What, in your view, makes Alan Bennett's 'A cream cracker under the settee' an interesting piece of dramatic writing?

A noticeable aspect about the setting of the monologue is that it is not really made to stand out. With the exception of the passing policeman, we do not hear much from the neighborhood outside and as there are flats occupied by people such as Doris, we can assume it is a suburban lower class area. The are where Doris lives doesn’t seem to have changed, she still lives in the same flat that she has lived in for years, and she mentions other flats in the past that are still there. But people who lived near her have moved on and Doris doesn’t know her current neighbors which she isn’t bothered about, but I think she feels left behind now that her past fellow residents have moved on. The fact that she doesn’t know or care particularly about the people who live around her unlike she used to, shows that she turns her back on something if there is change, and she feels reluctant to join in because she may feel she is too old to fit into something new, therefore she isolates herself.

Alan Bennett does not make important information in the text stand out in any superior way to other topics. Wilfred is first mentioned when she looks at him in a photo, she doesn’t pacifically start talking about Wilfred, the memory of him is only triggered by the photo. The same thing happens with the memory of the miscarriage; the subject arises when she sees the pram, making her remember. The cracker plays a surprisingly large role in the monologue, apart from just being in the title. The fact that the cracker is under the settee shows us that Zulema does not clean properly, which is the main source of their conflict. In one case, Doris even looks at the cream cracker being under the settee as a way of threatening Zulema and putting her ‘in the unemployment exchange.’ She also goes against all she believes in with hygiene by eating the cream cracker, and eating it just before she allows herself to die shows it as a symbol of giving up. As the story moves on, Doris moves from the chair to the floor when she has the fall, and then eventually to the door downstairs. She starts of confident sitting on the settee, casually ranting about Zulema. Every time she moves she grows more vulnerable, and we discover her more serious and darker fears and memories. When she moves on to the floor, she discovers the cream cracker, and embarks on a wild fantasy adventure about getting Zulema fired with the cream cracker. Then comes the topic of the miscarriage. Next, she states her fears about Stafford House, the way they ‘mix up your teeth’ and how everyone is ‘smelling of pee.’ Finally she decides to let go of her life.

When Doris speaks, she has a characteristic of quoting from other people. For example, when she is talking about Zulema, she refers to what Zulema has said; ‘Do not attempt to dust. The dusting is my department.’ Doris also uses this in her speech when talking about Wilfred; ‘When I get a minute, Doris.’ Doris seems to use slang as well, one example being when she says ‘some leaves coming down now,’ when the correct English would be to say ‘There are some leaves coming down now.’ She does this on another occasion saying, ‘I was glad when she’d gone, dictating. Zulema speaks in short sharp sentences, effective for instructing and ‘dictating’ to Doris, ‘You are a lady of leisure. Your dusting says are over.’ Bennett does this to help express the personality of characters, and make them unique from each other. In terms of language used, Doris often uses two different meanings for phrases she uses, such as when she is talking about old names that are rarely used. She uses herself as the worthless name, Doris, and says they have no use and ‘belong in Stafford House.’

By using a monologue, the writer is able to show all of the main character’s thoughts and it also enables him to focus more on the character, Doris. You get to see her exact point of view of things, and you can feel her emotions more, as she is talking directly to an audience. As a piece of drama, I think this monologue is well written, but the audience grow tired even in twenty minutes of the piece being focused on her and her problems. I would have liked to have seen more characters, and a setting where there would be more to focus on than just Doris.