Dramatic Monologue is a type of poem, in which a character in fiction or in history delivers a speech explaining his or her feelings, actions, or motives. The monologue is usually directed toward a silent audience, with the speaker's words influenced by a critical situation. An example of a dramatic monologue exists in ‘A Cream Cracker Under The Settee’ by Alan Bennett.
Alan Bennett uses Dramatic monologue very well in ‘A Cream Cracker Under The Settee’. It is from the point of view of an elderly lady called Doris, who is insistent that the world of her time is much better then the present. She dwells on the past and tells of how things were back then, and how it has changed for the worst. She had fallen while cleaning a picture of her husband Wilfred and most of the monologue is from Doris sitting on the floor in her living room where she fell. Her attitude to the modern world is that it used to be better then it is now, this also shows why she is disapproving of her home help, Zulema, who had not cleaned the picture in the first place.
Throughout the play Bennett reviles Doris’ character by showing her affection to the past, she talks to old photographs of her dead husband, Wilfred, and talks aloud to him. This indicates Doris’ apparent loneliness and how she feels “left behind” by the rest of her generation. When talking about the people she new in the past like Wilfred, she takes on there voice, this shows how she is desperate for company and misses them.
The whole play is set in the living room and hall of Doris’ house because she has fallen when attempting to dust an old
photograph. She has an obsession with cleanliness and hygiene and does not believe that Zulema does a good enough job.
Because of this she stereotypes all younger people and believes them all to be rude and not up to her high standards.
Doris does not approve of Zulema coming, because admitting she needs Zulema would mean forfeiting her independence. Because of the fact Doris...