“Analyse the ways in which Orton creates dramatic impact in the extract below.
Teacher comments: Superb writing here, analysis of dramatic effect is sophisticated, clear and
insightful. You are into L5.
Extract:
DENNIS puts a bundle of notes into the coffin. Pause. He looks at HAL.
DENNIS. There’s no room.
HAL lifts the corpse’s arm.
HAL. (pause, frowns). Remove the corpse. Plenty of room then.
DENNIS. Seems a shame really. The embalmers have done a lovely job.
They lift the coffin from the trestles.
There’s no name for this, is there?
HAL. We’re creating a precedent. Into the cupboard. Come on.
They tip the coffin on end and shake the corpse into the wardrobe. They put the coffin on
the floor, lock the wardrobe and begin to pack the money into the coffin.
DENNIS. What will we do with the body?
HAL. Bury it. In a mineshaft. Out in the country. Or in the marshes. Weigh the corpse with rock.
DENNIS. We’ll have to get rid of that uniform.
HAL. (pause). Take her clothes off?
DENNIS. In order to avoid detection should her remains be discovered.
HAL. Bury her naked? My own mum?
He goes to the mirror and combs his hair.
It’s a Freudian nightmare.
DENNIS. (putting lid upon coffin). I won’t disagree.
HAL. Aren’t we committing some kind of unforgivable sin?
DENNIS. Only if you’re a Catholic.
HAL. (turning from the mirror). I am a Catholic. (Putting his comb away.) I can’t undress her.
She’s a relative. I can go to Hell for it.
DENNIS. I’ll undress her then. I don’t believe in Hell.
He begins to screw down the coffin lid.
In ‘Loot’, Orton uses farcical conventions such as scandal and indecency in order to create
dramatic impact, which he uses as a weapon against the repressive, conservative society in
which he was writing, as London in particular was divided by those who embraced the social
and sexual revolution of the sixties, and those who were against it, who Orton chooses to
ridicule through farce.
Orton creates irony in the extract through his presentation of Catholicism in order to critique
tradition. Hal is uncomfortable with the “Freudian nightmare” of burying his mother naked, but it
seems he is bound by Catholicism and not by innate morality - a theme that Orton uses
throughout the play. Through the shocking amorality of Catholic characters, who rely so heavily
on Catholicism as a reprieve of bad behaviour that they lack any moral compass, Orton creates
irony as their immoral actions are at odds with the appearance of goodness that they put up.
Teacher comments: Superb writing here, analysis of dramatic effect is sophisticated, clear and
insightful. You are into L5.
Extract:
DENNIS puts a bundle of notes into the coffin. Pause. He looks at HAL.
DENNIS. There’s no room.
HAL lifts the corpse’s arm.
HAL. (pause, frowns). Remove the corpse. Plenty of room then.
DENNIS. Seems a shame really. The embalmers have done a lovely job.
They lift the coffin from the trestles.
There’s no name for this, is there?
HAL. We’re creating a precedent. Into the cupboard. Come on.
They tip the coffin on end and shake the corpse into the wardrobe. They put the coffin on
the floor, lock the wardrobe and begin to pack the money into the coffin.
DENNIS. What will we do with the body?
HAL. Bury it. In a mineshaft. Out in the country. Or in the marshes. Weigh the corpse with rock.
DENNIS. We’ll have to get rid of that uniform.
HAL. (pause). Take her clothes off?
DENNIS. In order to avoid detection should her remains be discovered.
HAL. Bury her naked? My own mum?
He goes to the mirror and combs his hair.
It’s a Freudian nightmare.
DENNIS. (putting lid upon coffin). I won’t disagree.
HAL. Aren’t we committing some kind of unforgivable sin?
DENNIS. Only if you’re a Catholic.
HAL. (turning from the mirror). I am a Catholic. (Putting his comb away.) I can’t undress her.
She’s a relative. I can go to Hell for it.
DENNIS. I’ll undress her then. I don’t believe in Hell.
He begins to screw down the coffin lid.
In ‘Loot’, Orton uses farcical conventions such as scandal and indecency in order to create
dramatic impact, which he uses as a weapon against the repressive, conservative society in
which he was writing, as London in particular was divided by those who embraced the social
and sexual revolution of the sixties, and those who were against it, who Orton chooses to
ridicule through farce.
Orton creates irony in the extract through his presentation of Catholicism in order to critique
tradition. Hal is uncomfortable with the “Freudian nightmare” of burying his mother naked, but it
seems he is bound by Catholicism and not by innate morality - a theme that Orton uses
throughout the play. Through the shocking amorality of Catholic characters, who rely so heavily
on Catholicism as a reprieve of bad behaviour that they lack any moral compass, Orton creates
irony as their immoral actions are at odds with the appearance of goodness that they put up.
