Alan Bennett-writer of these monologues was born in 1934 in Yorkshire

Alan Bennett-writer of these monologues was born in 1934 in Yorkshire

but spent most of his adult life in London.

Alan Bennett-writer of these monologues-was born in 1934 in Yorkshire

but spent most of his adult life in London. Although he was aware of

two cultures much of his writing reflects the northern characters and

views of his youth and the British way of life.

Bennett called these monologues accounts of "ordinary, uneventful,

desperate lives." Sometimes called "gossip as Drama" because of the

intimacy of the television screen.

Bennett quoted-" We are presented with 'a single point of view' but

become aware of the unconscious revelation of the character and

relationships. We hear other voices as well."

In the 1980s there were many single plays for TV and these monologues

fitted perfectly with this and the use of the TV as a medium. They

began as six, 40 minute plays on a Sunday evening to suit that viewing

audience, serials came in like Brookside 1982 and East Enders in 1985,

and so such plays were replaced.

In the 1950s and the 1960s society underwent a lot of change. Before

that, communities were tightly knit; the elderly were part of the

family and neighbours knew each other. The elderly were treated with

great respect and marriage was seen as being for life. Many of these

characters long for that past-others, like Mrs Whittaker, preferred a

change. There are few direct references to current events though:

these are about private, not public lives.

Now society tries to take over what the community did before e g,

Stafford House and the therapy group. This Britain is multi-cultural

too-Zulema and the local shops. This is how the history of the

monologue formed. I think that TV has replaced Browning's format

because times had changed and as more people were born and bred in the

new age they began to forget how times used to be as the people from

those times had either died or come forward into the modern age,

making the past times history.

Assignment: Twentieth Century Drama

In the world of Bennett's monologues, what views of old age are

presented by the writer?

Introduction

"How dull it is to pause, to make an end, to rust unburnished, not to

shine in use! As though to breathe were life"-Ulysses by Alfred

Tennyson.

This quote relates well to the studied monologues. It shows that

Ulysses felt that he didn't want to become slow and useless after

twenty years of being active and fighting battles, fighting for the

king and his country in a foreign land, like in a war hero story. He

does not wish "to rust unburnished"-meaning that he does not want to