in life as an old person. She is in poor health and lives alone. Her dominant concern is cleaning. Doris dislikes old peoples homes, because of lack of hygiene, smell
Commentary on my response to ‘A cream Cracker under the settee’-By Alan Bennet
20th Century Coursework A cream Cracker under the settee-By Alan Bennet A monologue by Doris when she is in Stafford House: - Well, I am in Stafford House now. Pause The impressions that I had of residential homes are far from real. I can see how I exaggerated a lot about things, that I thought went on in homes. "Mix up your teeth" Well I keep my false teeth in my mouth all the time, and at night I take them out and place them in a glass of sterilised water. I think that if I let the nurse take them, they would go walking! The nurses can be a bit strange not like my Zulema, oh I do miss her. Everyone in the home is very clean and don't "Smell of pee" which I thought. If anyone of us has an accident the nurses will clean us up, I hope I don't have an accident anyway I can clean myself. What can I say I was prejudice against people in homes. Maybe this was because I was afraid of spending a penny in front of other people, no need to worry I have my own little bathroom in my room. Pause Well age affects us all, hey! Pause Stafford House from the outside is very pleasant and follows inside too. The decoration is nice; the walls are all wallpapered nicely, not as well as my Wilfred could do it though. I even have my own room; in my room there is a bed and a bedside table where I have my clock and my picture of Wilfred beside me. So when I am asleep Wilfred is
How does Bennett arouse our sympathy for Doris in "A Cream Cracker under the Settee"?
How does Bennett arouse our sympathy for Doris in "A Cream Cracker under the Settee"? Allan Bennet firstly arouses our sympathy for Doris in 'A Cram Cracker under the Settee' as she is an old woman and has health problems. Doris is 'A woman of seventy five with a pacemaker and dizzy spells ' Her health prevents her from the things she would do as a young woman, now she is old she has memories from throughout her life. Having dizzy spells worries Doris, therefore she does not leave the house as there is a threat of sudden dizziness. Her heart is also weak and this is the meaning for her pacemaker this restricts her from everyday life, walking, cleaning. Another reason which makes us feel sorry for Doris is that she has fallen on her leg and cannot get up therefore is in pain and it 'Feels funny this leg ' Doris' fall may not seem serious however it may cause complications. With Doris being am old woman with a bad heart this lead to having a leg amputated or more serious problems. Doris' injury has caused her leg to go numb and she is unable to. We feel sympathetic towards Doris because she is alone and has nobody to help. We feel sympathy for Doris because of her compulsion with cleaning she is obsessed 'Where hygiene's concerned ' Cleaning is the main reason for Doris to get up in the morning; however it is also the reason for her fall and may be the cause of her
Discuss Rosenthal's use of minor characters in P'tang Yang Kipperbang.
Discuss Rosenthal's use of minor characters in P'tang Yang Kipperbang P'tang Yang Kipperbang is a TV Play about the ups and downs of adolescence. It focuses mainly upon the life of Alan Duckworth and how he deals with his current problems and problems that he may encounter in his future life. However, throughout the play we are introduced to numerous other characters that reflect and contrast Alan's (Quack Quack's) life. Examples of theses characters are Shaz and Abbo, Alan's best friends. These contrast and compare upon Alan and his life. Rosenthal does this by making them seem the total opposite of Alan i.e. confident and a lot more sexually experienced. When really Shaz and Abbo are both as pathetic as Alan, if not more pathetic. This is because they always lie about things that they say they have done. Another way in which Alan compares and contrasts with Shaz and Abbo is that Alan appears to be a normal teenager who talks to his friends about girls activities with the girl that he likes he just wants to kiss her. However he says that he does want to do all the 'other things' because his mates pressure him to say it. Shaz and Abbo emphasise not just Alan's problems but problems that all adolescents face in general. Ann Lawton is Alan's High school sweet heart, and he will do anything just to kiss her once. But as always there is someone, or something as the case may be
'Write a critical appreciation, in which you compare at least two of Alan Bennett's dramatic monologues 'Talking heads' from the perspective of a theatre goer/ television viewer'
20th century Drama Course-work 'Write a critical appreciation, in which you compare at least two of Alan Bennett's dramatic monologues 'Talking heads' from the perspective of a theatre goer/ television viewer' I had the opportunity to visit the Harrogate Theatre to watch three of Alan Bennett's dramatic monologues. These were, 'Cream Cracker Under the settee', 'Bed Among the Lentils' and 'Chip In the Sugar'. I thoroughly enjoyed the production and preferred the interpretation of the plays in comparison to the televised version. I found the televised version lacked emotional depth and resonance, whereas the theatre production successfully conveyed emotion whilst remaining static. The theatre production also introduced props which were convincingly used by the actors to make the performance more real and ring true. And as the characters spoke directly to the audience it made the entire experience all the more personal; it was as though the character was confiding in the audience. The dramatic Monologues from 'Talking Heads' were initially written as a television series and shown in 1988 by the BBC; they included the renowned actress Maggie Smith, Thora Hird and Julie Walters. 'Talking Heads' broke new dramatic ground as previous monologues tended to be musical and it has become a modern classic. Such was the success and popularity, the plays moved on to the BBC radio,
Alan Bennett's purpose in writing
'A Cream Cracker Under The Settee' Essay Alan Bennett's purpose in writing "A Cream Cracker Under The Settee" is to highlight the problems old people face. He points out that obsession with hygiene can be destructive "I never should have tried to dust." Everytime the old lady cleans she gets into trouble. He criticises society for neglecting the old "Home help. Home hindrance." Years ago people used to respect the old, look up to them. But now they get swept under the carpet and forgotten about. Bennett also highlights the lack of communication in society "Don't know anybody round here now. Folks opposite, I don't know them." Neighbours used to look out for each other, but now there seems to be less and less interaction because people go out and don't bother with them, long gone is the tight-knit community of the past. It seems that her obsession with housework has been a substitute for a child, she has never got over the fact that she lost her and Wilfreds child. She would not have coped with the mess of a child. The cleaning aspect of the monologue is to teach us that real life is messy and cannot be tidied. To show that this character has not really grown up and moved on her childhood. This monologue also shows the fears old people have. To show that old people can be defiant and that the idea of being in an institution or home dependant on others is too terrible
'Waiting for the telegram'
'Waiting for the telegram' 'Waiting for the telegram' is a dramatic monologue by Alan Bennett. This works as a piece of drama and is humors which helps the audience to understand more about the charters. Violet is one of the main characters and she talks about her life and memories. Violet is 95 and she is in a nursing home which is in poor condition and is not very good. Violet exaggerates some of her speech to make it more interesting and she also makes it humors by changing the meanings of words or phrases. Exaggerating the speech makes it fun, interesting and humors for the audience to watch. Violet uses humor in the drama to catch the audience's eyes and to also make it interesting to watch. Violet uses humor by making funny suggestions or changing the meaning of something for example when she is talking about having control over her body. Alan Bennett uses humor in the play very well and it works with what the speech is about. 'I saw my legs today...that Devon was giving me a bath...whose legs do you think they are...well I have never known this place...'. In the drama repapered words is very common because it is showing Violets old age for example when a fellow if talking to violet he has to say hello about 5 time before violet answers him because she is not understanding what he is saying or can't hear what he is saying but violets response is 'bugger off' and
Alan Bennett's "Talking Heads" monologues are described as being 'short stories'. With reference to "Her Big Chance" discuss how Bennett Is able to create this genre with what seems to be one voice.
Alan Bennett's "Talking Heads" monologues are described as being 'short stories'. With reference to "Her Big Chance" discuss how Bennett Is able to create this genre with what seems to be one voice. Introduction After 30 years of a successful career of film, theatre, satire and television, Alan Bennett broke new dramatic ground with his series of monologues "Talking Heads". It was a new and brave idea to have just one character talking, keeping an audience gripped by asking them to listen to one characters thoughts and feelings. There is no action and this is unlike a more conventional play. Alan Bennett first appeared on stage in 1960 when he starred and co-authored the satirical review "Beyond the Fringe". Bennett's writing frequently focuses on the everyday and the mundane: sea-side holidays, lower-middle class pretensions, obsessions with class, cleanliness, propriety and sexual repression. Born in Yorkshire, Bennett's 'Englishness' and 'Northeness' are evident to see and the characters he writes about are rooted in a particular social environment but the issues they raise are more of a universal appeal. In "talking heads" each take gives the viewer privileged access to the innermost thoughts of an individual, who although we only hear his/her side of the story, frequently reveals more about himself/herself than intended. The characters are often deluded about