MERYL LOUISE DAVENPORT

Meryl Louise Davenport is the central character in the first monologue of Johanna Murray-Smith’s ‘Bombshells’. Murray-Smith constructs Davenport as a woman approaching middle age, struggling to fulfil expectations as she juggles a variety of different roles in her life; mother, wife, friend, neighbour, teacher and before all, woman. Murray-Smith’s use of short, sharp language reflects the seemingly frenetic pace at which Meryl is living her life. The conflict between Meryl’s inner self and the exterior by which she hopes to be perceived forms an important part of the monologue. While internally struggling with the different aspects of her identity she aims to present the image of a calm, beautiful and in-control woman to those she comes into contact with. ‘I have to be punctual or the teacher will think I’m a total failure’, ‘need to look glamorous for Barry’ and ‘care more about what the teacher thinks of me than Amy’s feelings’ are all examples of Meryl’s desire to be seen in this way.

The battle between the inner self and the way one is perceived in the world is an interesting idea to consider further as you engage with this area of study.

Meryl also battles against her low self-esteem or what even may be considered to be an inferiority complex. She chastises herself saying ‘I’m a lazy, selfish mother’ and is constantly comparing herself to others- ‘the baby down the road is sleeping through. That baby’s a month younger than our baby. We again see this self-criticism when Meryl places her own needs and wants above those of her children.

In some ways, Meryl appears to feel that her identity is under threat from the myriad expectations in her life. If she can’t look like Gwyneth Paltrow or Nigella Lawson, then how can she be a beautiful woman? If she can’t make husband Barry happy, how can she be considered a good wife? If she doesn’t know how many countries there are in Africa, then how can she be a good mother?

These are just some ideas about this monologue, I encourage you to develop your own ideas and interpretation and link it to ideas associated with Identity and Belonging. Also, googling: women media influence will help you understand how the media can affect women.

The role of women in today’s society has changed considerably from yesteryear. Look out for a future post about the role of women in society.