How does Alan Bennet present modern society in the monologue 'A Lady of Letters' and what do we learn about its effects on people through the character of Irene Ruddock?
             Alan Bennet shows society as split in two. He shows the divide in age between society and the generational conflict that holds the generations apart.
             Irene Ruddock hides herself away from society because she doesn't understand it. She reacts badly to things she finds in modern society. She complains to various people through her letters, and this generally has a bad effect on most of what she writes about. For instance, she writes to the chemist, saying that his wife is a prostitute and this obviously stirred up some anger. She had no proof to support her allegations but she wrote the letter regardless. The conclusion that we can draw from this is that Miss Ruddock makes snap judgements about people. This shows us how Irene Ruddock feels towards society.
             We are given insight into why Irene Ruddock is so unprepared for society. Irene's mother obviously ruled over her, and didn't let her fully experience her youth. This must have made Irene grow old before her time. Having never done or experienced many of the things that young people do, Irene, like her mother, disapproved of them. When her mother died Irene didn't know what to do. She had no training, no experience and no knowledge of modern society. She also had no friends and no idea how to find any. She is alienated from a strange world.
             The only type of people she could communicate readily with were people like doctors or clergymen.
             "I thought I'd go and have a word with the doctor, drop a hint there somehow."
             Since she had no friends to discuss things with, and she didn't know who to write to, the only person she could think of to talk things over with was the doctor. This is proof that she has no idea how to live in today's society.
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