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Theme of death in literature
Theme of death in literature
Theme of death in literature
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Why Doris Decides to Take Her Own Life in Cream Cracker Under the Settee
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Why Doris Decides to Take Her Own Life in Cream Cracker Under the Settee Bennett’s “Cream cracker under the settee” is a moving monologue about Doris, a seventy five year old, fiercely independent and complex widower who lives on her own in fear of been moved to Stafford House. The play shows her reminiscing about her past, she thinks about many subjects including her late husband Wilfred, her childhood and painful memories of having her baby stillborn which has haunted her ever since. This is the reason foe her obsession with cleanliness. Through these memories I will explore the reasons contributing to Doris’ severe unhappiness and eventually to her suicide. I will also be looking at Zulema and the policeman who Bennett uses to voice society’s opinions and stereotypes of old people as well as Doris’ own attitude towards the elderly. The multi-layered title “A cream cracker under the settee” is very significant foe a number of reasons. It uses the old-fashioned words “cream cracker” and “settee” which suggest that the subject of the monologue is living in the past. After reading the script I noticed that the cream cracker refers to Doris because like the cream cracker she has been pushed out of sight and forgotten about, she is also fragile and crumbling. The fact that the title is not directly linked with Doris (the main character and subject of the monologue) suggests that Doris and old people in general are not seen by society as being important. It also indirectly links to her obsession with cleanliness steaming from her baby being born dead. This is an important subject throughout the monologue that Doris is still traumatised about over forty years later. We join Doris just after she has fallen from her buffet whilst trying to clean her wedding photo. The wedding photo reminds her of Wilfred and brings back happy memories. It is obvious that she misses him and without him she is lonely. She talks about him as if he is with her but she knows that he is dead: