The monologue is called “The Letterbox” and it was written by Ann Marie Di Mambro. It is about a mother called Martha who is a victim of domestic abuse, but refuses to tell other people for fear of what they might think or what might happen to her daughter, Wendy. The focus of my essay is to discuss the means by which the playwright creates sympathy for the character of Martha and Wendy in this dramatic monologue. 

                Our sympathies are immediately engaged when we realise that the young lovers have cruelly ignored Martha who is bleeding and in pain. The quotation, “They turn their back and walk away,” clearly illustrates both the couple’s ignorance and their lack of kindness because they have walked away from Martha, assuming she is drunk and avoiding the problem of helping her even when she is quite obviously in pain. In addition, “turns her away from the sight,” effectively conveys the idea that Jack cares little for strangers because he does not try and help Martha and instead tries to draw his girlfriend’s attention away from Martha on to  himself again. This creates sympathy because Martha clearly needs help and Jack decides that helping her would just be a nuisance and acts selfish by drawing his girlfriends on to him again obviously believing that he is a lot more important that helping the badly injured Martha.

                Despite Jack’s indifference, the range of emotions displayed by Martha from stoical acceptance to straight forward tearfulness keeps the audience hooked and sympathetic to her plight. The quotations, “A wee bit sore,” and “It’s just a big scratch that’s all,” strongly displays Martha’s acceptance of the situation and her refusal to believe that it is a very bad situation which Martha reinforces by understating the severity of the injuries inflicted upon her. This creates sympathy because she is obviously creating more problems for herself by not admitting the extent of her injuries and realising that she needs medical help or her injuries will likely get worse. The fact that she is trying to be strong in her situation for Wendy creates more sympathy because of the pain she must really be in and admiration for her ability to be strong in her dire situation. Furthermore, “I’ll not cry anymore,” perfectly demonstrates that Martha has been trying and acts as a contrast to the acceptance of her situation. All three of these quotations invoke sympathy because it shows that Martha is in an unstable state, with part of her accepting the horrible position that she is in and part of her hugely depressed and hurt about it.

                Further focus on Martha is achieved through the use of the ellipsis device to depict Wendy’s side of the conversation. However the use of ellipsis also invites audience participation because we must create a voice for Wendy. Being a child and being trapped in this situation invokes deep sympathy in the audience. The quotation, “You what?….oh don’t worry about it. Just take off the wet sheet,” cleverly exhibits Wendy’s fear because it suggests that she has wet the bed which is something she would probably do if she was scared or nervous. Sympathy for Wendy is because she is obviously fearful. She is also in the middle of the problem and some of our sympathy for her is our perception of what could happen and not what has actually happened.

In addition, we feel sympathy for Wendy when she is making suggestions to Martha to try and get them out of their situation. The quotation, “What’s that?…Yes, I know it would be nice, but where could we go, eh?” accurately portrays Martha’s refusal to accept that there is a way out of her current situation because rather taking Wendy’s suggestions and attempting to make them work she instantly rejects them and proceeds to point out the flaws in the idea. This creates sympathy because it shows that Martha has lost all hope and desire to escape the position she is in and know is trying to crush Wendy’s hope for escape and keep the situation consistent, however horrible that situation is. Similarly, “You’ve got to write what?…Oh God no. No hen, no. Don’t write about this,” skilfully proves that Martha wants nobody to know about the domestic abuse. This is because she fears that the police would get involved and take Wendy away from her. These two quotations make us feel sympathy for Wendy because she is stuck in the middle of a horrible situation but still manages to think of solutions. The audience will feel disappointment or even anger towards Martha for suppressing Wendy’s ideas, but also sympathy because she is not willing to risk having Wendy taken from her and from her protection.

                Her use of a simple song at the end of the monologue further creates sympathy. The song is a summary of Martha’s situation. The quotation, “world of darkness,” successfully illustrates Martha’s situation in which she is dominated by domestic abuse. Moreover, “a little candle burning in the night,” clearly portrays the candle as Wendy, being the one bit of hope that keeps Martha going. This creates sympathy because Martha has so little hope left in her desperate situation and is willing to accept what happens to her as long as Wendy is there to act as a glimmer of hope even to keep her going.

                While this conversation between Martha and Wendy is going on, Martha’s husband is apparently asleep and uncaring. This creates sympathy for the characters of Martha and Wendy because he seems unaffected by the effects of the abuse he is causing in his ability to sleep so easily and in the obvious fear that he brings to Martha when he is awake as effectively  displayed by the quotation, “Oh thank God…No, no don’t wake him. Just leave him,” Martha’s fear is expressed in the quotation by suggesting that she is very relieved to find that he is asleep and she is also very insistent and demanding of Wendy to leave him. Furthermore, “he got a wee bit too rough” and, “just tickling me” strongly exhibits Martha’s husband uncaring and violent nature. Sympathy is created here because of the physical abuse Martha has suffered and her refusal to acknowledge its extent. She instead pretends it is meaningless when it is obviously very damaging and might one day be lethal.

                Because of Martha’s appearance from the abuse she has received from her husband, Jack misinterprets the situation and this leads to his final comment of, “Pissed,” which sadly illustrates the way in which society can misjudge people. This creates further sympathy for Martha’s plight because does need help if she is to escape this nightmare of a situation, but she instead refuses to look for it. Had the character of Jack not been so judgemental and narrow-minded he may have tried to see what was wrong with Martha and would have been able to help both Martha and Wendy.

                In conclusion, sympathy is the main driving force of the monologue. Each technique the playwright uses to create sympathy builds throughout the story for both Martha and Wendy. One of the main themes in the monologue is domestic abuse and the playwright clearly wishes to highlight this issue and more importantly make their audience feel sympathetic towards the victims as well as more aware of the problem.