A Cream Cracker Under the Settee

Bennett makes us want to ask many questions. “It is such a silly thing to have done.” This makes us want to know what she has done, and what is silly.   Bennett uses everyday experiences. “I should never have tried to dust.”   This is good, as nowadays people can relate to the quotation.   Doris is an interesting character, she is old.   “Doris is in her seventies.”   The means she can tell us all about the 20th century.



Bennett’s play ‘A Cream Cracker Under The Settee.’ (A Cream Cracker) is a monologue.   Monologue is a Greek word, mono, meaning one and logue, meaning to speak or talk.   Doris is a character in her seventies, and the only speaker in the play.   Advantages of this are, you get to know the character - Doris - very well, this makes the play easier to follow, also with just one speaker more interesting stories can be told.   But having one speaker could also be a disadvantage, this is because the play relies heavily on one performance, which after a while could get tedious.   Bennett employs the technique to make the play more interesting, it helps us to understand more.



Bennett puts other speakers in the play.   “Well Zulema, how is she coping?” and “I don’t want to hear that you’ve been touching the Ewbank.”   Bennett uses different speakers so the play isn’t just one old lady talking and it doesn’t get boring.   Bennett uses unusual language.   “You don’t have to swill the flags.”   This makes the play sound more realistic as you can relate to it.   Bennett uses different length sentences.   “What you don’t understand, Doris, is that I am the only person that stands between you and Stafford House” this is a long sentence showing Zulema, a much younger woman than Doris, bossing her about in her own home, “home hindrance.”   This is a short sentence showing Doris complaining about Zulema.



One of the issues Bennett highlights in the script is that people don’t care about appearances anymore.   “Them’s her leaves” is a...