“A card came from the opticians this morning…I thought that it was nice so I took my trusty Platinum and dashed off an answer forthwith.” Most people would see that the opticians were purely trying to make money out of her but she is oblivious to this and feels that she is special because they have taken the time to write to her expressing their concern about her eyes. Of course the opticians want her to think that because she will then think highly of them. It shows that she has a lot of spare time to reply to things like this, which then suggests that she has a poor social life and spends a lot of time in her house, on her own. Is also indicates that she is oblivious to a lot of things going on in the world. This is also shown when she describes the man across the road from her, “…one of those little vests on they have now without sleeves.”
There is also a clear indication that Irene doesn’t have much contact with men. Whilst in prison she is told by one of the other women about the ins and outs of sex. It is quite strange that a middle-aged woman would not know what to do if she was to be in a bed with a man. “…I should have been like a fish out of water…” she states!
She sees herself as being above a lot of people and she sees herself having a big role in her community. She spends a lot of her time observing other peoples lives and judging them by what they wear and the things they do. She accuses a family of neglecting a child but in fact the child had been in hospital. As a result of that she gets 2 social workers that visit her weekly. She is not dazed by this but instead sees it as a normal thing to have.
The character of Irene often contradicts herself. For example when she says, ‘The key note is participation’, this phrase used by Irene is interesting, as she does not participate herself. Her letters aren’t physical contribution and therefore not participation. She again contradicts herself. It illustrates to the audience a character flaw, as she continually contradicts herself and therefore is less believable when forming opinions or making statements. Miss. Ruddock is proud of her letters, and feels she’s partaking in the clean up of society. This is a fictional as her letters are mostly trivial or malicious to others, hardly significant.
Irene is very caught up in her own emotions and regardless of the situation of everyone around her she will continue to be unaffected by it and make comments that she sees as acceptable but are actually very inappropriate. For example in the last paragraph she talks about how Bridget is dreaming about the kiddy she killed, Irene says at the end of it, “…I’m so happy.” This shows how although she cares for Bridget she is untouched by her sadness and screams.
The way the play write brings the character of Irene across in the play is clever because it brings out a lot of emotions in the audience. They feel sorry for Irene because she is so isolated and lonely but they feel angry because of her obliviousness to the things that they can see so clearly. They also feel a sense of hate for Irene when she is being so cheeky to the police officers and when she finds out about the child being ill, she seems not to even care.
It is hard to relate to the character of Irene because today there are not many people that live a life style similar to hers. People tend to mix with people more and spend more time socialising and participating in things, where as Irene tends to keep herself to herself and stay in her own house.
