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

After reading a selection of soliloquys from Alan Bennetts public lecture Heads, I was inspired to right one of my own. In my soliloquy the concentre is on a young miss who lives alone with her father, who abuses her. The title, A fathers love, is humorous 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 caustic remark to engage the hearing.The opening stage directions show some aspects of the characters lifestyle,Emma sits on a battered leather armchair in a plain living get onFrom reading this, the audience will be able to identify the inadequate lifestyle that the girl experiences this is also shown in a further pot of stage directionsEmma is washing dishes in a basic, untidy looking kitchen.In both instances there are hints of poverty, yet her father finds enough capital to go to the pub at night. This helps to reveal her fathers character and his priorities.In the fron tmost section of the monologue there is no intimation as to what the riddle could be, exclusively as the monologue progresses the clues be serve clearer and the audience may moderate more of an idea of what the girl is experiencing. For example,I said I was wretched about the medication but it really wasnt my fault, there wasnt a imply 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 non to go to schoolhouse. It now becomes unmingled that he has hit her. To create a more obvious clue I had to re draft my monologue in order for the audience to pick up on the problem,How sess 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 commencement ceremony but do become more obvious as the monologue progresses.I tried to create cataclysm in the monologue by portraying the young girl as feeling alone in the world she lives alone with her bad tempered father who drinks a lot. The tragedy is that she doesnt want to walk 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 unless through 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 any longer I just hope he isnt drunk again.This demonstrates her fear of her father.The endure 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 adult male is heard shouting from off stage Hes home (Frightened)I wee 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.