How does Alan Bennett show the changes in the character of Miss Ruddock in the Taking Head monologue ‘A Lady of Letters’?
During the 1980s, Alan Bennett wrote a series of low-budget monologues, which together formed Talking Heads. They were written for and broadcasted by the BBC in 1987 (and set in the 1980s), and were ideal for the BBC at the time as they were cutting their broadcasting budget. The monologues were very low cost because they require only one actor and writer, normally no more than two cameras, and little to no props, special effects, lighting or sound. A Lady of Letters has a basic storyline surrounding one main character and therefore fits the monologue style of writing extremely well. Talking Heads was also beneficial to the BBC as it differed from other dramas at the time such as Boys from the Blackstuff and Auf Weidersehen Pet, because it only includes one person’s point of view and only one person is talking. Talking Heads is also a synonym for boredom in TV, which is quite ironic as Miss Ruddock in A Lady of Letters is a bored and lonely woman. A Lady of Letters deals with issues such as loneliness, isolation, people not seeing themselves in the way the audience sees them and failure to accept the truth – Miss Ruddock experiences all of these feelings. Bennett’s monologues generally deal with everyday topical issues, as the audience can relate to matters that affect them personally.
Alan Bennett shows change in society – the 1980s were very different from when he was growing up in the 50s and 60s. When he was young, the community would have been very close and everyone would have known each other; however, in the 80s community Miss Ruddock feels as though she does not know anybody and is stuck in the p...
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...lled with useful tasks. This largely contributes towards her change of attitude in life. Bennett is trying to show the audience there is little point in living in the past, becoming too prejudiced or judging people on appearances as it doesn’t get you anywhere in life. He is also trying to tell the audience to make the most of life as it is, be friendly and try to be a useful, active part of the community as you will feel better for it. On top of this, Bennett also makes the audience realize that you should not prejudge people, for example Miss Ruddock appears to the audience to be a self centered vindictive old lady, but in actual fact she only appears this way due her to her loneliness. A Lady of Letters is a very successful monologue and an interesting piece of work. Bennett has managed to convey his message to the audience in an effective and appealing fashion.
Many of Bennett's characters are unfortunate and downtrodden, as in the Talking Heads series of monologues that was first performed at the Comedy Theatre in London in 1992, and then transferred to television. This was a sextet of poignantly comic pieces, each of which portrayed several stages in the character's decline from their initial state of denial or ignorance of their predicament, through their slow realization of the hopelessness of their situation, to a typically bleak Bennett conclusion.
... 1960’s were against intellect and to discourage, they resorted to physical abuse or bullying. The aforementioned builds empathy and positions the reader to challenge the views of the 1960’s. Similarly when the Shire President who should be a good guy, is in reality a heavy alcoholic and someone who sexually abuses his own children. Henceforth this displays moral duality, a major theme, and correspondingly includes the 1960’s Australian context of alcoholism. Moral duality is also presented through Ruth Bucktin, the Sargent, Mrs Wishart, the town folk and even Eliza Wishart. A big issue of the 1960’s was the racism that was present. Likewise, Corrigan exhibits racism especially on the Vietnamese, Lu family. It is the time of the Vietnam War, national service, recruiting men to fight in Vietnam, and the fear of communism was very much present throughout Australia.
the message the authors communicate, the differences between the main characters and the foils must be first observed. In Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, one of the minor characters is Charlotte Lucas, which is Elizabeth Bennet’s friend. While her role in the novel is relatively small, her actions are nevertheless significant in understanding Elizabeth. In the novel, Charlotte hastily agrees to marry Mr. Collins. At the age of 27 years, Charlotte already qualifies as an old maid and thus feels the pressure of marrying unless she grows old poor and alone. The pressure in turn represents Charlotte as...
Lydia’s understatements in her letter to Mrs. Forster reveal her genuine motives of true love and minimize the severity of ignoring her family’s expectations. Austen develops climax in the story through downplaying Lydia’s opinion of her frowned upon marriage as she giggles, “For it will make the surprise greater, when I write to them, and sign my name Lydia Wickham. What a good joke it will be” (276). Lydia’s casual tone expresses Austen’s satirical message: that the pressures on women may backfire and influence them to unconsciously rebel against the status quo. As Lydia runs away and laughs about the shame she brings to her family, Austen provides a climax against 19th century society by warning of the consequences of too much
and Mrs. Gardiner, she received two letters from her older sister Jane, regarding her youngest sister Lydia and a surprise. The first letter states: “Since writing the above, dearest Lizzy, something has occurred of a most unexpected and serious nature; but I am afraid of alarming you—be assured that we are well. What I have to say relates to poor Lydia. An express came at twelve last night, just as we were all gone to bed, from Colonel Foster, to inform us that she was gone off to Scotland with one of his officers; to own the truth, with Wickham” (Chapter 46, page 157)! This letter about Lydia’s elopement with Wickham shocked Elizabeth, and the whole family was thrown into turmoil. Jane wrote this letter in such a frantic way she stated at the end that she hardly knew what she had written. Her tone was commiserating, because she felt dreadful for bringing about this news while Elizabeth was out of town. This letter gives us an insight of Lydia’s frivolous character, as well as Jane’s compassionate personality. Through all the turmoil that Lydia put the family through, Jane still took the time to keep Elizabeth informed and included in the family business while she was away. Jane’s letter is very ironic considering how Mr. Wickham is viewed as a gold digger earlier in the novel, and then suddenly he is eloping with Lydia. It is known that the Bennet family has no money to offer, so Wickham’s intentions were questionable
Lady Bracknell, as a character, acts as a caricature of Victorian society and morality, and when her views aspects of gender relations and matrimonial relations receive inspection, her true significance appears. Wilde intends to evoke laughter through her extremely strict and antiquated morals, but at a deeper level, he seeks to attack any system of rigid morals that often plague societies.
The first character we encounter is Mrs. Freeman. She is the wife of Mrs. Hopewell's tenant farmer. She is a very outspoken woman, and "she [can] never be brought to admit herself wrong on any point" (O'Connor 180). Mrs. Freeman is a gossip; she is nosy and she "ha[s] a special fondness for the details of secret infections, hidden deformities, assaults upon children" (O'Connor 183).
a passage from the letter she is writing to add a personal feel to the
In Austen's Pride and Prejudice, Lady Catherine De Bourgh's words, actions and dialogues all reveal her as a supercilious and domineering figure. Lady Catherine's "manner" of receiving her visitors making them realize their "inferior rank", shows her selfishness, and portrays her as a character who not only is arrogant, but has an unpleasant attitude. Selfishness often applies to those egoistic of character, and Lady Catherine's sense of superiority over her guests suggests she makes her guests realize that their potential is lower than hers and that she is more powerful than them. Lady Catherine's supercilious trait is portrayed in her comments to Elizabeth Bennett about her "instrument", which she calls "capital", being "superior" to her.
Austen satirizes the expectation that women must marry wealthy men, primarily through tone and diction. The novel opens by stating that a wealthy bachelor “must” (5) want a wife. The word “must” implies that a rich man is entitled to want a wife, and that entitlement is granted by the social norms of the time. The word also adds to Austen’s sarcasm that a wealthy man is obligated to want a wife, she mocks this mindset. This idea is further ridiculed through the character of Mrs.Bennet, who describes to her husband the man she wishes to be her son-in-law. During this description, Mrs.Bennet mentions the man’s abundance of fortune, and how much he is worth but fails to mention his name. Austen deliberately chooses to leave out the man’s name in her description in order to depict the idea that, personality or compatibility is not regarded when marriage eligibility is being determined, rather only wealth and reputation is regarded. Austen satirizes this mindset interactions between the incompatible Mr. and Mrs.Bennet. Through an abundance of dialogue, it is evident that Mrs.Bennet is talkative and a gossiper. Contrastingly, Mr.Bennet barely speaks or even replies to Mrs.Bennet, suggesting his lack of interest. Mrs.Bennet “impatiently” (5) waits for Mr.Bennet to reply and partake in her gossip, but he does not seem to take much interest
Alan Bennett presents his characters in Talking Heads by writing the plays in the form of monologue. By employing this technique he has managed to create a rich and detailed World in which his stories unfold but, he only allows us to see it through the eyes of a single narrator. When reading a play that is presented in this manner it is possible to lose sight of the fact that you are only getting one person’s version of events and you may start to believe that you are having conversations reported to you verbatim. This is a clever mechanism because the narrators can often be unreliable and lead the reader to form opinions and draw conclusions that quite often turn out to be unfounded and false. The term “Talking heads is a synonym in television for boredom” (Bennett, 2007, p, 10) yet, these talking heads are certainly not boring, the settings may be drab and ordinary, the characters are not exciting or inspiring yet, the gossipy way in which the stories are told hooks the reader in. Fitting neatly into the genre of tragicomedy it is perhaps fitting that the ‘tragic’ comes before the ‘comedy’, certainly the dramatist infuses the plays with a rich dose of humour but the melancholy subject matter and the often quite sad and lonely characters always counter balances the laughs with a tinge of sadness.
...ove his lack of responsible action, and Charlotte Lucas’s inability to take action on achieving contentment, serve as character foils to Elizabeth, illuminating her ability to evaluate her mistakes and take action for the better good. Bennet dismissed his chance to change not because he couldn’t, but because he did not want to. Although he was an intelligent man, it does no good to be smart if one cannot apply intelligence towards self-awareness and towards applying action in turning foibles into strengths Charlotte, also an intelligent character, failed to apply a balance of reasoning and action in her decision, sacrificing a lifetime of happiness for comfort and economic stability. Therein lies the value of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice: It emphasizes that in life, self-awareness is nothing, unless action and reasoning are used in every opportunity to change.
... Darcy and Elizabeth. Additionally, Austen sculpts the theme of social expectations and mores using the self-promoting ideology and behaviors of Lady Catherine as fodder for comic relief. Austen does not simply leave the image of the gilded aristocracy upon a pedestal; she effectively uses the unconventional character of Elizabeth to defy aristocratic authority and tradition. In fact, Austen's proposed counter view of the aristocracy by satirizing their social rank. Lady Catherine is effectively used as a satirical representation of the aristocracy through her paradoxical breach of true social decorum and her overblown immodesty. Evidently, Lady Catherine is nothing short of the critical bond that holds the structure of Pride and Prejudice together.
...f society and the desire to marry into a higher class, she is able to expose her own feelings toward her society through her characters. Through Marianne and Elinor she displays a sense of knowing the rules of society, what is respectable and what is not, yet not always accepting them or abiding by them. Yet, she hints at the triviality and fakeness of the society in which she lived subtly and clearly through Willoughby, John Dashwood and Edward Ferrars. Austen expertly reveals many layers to the 19th century English society and the importance of having both sense and sensibility in such a shallow system.
...rotagonist, Jane is presented in the role of a lower class woman. This is evident in the way that she must work to support herself. Mrs. Fairfax, the tenant at Thornfield Hall is presented in the role of a middle to upper class woman. Although she does not have a family of her own, which is uncharacteristic of middle class women in Victorian times, she has a well paid job and a wonderful house to live in. Charlotte Bronte has given the reader an insight into the role of upper class women through the character of Miss Ingram. She has no job, as her principle in life is to bear a child. Her days consist of social outings and reading or playing the piano. It is therefore evident that there was a great division between the social classes with women. The roles of women altered largely between classes, and Charlotte Bronte has focused on this significantly in her novel.