Alan Bennett's Talking Heads Essay

Bennett's Characterisation of Graham in A Chip in the Sugar and Irene in A Lady of Letters

A large part of the pathos used is in the form of loaded language, which is used to make her audience understand the severity of the oppression women faced during the Women's Century. Throughout her address, Catt used the rhetorical device of emotional diction to continuously imprint upon the audience a mixed feeling; disgust toward the mistreatment the women of that time faced, and gratefulness for the change that suffrage leaders, like Carrie Chapman Catt herself, gave to the women that sat in the audience the day she gave her speech. The words 'suffered,' 'epithet,' and 'humiliating,' were strategically placed at points in Catt's essay to add emphasis to her many emotional appeals to her. Few instances of humor are used to make the tone of the speech less melancholic, in addition to providing examples of the different ways women during that time discovered loopholes and challenged the rigid rules and customs involving women. One anecdote that perfectly encompasses this strategy pertains to a woman who attended town meetings in place of her husband, and discovered that by starting her opinions with 'my husband thinks', she could bypass the social custom that women could not speak in public. Although this is not an overly humorous story, it does aid in alleviating

Melinda was an outcast and loner in high school who was overwhelmed, fearful, and confused with her life and her environment at school. She was always silent in class and afraid to speak in front of people. Many students today might feel the need to fit in with other people so they wouldn’t have to be looked down upon. As we take a look at Melinda’s life we’ll be able to see how she handles her daily conflicts. In the book, Speak, Melinda Sordino, an incoming freshman at Merryweather High, starts her year off with a terrible start. She’s stuck with a mean history teacher, by who she calls Mr. Neck and a whole bunch of other weird teachers like her English teacher of who she calls, Hairwomen, because of her crazy, uncombed

When in a conversation, she constantly responds and is usually lengthy. She is typically the primary speaker, or the one who talk the most in any conversation she has. The nurse in Act1 scene 3, line 401, she begins a long wordy paragraph ability Christmas and the past time of her life. This quote is stating that the nurse sets many lengthy speeches in the most random moments. As we see, the nurse tends to want to say a lot and wants to get it all out in short matter of time.

In Jane Austen’s “Emma,” conversations reveal the social concerns and the character of its participants. Each contributor has a unique and therefore biased perspective that informs how they appear in a conversation. The eponymous protagonist, Emma is oft seen making judgments whether in dialogue or through free indirect discourse, such that her own shortcomings and biases are elucidated. Emma willing enters into a disagreement with her step-brother, Mr. Knightley, on the elusive Frank Churchill. She admittedly plays devil’s advocate as a source of amusement. Despite taking on a perspective she feels she doesn’t really have, Emma, reveals her values and Mr. Knightley reveals his. The conversation later proves the catalyst for which Emma and

Further solidifying the bond of the women are the intonation of lines, the lines, and stage directions. When Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters arrive at the conclusion that Minnie Wright is the murderer, they convey their awareness in nonverbal actions. Mrs. Hale shares “She used to sing. He killed that, too” (Glaspell 1116). Mrs. Peters replies “[Moving uneasily.]” and “[With rising voice.]” (Glaspell 1116). Grose acknowledges their unspoken language. “What makes this communication even more complex and important from a gendered perspective is the added dimension of conversation and unspoken signals between Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters” (Grose 2). Grose arrives at the conclusion that their nonverbal communication links all three women together forming

Jane Austen is well known as a novelist for her satirical representation of female characters in late Georgian society. During this period, novel writing and reading was still a controversial topic, and as such was incorporated in her book Northanger Abbey (1817), which has at its core a young female protagonist obsessed with novels. We can clearly interpret Northanger Abbey as Austen’s satirical response to the social conventions decrying novel reading, as she uses an intrusive narrator and more subtle supplementary techniques to comment on and satirize the debate surrounding novels.

By exploring both of their characters in the narration Austen is able to critique the way the Mr Collins worships Lady Catherine De Bourgh for her affability due to his obsequious ways, therefore commenting on the way that those in society whom are wealthy are raised on a pedestal by those around them. This is reiterated in the BBC adaptation through the expressions and gestures of Elizabeth which provide a tone that the absent narrator in the television series cannot. An example of this is the sarcastic way which Elizabeth responds to Mr Collins comment on her being “simply dressed” in which she reassures him that “it is of great comfort” with a wry smile. The incorporation of a quote that is not in the book provides an alternative of portraying the satirical humour with which Mr Collins is received and complements the intentions of the novels. The satirical tone present within the books narration and adaption’s use of expressions separates Elizabeth and Mr Collins to critique the way those in society obsess over those whom are

1. Speaks her mind- “I hate poetry,’ Ada insisted.” (15) “Go away,’ saida small but determined voice from the wicker box.”(11) “ It’s not fair that miss Coverlet had to go marry stupid Cecil.” (13) “Your IMPOSIBLE!’ yelled Ada. . .”(13) “Just soggy horse poo.” (26) “A cannon. For shooting Peebs out of.” (29) “ It’s not Mr. Peebs,’mumbled Ada. . .” (31) “ . . . ‘You can’t be serious. I don’t know you.”(32) “ Criminals Aren’t very clever,” Ada declared.” (55)

Following the works and days of Margaret Thatcher, from her humble beginnings as a Grantham grocer’s daughter to the lowest steps of the Conservative Party, and eventually, to the Prime Minister’s seat of the United Kingdom, an elderly and senile Margaret converses with her dead husband Dennis’ ghost.

First there is Mrs Bennett who is portrayed as an antagonist of sorts in the

Jane Austen is prone to creating characters that depend upon this sort of discussion. Throughout the novel, Pride and Prejudice, we are often given character analyses through the dialogue among other characters, rather than an author’s direct description. Through these dialogues, readers are able to portray each character through the opinions and attitudes of other characters within the story.

In contrast to the two plays, Joyce uses a voiceless character in ‘Eveline’ to portray a total breakdown of expression in the protagonist. The most poignant part of Eveline’s paralysis is in the concluding paragraphs of the story, where the repetition of Frank’s voice shouting ‘–Come! […] –Come! […] ‘–Eveline! Evvy!’, is met with silence (Joyce 2000: 34). Trevor L. Williams, in his discussion on loss of linguistic ownership, uses Eveline as an example to show ‘the tendency (frequent in Joyce) for characters not to be in control of language […] for characters simply not to possess a language, to be, like Eveline, voiceless’ (1989: 438). He argues, as a response to this, that ‘most females, like most males, in Dubliners are […] complicit in their own oppression’ (438). Expanding on what Williams states, it can be maintained that Eveline is ‘complicit’ in her own oppression, because of her inability to explain herself to either Frank or her family. Also, the only opportunity she is given to escape is wasted through her inability to express herself. However, her failure to reply to Frank can also be read as literal speech paralysis. The final line of ‘Eveline’ is ‘[h]er eyes gave him no sign of love or farewell or recognition’ (34), showing how Joyce even uses her body language to show that she is physically incapable of replying. Using this, in relation to my previous argument, it can be

Pride and Prejudice, written by Jane Austen, is a humorous portrayal of the social atmosphere of late eighteenth and early nineteenth century England. The novel is much more than a comedic love story. However, through Austen’s subtle and ironic style, it addresses economic, political, feminist, sociological, philosophical themes, inspiring a great deal of diverse critical commentary on the meaning of the work. The proposal of the Mr. Collins to Elizabeth occurs in Chapter 19 of the novel and is a typical example of his stupidity and arrogance. Austen use of the art of dialogue is modeled the characters usage of verbal irony, or satire which is what ‘holds’ the conversations/ disagreements together. Chapter 19 is a great example of how she

With most characters in Austen’s novel, they often tend to give a different impression of themselves from the one they intended; a type of irony present in Austen’s novel. An illustration of this is Mrs Bennett, who adopts a sentence structure which is long and rambling, portraying her as a woman of ‘mean understanding, little information and uncertain temper’ (pg 7). The use of the triple syntactical structure by the narrator is forcing this painted portrait of Mrs Bennett’s character on the reader, and therefore right from chapter one this is how we think of her till the very end of the book. The phrase ‘little information’ could also reflect on her moral status in the novel. Due to her ‘little information’, Mrs Bennett usually talks about inappropriate or unnecessary subject matters. For example, during chapter 9, Mrs Bennett’s states she ‘dine with four and twenty families’ (pg 43). This choice of subject matter is firstly unnecessary and inappropriate constructing her as narrow minded. Additionally, not being able to speak appropriately is punished by receiving a lower moral status in the novel than those who are able to such as the Gardiners. Could