Alan Bennet’s “Talking Heads” – A monologue commentary

After reading a selection of monologues from Alan Bennetts Talking Heads, I was inspired to right one of my own. In my monologue the focus is on a little girlfriend who lives but with her military chaplain, who abuses her. The title, A fathers love, is ironic because if her father loved her, then why would he abuse her? This tie in to the monologues written by Alan Bennett as he also uses the technique of irony to engage the audience.The opening coiffe directions show some aspects of the characters lifestyle,Emma sits on a battered leather armchair in a plain quick roomFrom reading this, the audience will be able to attain the poor lifestyle that the girl experiences this is also shown in a further set of stage directionsEmma is washing dishes in a basic, frowzled looking kitchen.In both instances there are hints of poverty, yet her father finds enough money to go to the pub at night. This helps to reveal her fathers character and his priorities.In the inaugural section o f the monologue there is no clue as to what the problem could be, further as the monologue progresses the clues become clearer and the audience may moderate much of an idea of what the girl is experiencing. For example,I said I was sorry about the medication but it really wasnt my fault, there wasnt a need for the way he reacted.There it becomes obvious to the audience that the girls father has a bad temper. This idea is developed in the next section of the monologue as the girl debates whether or not to go to school. It now becomes apparent that he has hit her. To fabricate a more obvious clue I had to re draft my monologue in order for the audience to houseclean up on the problem,How can I go to school with a face like this I could just tell everyone I fell down the stairs.The clues are really subtle at first but do become more obvious as the monologue progresses.I tried to create tragedy in the monologue by portraying the young girl as feeling alone in the world she lives al one with her bad tempered father who drinks a lot. The tragedy is that she doesnt want to locomote out on her father but she knows that its not safe for her to stay. I think that the audience could identify this in the monologue. In my monologue, it shows the father suprising the young girl with a shopping trip this was only through with(predicate) guilt. Its tragic that he has to show his love for his daughter by buying presents and not through affection. By the end of the monologue we can see that there has been no change in the attitude of the father, although he promises his daughter that things will change, they dont. Emma says,He promised me that he wasnt going to do this anymore I just trust he isnt drunk again.This demonstrates her fear of her father.The last set of stage directions shows that the girl is frightened and that her father hasnt changed. The young girl knows what is going to happen when her father comes home.A door slams and a man is heard shouting from off stage Hes home (Frightened)I have tried to end my monologue on a tragic note, but leave the audience in suspense. It shows that the father has broke his promise and come in drunk again, but there is no indication as to whether he will beat his daughter.