... First, she realises that her husband sexually abused their daughter, and secondly she was betrayed by the son who should be protecting her instead of stealing from her. And then she is faced with the prospect of losing her house. In the end, the final journey she makes is to Hunstanton. Hunstanton is absolutely different from the originally planned trip to Siena. The only company she receives is from her daughter, who is gradually getting better from her mental health problems, caused by sexual activities by her father. She finds a way to pass her time by watching the television and wearing headphones. A different character from the beginning. Her words are shorter, more brief and less military. Doris, who is completely alone, looks back nostalgically to an ordered past where the street were clean and neighbours were friendly, and strangers did not urinate in her garden!! We share her last moments with her, although we do not see her death, but we know it is going to come. She is laid on the floor due to an accident cleaning the shelves. Even with her serious accident - her hip is badly injured - she is still worried about the gate being left open! Doris' view on cleanliness and hygiene restricts her perspective of life. Possibly at the end of the play, she accepts that her friends and family have tried to look after her. She thanks the concerned policeman who has been checking up on her one more time than is necessary. But of course, the answer `No!' comes from Doris. We understand that she would rather die in her own house, which she has maintained as her outpost against dirtiness than die in Stafford house, an old people's home. As she starts to drift in and out of consciousness, she goes back to her childhood and her earliest memories of the relationship with happiness and cleanliness: "I wish I was ready for bed. All washed and in a nightie and the bottle in, all sweet and crisp and clean" There is also unhappiness in some of the monologues. A Chip in the Sugar is one of the monologues that comes to mind in this context. Graham's loneliness is prevented only by the company of his mother and his pride maintained by his power over her thoughts and tastes. The world outside seems to be difficult for him and it seems from the pornographic material he is also finding it difficult to come to terms with his sexuality. Nevertheless whilst he is at home - he is secure, and he can keep alive his mother's interest in him. He is finding it difficult to come to terms with his mother's rekindled interests. He is hurt by her disloyalty when she rapidly adopts the views and interests of Frank Turnbull, her ex-lover, before she met his father. Graham's depression is made worse when he is told that he is to move out of the house, so his mother could live in there with Frank - after they get married. And the depression worsen when he fears his delusions are coming back. (He has mental problems which are not made better when Frank Turnbull dismisses it as a thing that can be easily taken care of.)He thinks that someone has been watching the house and tries to tell everyone at his counselling meeting, but no-one takes any notice of him. However, he is not mistaken when Frank Turnbull's daughter turns up and explains about her housebound mother. When Graham tells his mother about the lying Frank, she is remorseful and obviously ready to make the best of her life with Graham Her attempt at escape shows perhaps how trapped she had felt in her life with her son. Her lack of control on the night when Graham revealed the disloyalty of Frank, is seen when she reveals cruelly to Graham, "How do you understand, you, you're not normal"' and once having said that, she establish her position, supposing that he might think that his judgement over Frank had been superior to hers....
