A lady of letters
A lady of Letters- harmless
Social, cultural and historical context: Theatre- exclusive environment- attended by people who are quite well off-upper class/Up until the 18thcentury people only went to see Shakespeare /“ French Window Dramas” new kind of play in 20thcentury UC play for UC audience/Up until the 1920s the theatre was only for the UP/ 1930s FWD go out of fashion- plays started to have a social conscience 1950s FWD disappeared- “Kitchen Sink Dramas” became popular for lower class, ordinary people who were dealing with problems- 1960s ordinary people go to the theatre/ 1980s society had changed completely Margret Thatcher “there is no such thing as society” Lady of Letters written at this time- Alan Bennett(socialist, working class wants to destroy MT’s views) wrote the play for a mix between FWD and KSD /PLAYS: Audience has to engage, you are the only other character- monologue the 4th wall/ You only get to make up your mind on that 1 character VERY IMPORTANT/ NOTHING EXPERIMENTAL ONLY THING UNUSAL IS THAT THERE IS ONLY 1 CHARACTER
Miss Irene Ruddock, the narrator of the monologue, is a lonely, unhappy “ordinary middle aged woman” who has no friends or family and lives alone in her plain house. At start she is angry, aggressive, bitter and resentful to everyone and everything. She writes malicious letters to unseen characters which show her views of people and how society affects her life.
We mostly see her in a plain room there is no decorations which might suggest her lack of interest in doors- shows she doesn’t have any friends or family- proven when she refers to her pen as “a real friend” very lonely women CLOTHES- DULL DEPRESSING
We know that she is desperate for company and interaction and uses writing letters for this (mad) “at least it’s an outing” about the old women who died- we see her desperately try and make a connection with the lady who passed away- spent years thinking “her name was Hamersley and in fact was Pringle” another
Social, cultural and historical context: Theatre- exclusive environment- attended by people who are quite well off-upper class/Up until the 18thcentury people only went to see Shakespeare /“ French Window Dramas” new kind of play in 20thcentury UC play for UC audience/Up until the 1920s the theatre was only for the UP/ 1930s FWD go out of fashion- plays started to have a social conscience 1950s FWD disappeared- “Kitchen Sink Dramas” became popular for lower class, ordinary people who were dealing with problems- 1960s ordinary people go to the theatre/ 1980s society had changed completely Margret Thatcher “there is no such thing as society” Lady of Letters written at this time- Alan Bennett(socialist, working class wants to destroy MT’s views) wrote the play for a mix between FWD and KSD /PLAYS: Audience has to engage, you are the only other character- monologue the 4th wall/ You only get to make up your mind on that 1 character VERY IMPORTANT/ NOTHING EXPERIMENTAL ONLY THING UNUSAL IS THAT THERE IS ONLY 1 CHARACTER
Miss Irene Ruddock, the narrator of the monologue, is a lonely, unhappy “ordinary middle aged woman” who has no friends or family and lives alone in her plain house. At start she is angry, aggressive, bitter and resentful to everyone and everything. She writes malicious letters to unseen characters which show her views of people and how society affects her life.
We mostly see her in a plain room there is no decorations which might suggest her lack of interest in doors- shows she doesn’t have any friends or family- proven when she refers to her pen as “a real friend” very lonely women CLOTHES- DULL DEPRESSING
We know that she is desperate for company and interaction and uses writing letters for this (mad) “at least it’s an outing” about the old women who died- we see her desperately try and make a connection with the lady who passed away- spent years thinking “her name was Hamersley and in fact was Pringle” another