"Soldiering On" is a dramatic monologue written by Alan Bennett in 1987 for television, as part of his Talking Heads series for the BBC.
The series became very popular, moving onto BBC Radio, international theatre, becoming one of the best-selling audio book releases of all time and included as part of both the A-level and GCSE English syllabus.
She adopts a brisk, cheerful approach: socialising with guests at the wake, giving her husband's belongings to various charitable causes, and deciding she must devise an efficient plan to deal with her grief.
He reassures her there is nothing to worry about and the problem is simply "liquidity", but she is soon forced to sell her home and possessions and move to a small seaside town.
Muriel ends the story poor and alone, losing contact with her children, Margaret having shown a great improvement and living an almost normal life after a spell of psychiatric treatment.