Born in Yorkshire in 1934, Alan Bennett. :: English Literature

innate(p) in Yorkshire in 1934, Alan Bennett.Born in Yorkshire in 1934, Alan Bennett has been writing, performingand tell since his first theatrical encounters as a student atOxford in the too soon 1960s.He first gained success at the Edinburgh Festival grace and later, incollaboration with Dudley Moore, Peter Cooke and Jonathan Miller,enjoyed considerable acclaim with the original beyond the Fringe.(www.museum.tv. Accessed 26/01/03)Alan Bennett is the archetypal Northerner, his bespeckled, dourappearance make him an unlikely notoriety and he would not look out ofplace as a slightly muddled professor or, as Bennett himself observes,a vicar. He says on the subject of appearances people often end updoing what the mirror tells them they be desirable for, while feelingthemselves quite different inside. And in the process substantial lives arethrown away (Observer.co.uk. Accessed 21/01/03)Bennett writes about ordinary people, involved in mundane activities,but with his unique style he give the gate enliven up the dullest tale and addinterest to lifes lonely outcasts.Although the stories in talk of the town Heads are fiction, it is easy to seethat some are influenced from events in Bennetts early life. Hismother suffered from depression and he uses his experience of mentalillness as a core for some of his characters. As he says, the peoplehe writes about are part of a story to the meaning of which they arenot entirely privy (Observer.co.uk. Accessed 21/01/03)A reflection of Bennetts own sexuality can be seen in the characterof Graham in A lop off in the Sugar, who is portrayed as an uncomfortablehomosexual. Bennett described his sexuality during an query in theNew Yorker in 1993 thus Id always been in make do with guys but alwaysunhappily (Observer.co.uk. Accessed 21/01/03)Although not included in the collections of lecture Heads, the conceptactually started with A Woman of No Importance, which was firsttelevised in 1982. It began the impulsion that Be nnett carried on in bothTalking Heads 1 and 2. Both of these compilations keep works withsimilar themes running through them, loneliness, unhappiness,alienation from a changed society, and unsung mental illness. Theironic wit Bennett uses to convey the almost tragic stories arecentral to how the characters accept the way their lives have turnedout (www.museum.tv. Accessed 21/01/03)The theme of loneliness and alienation from a changed society runslike a thread through all six of the first Talking Heads stories. to each oneof the characters portray a struggle to fit in with everyday life,some are but and lonely, and some in a relationship of some kind,yet yet lonely. The gentle humour used in each of the tales makes