Reading
Learning
Modern
about
and
Contemporary Drama
Poetry
Literature for Life
Section 6
From 1946 to the Present Day
John Osborne
Look Back in Anger
NOTEBOOK
Knowledge
base
1. What do you already know about John Osborne? Check your notes from In Brief
and remember.
2. Consider the phrases used in English to refer to the different social classes.
a. Which one is missing from this list?
• working class
• lower-middle class
• middle class
• upper-middle class
b. Which phrases are synonyms or near synonyms for ‘upper class’ (UC), ‘middle class’ (MC)
and ‘working class’ (WC)?
bourgeoisie
proletariat
aristocracy
blue collar
white collar
gentry
As you know, the ‘Angry Young Men’ were young adults, mainly writers, in the 1950s
in the UK who were discontented with the establishment.
3. Do you know the name of the anticonventional and anti-middle class group
of writers in the US in the same period?
Poster of Look Back in Anger, first adapted in 1958 as a film by John Osborne and Nigel
Kneale. It was directed by Tony Richardson
and produced by Woodfall Films, a company
formed by John Osborne and Tony
Richardson.
First reading
4. Before you read an extract from the
play, read this summary.
Who …
a.
… is middle class? _______________________________________________________________________________
b.
… is working class? ______________________________________________________________________________
c.
… are married? ___________________________________________________________________________________
Section 6 From 1946 to the Present Day
John Osborne
1
… is anti-establishment? ________________________________________________________________________
e.
… is cut off from his/her family? _______________________________________________________________
f.
… become lovers?
g.
… is a lodger? ____________________________________________________________________________________
h.
… is sarcastic and cruel? ________________________________________________________________________
i.
… is pregnant?
j.
… is regretful of his/her actions in the end? __________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
Summary Jimmy Porter is a young, defiant, working-class intellectual who has
deliberately chosen to give up his university education and chances to ‘get ahead’
in life as a sign of his anti-establishmentarianism. He works on a sweet stall at the
local market and lives in a tiny flat with his wife Alison and a lodger, Cliff. Alison
was from an upper-middle class family and, although she has severed all ties with
them, Jimmy often attacks her sarcastically and virulently for her up-bringing,
belittling and ridiculing her.
Alison is pregnant but hasn’t got the courage to tell Jimmy. She invites a friend
Helena to stay and Helena is shocked and angry at Jimmy’s treatment of Alison.
Helena persuades Alison to go back to her family but then stays behind to give
Jimmy Helena’s leaving note. Helena and Jimmy continue to fight but end up in a
passionate embrace — Helena stays and becomes Jimmy’s live-in lover.
Some months later, Alison returns looking distraught and ill — she has lost the
baby. Helena decides her life with Jimmy is wrong and leaves. Surprisingly, Alison
and Jimmy are reconciled.
MP3 71
5. Listen to and read the extract from Act II of the text. Who speaks the most? Who
are in conflict?
JIMMY
T 128
John Osborne
Look Back
in Anger
(1956)
10
The last time she1 was in a church was when she was married to me. I
expect that surprises you, doesn’t it? It was expediency2, pure and simple.
We were in a hurry, you see. (The comedy3 of this strikes him at once4,
and he laughs.) Yes, we were actually in a hurry! Hurrying for the
slaughter5! Well, the local registrar6 was a particular pal7 of Daddy8’s, and
we knew he’d spill the beans9 to the Colonel like a shot10. So we had to
seek out11 some local vicar12 who didn’t know him quite so well. But it was
no use. When my best man13 — a chap14 I’d met in the pub that morning —
and I turned up, Mummy and Daddy were in the church already. They’d
found out at the last moment, and had come to watch the execution
carried out15. How I remember looking down at them, full of beer for
1. she: Alison. Helena
wants to take her to
church.
2. was expediency:
served our purpose
(strategia).
3. The comedy: The
funny side (Il lato
buffo).
4. strikes him at once:
hits him immediately
(lo colpisce
immediatamente).
5. slaughter: here ‘ruin’
(massacro).
6. registrar: the
administrator
responsible for civil
marriages (ufficiale di
stato civile).
7. pal: informal for ‘friend’
(amico).
8. Daddy: refers to Alice’s
father.
9. he’d spill the beans: he
would reveal the secret
(avrebbe spifferato
tutto).
10. like a shot: immediately
(in un attimo).
11. seek out: look for
(cercare).
12. vicar: the priest of a
parish in the Church of
England (prete).
13. best man: main male
assistant to the
bridegroom at a
wedding (testimone
dello sposo).
14. chap: informal for
‘man’ (tipo).
15. carried out: completed
successfully
(avvenisse).
Section 6 From 1946 to the Present Day
John Osborne
2
Reading
Learning
Modern
about
and
Contemporary Drama
Poetry
d.
30
16. buzzed: slang for ‘in a
state of pleasant
intoxication’
(sbronzo).
17. slumped over her pew
in a heap: was sitting
on the church bench
like a sack of potatoes
(era sprofondata sul
banco della chiesa).
18. pole-axed: informal for
‘so shocked that she
didn’t know what to
say or do’ (allibita).
19. horsewhip: hand held
instrument used to
give commands to
horses (frustino).
20. vestry: sacristy
(sacrestia).
21. smell blood: sense his
opponent’s weakness
or vulnerability
(percepisce la
vulnerabilità
dell’avversario).
22. be taken in: be fooled
(farti fregare).
23. cow: here offensive for
‘unpleasant woman’
(vacca).
24. sacred cow: a term
used as an allusion to
the Hindu reverence
for cows.
25. dry up!: shut up!
(piantala!).
26. Helena will help to
make it pay off for you:
Helena will help you to
get something from it
(Helena ti aiuterà a
guadagnarci
qualcosa).
27. share pushers:
speculators
(speculatori in
borsa).
28. spreading all those
rumors: telling people
all those stories
(diffondendo tutte
quelle voci).
29. Reason and Progress:
slogan of the radical
left.
30. is selling out: is selling
all and closing down,
also informal for ‘to
abandon one’s
principles’ (sta
liquidando tutto).
31. while the going’s good:
here ‘while it’s still
possible’ (prima che
sia troppo tardi).
32. shares: parts of a
capital stock of a
corporation (azioni).
33. Board of Directors:
governing body of a
firm (Consiglio
d’Amministrazione).
34. stocks: ownership of a
corporation indicated
by shares (titoli).
Northern Stage
production of Look Back
in Anger by John Osborne
directed by Erica Whyman
(Newcastle, February
2009). Bill Ward as Jimmy,
Laura Howard as Helena,
Rob Storr as Cliff, Nia
Gwynne as Alison.
Section 6 From 1946 to the Present Day
John Osborne
3
Reading
Learning
Modern
about
and
Contemporary Drama
Poetry
20
breakfast, and feeling a bit buzzed16. Mummy was slumped over her pew
in a heap17 — the noble, female rhino, pole-axed18 at last! And Daddy sat
beside her, upright and unafraid, dreaming of his days among the Indian
Princes, and unable to believe he’d left his horsewhip19 at home. Just the
two of them in that empty church — them and me. (Coming out of his
remembrance suddenly.) I’m not sure what happened after that. We
must have been married, I suppose. I think I remember being sick in the
vestry20. (To Alison.) Was I?
HELENA Haven’t you finished?
He can smell blood21 again, and he goes on calmly, cheerfully.
JIMMY
(to Alison.) Are you going to let yourself be taken in22 by this saint in
Dior’s clothing? I will tell you the simple truth about her. (Articulating
with care.) She is a cow23. I wouldn’t mind that so much, but she seems
to have become a sacred cow24 as well!
CLIFF
You’ve gone too far, Jimmy. Now dry up!25
HELENA: Oh, let him go on.
JIMMY
(to Cliff.) I suppose you’re going over to that side as well. Well, why don’t
you? Helena will help to make it pay off26 for you. She’s an expert in the
New Economics — the Economics of the Supernatural. It’s all a simple
matter of payments and penalties. (Rises.) She’s one of those apocalyptic
share pushers27 who are spreading all those rumours28 about a transfer of
power. (His imagination is racing, and the words pour out.) Reason
and Progress29, the old firm, is selling out30! Everyone get out while the
going’s good31. Those forgotten shares32 you had in the old traditions, the
old beliefs, are going up — up and up and up. (Moves up left.) There’s
going to be a change over. A new Board of Directors33, who are going to
see that the dividends are always attractive, and that they go to the right
people. (Facing them.) Sell out everything you’ve got: all those stocks34
50
HELENA
JIMMY:
60
HELENA
JIMMY
HELENA
JIMMY
in the old, free inquiry. (Crosses to above table.) The Big Crash is coming,
you can’t escape it, so get in on the ground floor with Helena and her
friends while there’s still time. And there isn’t much of it left. Tell me,
what could be more gilt-edged35 than the next world! It’s a capital gain36,
and it’s all yours. (He moves round the table, back to his chair.) You see.
I know Helena and her kind so very well. In fact, her kind are everywhere,
you can’t move for them. They’re a romantic lot37. They spend their time
mostly looking forward to the past. The only place they can see the light
is the Dark Ages38. She’s moved long ago into a lovely little cottage of the
soul, cut right off from the ugly problems of the twentieth century
altogether. She prefers to be cut off from all the conveniences39 we’ve
fought to get for centuries. She’d rather go down to the ecstatic little
shed40 at the bottom of the garden to relieve her sense of guilt. Our Helena
is full of ecstatic wind41 — (he leans across the table at her) aren’t you?
(He waits for her to reply.)
(quite calmly.) It’s a pity you’ve been so far away all this time. I would
probably have slapped42 your face. (They look into each other’s eyes
across the table. He moves slowly up, above Cliff, until he is beside
her.) You’ve behaved like this ever since I first came.
Helena, have you ever watched somebody die? (She makes a move to
rise.) No, don’t move away. (She remains seated, and looks up at him.)
It doesn’t look dignified enough for you.
(like ice) If you come any nearer, I will slap your face.
He looks down at her, a grin smouldering round his mouth43.
I hope you won’t make the mistake of thinking for one moment that I am
a gentleman.
I’m not very likely to do that.
(bringing his face close to hers) I’ve no public school scruples44 about
hitting girls. (Gently.) If you slap my face — by God, I’ll lay you out45.
You probably would. You’re the type.
You bet I’m the type. I’m the type that detests physical violence. Which is
why, if I find some woman trying to cash in on46 what she thinks is my
defenceless chivalry by lashing out47 with her frail little fists48, I lash back
at her.
Is that meant to be subtle, or just plain Irish49?
(his grin widens). I think you and I understand one another all right. But
you haven’t answered my question. I said: have you watched somebody
die?
No, I haven’t.
Anyone who’s never watched somebody die is suffering from a pretty bad
case of virginity. (His good humour of a moment ago deserts him, as
35. what could be more
HELENA
gilt-edged: said of
stock of high quality, 70 JIMMY
here ‘what could be
a better investment’
(quale investimento
potrebbe essere
migliore).
HELENA
36. It’s a capital gain:
JIMMY
‘capital gain’ is a
financial term for
‘profit made from
a transaction’
HELENA
(reddito da capitale);
JIMMY
the whole phrase
80
here means ‘You have
everything to gain’
(Avete tutto da
40. shed: small wooden
guadagnarci).
structure for garden
37. a romantic lot: a group
tools, but here
of romantic people
probably ‘outside
(un mucchio di
toilet’ (bagno esterno).
romantici).
41. ecstatic wind: high38. Dark Ages: Middle
sounding nonsense –
Ages (Medio Evo).
Jimmy maintains his
39. conveniences: things
‘toilet’ metaphors here
that make you
referring to ‘wind’
comfortable and save
(balle, aria fritta).
work but the term can
42. slapped: hit with an
be used to refer to
open hand
indoor toilets
(schiaffeggiato).
(comodità).
43. a grin smouldering
round his mouth:
smiling and at the same
time trying to keep back
his anger (con un ghigno
che trattiene la rabbia).
44. I’ve no public school
scruples: here ‘I’m not a
gentleman’ (Non ho
scrupoli da
gentiluomo).
45. I’ll lay you out: I’ll hit
you so hard you’ll fall
down (ti stendo).
46. cash in on: take
advantage of
(approfittarsi di).
47. by lashing out: by
making a sudden attack
(attaccando).
48. fists: closed hands (pugni).
49. Is that meant to be
subtle or just plain Irish?:
Were you trying to be
clever or speaking
nonsense? (Intendevi
essere sottile o
incomprensibile?).
Section 6 From 1946 to the Present Day
John Osborne
4
Reading
Learning
Modern
about
and
Contemporary Drama
Poetry
40
90
100
110
HELENA
50. certain god-fearing
gentlemen: here refers
to Spanish fascists.
51. fuss: unnecessary
attention (tante storie).
52. fight back my tears:
try not to cry
(ricacciare indietro
le lacrime).
53. All that that feverish
failure of a man had to
listen to him: The only
person that listened to
that ill and
unsuccessful man
(L’unico che
ascoltava quel fallito
febbricitante).
54. pouring out:
expressing freely,
without control
(raccontanto tutto
d’un fiato).
55. bewildered: perplexed
(sgomento).
56. barely: hardly, only
just (a stento, a mala
pena).
Northern Stage production of Look Back in Anger by John Osborne
directed by Erica Whyman (Newcastle, February 2009).
57. bitterness: rancour
(amarezza).
58. betrayal: the act of
being disloyal
(tradimento).
59. Time we went: It’s time
for us to go
(È ora che ce ne
andiamo).
Section 6 From 1946 to the Present Day
John Osborne
5
Reading
Learning
Modern
about
and
Contemporary Drama
Poetry
he begins to remember.) For twelve months, I watched my father dying
— when I was ten years old. He’d come back from the war in Spain, you
see. And certain god-fearing gentlemen50 there had made such a mess of
him, he didn’t have long left to live. Everyone knew it — even I knew it.
(He moves right.) But, you see, I was the only one who cared. (Turns to
the window.) His family were embarrassed by the whole business.
Embarrassed and irritated. (Looking out.) As for my mother, all she
could think about was the fact that she had allied herself to a man who
seemed to be on the wrong side in all things. My mother was all for being
associated with minorities, provided they were the smart, fashionable
ones. (He moves up centre again.) We all of us waited for him to die. The
family sent him a cheque every month, and hoped he’d get on with it
quietly, without too much vulgar fuss51. My mother looked after him
without complaining, and that was about all. Perhaps she pitied him. I
suppose she was capable of that. (With a kind of appeal in his voice.)
But I was the only one who cared! (He moves left, behind the armchair.)
Every time I sat on the edge of his bed, to listen to him talking or reading
to me, I had to fight back my tears52. At the end of twelve months, I was a
veteran. (He leans forward on the back of the armchair.) All that that
feverish failure of a man had to listen to him53 was a small, frightened boy.
I spent hour upon hour in that tiny bedroom. He would talk to me for
hours, pouring out54 all that was left of his life to one, lonely, bewildered55
little boy, who could barely56 understand half of what he said. All he could
feel was the despair and the bitterness57, the sweet, sickly smell of a dying
man. (He moves around the chair.) You see, I learnt at an early age what
it was to be angry — angry and helpless. And I can never forget it. (Sits.)
I knew more about — love… betrayal58… and death, when I was ten years
old than you will probably ever know all your life.
They all sit silently. Presently, Helena rises.
Time we went59.
The extract is a good example of the kind of ‘anger’ that Osborne wanted to show
through his character Jimmy. Work with a partner to find out more.
Content
Jimmy makes three long monologues which are interspersed with brief sections
of dialogue.
Reading
Learning
Modern
about
and
Contemporary Drama
Poetry
In more detail
6. Mark the beginning and end of each monologue.
• Monologue 1
Line(s)
_________
• Monologue 2
Line(s)
_________
• Monologue 3
Line(s)
_________
7. In which of the three monologues does Jimmy …
a.
… describe a period of his childhood?
Monologue
_______
b.
… tell the story of his and Alison’s wedding?
Monologue
_______
c.
… pour out his feelings of anger concerning bourgeois economics? Monologue
_______
8. Focus on his first monologue. Match the people at the wedding
and the information about them.
People
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
f.
g.
Information
Jimmy and Alison
A local vicar
Jimmy’s best man
Alison’s Mum and Dad
Jimmy
Alison’s Mum
Alison’s Dad
1. there “to watch the execution”
2. didn’t know Alison’s Dad “quite so well”
3. “the Colonel”, “dreaming” of India, wishing he
had his “horsewhip” with him
4. “slumped over”, like a pole-axed “female rhino”
5. “full of beer for breakfast”, vomited “in the vestry”
6. “a chap I’d met in the pub that morning”
7. “… in a hurry”
9. What is Jimmy’s point in the second monologue, do you think? Choose from the
following summaries or add your own.
a. He says that’s the ‘New Economics’ are moving the country forward to a time when
everyone will be able to afford what the middle class now have.
b. He says that true socialism is being replaced by a new capitalist and materialistic
system which, in terms of progress, is a step backwards rather than a step forwards.
c. He says that Cliff should hurry to make investments before it is too late and there is
a crash in the economy.
10. Look back at the third monologue. Answer the questions.
a. Who did Jimmy watch dying?
b. Why was he dying?
c.
_______________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________
How old was Jimmy at the time?
___________________________________________________________________
d. Why was Jimmy the only one there listening to the dying man?
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Characterisation,
language
and themes
11. In the stage directions there are references to Jimmy laughing, feeling cheerful,
grinning, being in good humour.
a. Find examples of these stage directions.
b. Do you think Jimmy is genuinely happy or is his type of humour bitter, angry
and sarcastic? Why do you think so?
12. Which of these words would you associate with Jimmy?
dissatisfied
frank
tender
savage
eloquent
cruel
perspicacious
intelligent
sarcastic
evil
spontaneous
angry
helpless
powerful
Section 6 From 1946 to the Present Day
John Osborne
6
Reading
Learning
Modern
about
and
Contemporary Drama
Poetry
13. Would you say that Helena is completely able, partly able, or completely
unable to stand up to Jimmy and his tirades? Support your answer with evidence
from the text.
14. Jimmy seems to be waging a battle.
a. Find examples in the monologues and dialogue of when Jimmy underlines his idea of
there being two sides in the fight — “them” (the establishment, the middle class, the
right-wing, the social climbers, ex-public school boys, ‘gentlemen’, the privileged, etc.)
and “us”
(the real working class, those with genuine socialist ideals, the underprivileged, etc.).
b. Does Jimmy put his wife, his mother, Cliff the lodger, his wife’s friend Helena on his ‘side’
in the fight or does he infer they are against him, too?
15. What kind of language do the characters use in their dialogue? Choose some
appropriate words.
plain
figurative
colloquial
formal
16. When the play Look Back in Anger was first staged in 1956, it attracted a lot
of attention and was reviewed by numerous critics. The critics said all of the following
things about the play. Which do you agree with?
‘‘
• Jimmy Porter is a brilliant young intellectual.
• Jimmy punishes himself and everyone around him.
• He has seen through all the tricks of self-deception by which we people persuade
ourselves that life is worth living.
• His tirades are extremely funny as well as painful.
• Jimmy is convinced that the principles of true socialism, like those his father sought to
live by, have been betrayed.
• The ending of the play is unconvincing. Jimmy is not the kind of person who would
look for a reconciliation with Alison.
• The mood and the language of the play are utterly convincing.
‘‘
Conclusions
naturalistic
artificial
Richard Burton
and Claire Bloom in a still
from Look Back in Anger,
adapted in 1958 as a film
by John Osborne and Nigel
Kneale. It was directed
by Tony Richardson
and produced by Woodfall
Films, a company
formed by John Osborne
and Tony Richardson.
A second film was made
in 1980, starring Malcolm
McDowell and Lisa Banes.
A television version
in 1989 starred Kenneth
Branagh and Emma
Thompson.
Section 6 From 1946 to the Present Day
John Osborne
7
Investigating
RESEARCH
DOCUMENTS
John Osborne
NOTEBOOK
Take notes and make a presentation.
a. Work as a class or cooperate in groups to investigate these questions about John Osborne
and his times. Consult the following Documents and the reference sections (Context and Glossary
of Literary Terms).
b. Report back to the class or in new groups about what you have learned.
Question 1. You have formed an idea that the anger of
Osborne (and Jimmy) and others like him was against the
‘Establishment’. But what further details can you find out
about the social and historical context in which this anger
emerged, given that it was a period of economic prosperity
and security in Britain? Find out, too, how much of Jimmy’s
story and his frustrations are based on the true-life story
of the playwright himself by investigating his life.
D1
In this document
you will find
information on
what happened in
Britain at the period
Osborne was
writing. It points
out the positive
aspects as well as
the negative
consequences
which aroused
the disaffection
of many
intellectuals,
especially
intellectuals
of the working class.
Question 2. You have seen how the play Look Back
in Anger has been referred to as ‘kitchen-sink drama’,
and that Osborne is described as one of the ‘Angry
Young Men’ of 1950s Britain. His work is, in fact, part
of a wider trend referred to as ‘Social Realism’.
Find out more about all three phrases and the figures
who were most associated with them.
Britain
in the 40s
and 50s
rom 1945-51, Britain was
F
under a Labour Government
led by the Prime Minister
Clement Attlee. One of its main
aims was the creation of the
‘welfare state’, which would
guarantee a minimum income,
ensure assistance to all in
sickness, old age and
unemployment, and offer a range
of social services (including
education) which was of the best
standard without distinction of
status or class.
■ National Insurance intended to offer coverage against all major risks
from ‘the cradle to the grave’. However, in reality, the low level of
payments to recipients did not ensure against extreme poverty, creating
the need for supplementary benefits. The unemployed and low income
groups were still very aware of being the recipient of a kind of charity and
disdain from ‘them’ — the officials and officers who assessed their means
and made decisions which affected their lives continually.
■ The National Health Service offered medical assistance to all.
Although the service drew heavily on Government budgets, it was (and is)
an extremely popular institution and has the wide support of the medical
profession. It was, however, often true to say that private health care
provided a higher standard and a prompter service, underlining class
differences once again.
■
In 1944 the wartime coalition government (1940-45)
brought in the Education Act, which established a
framework for education and which made state education
entirely free. It also provided free milk, free school meals,
and medical inspections for all children, it changed the
school leaving age to 15 and divided primary education
from secondary education at the age of 11 when a test
would be taken to place children in the secondary school
most appropriate for their ability. Although it was supposed
to ensure that good secondary education was open to
people of all classes and means, it was still often the case
that the majority of children who passed the exam and
therefore went on to ‘grammar’ school were of middle and
upper class backgrounds. The few working class children
who passed often felt ostracised and out of place among
their peers, both at school and later at university.
■
In housing, over 80% of constructions were council
housing which was intended to solve the housing problems
of lower income groups, but which often led to the
creation of council house areas — a kind of
ghetto-isation and therefore a further underlining of
economic and class differences.
■
There was a general political commitment to eliminating
as much as possible unemployment. Industries were
nationalised and/or made to run efficiently and there was a
post-war boom in the international economy as countries
re-built their towns and industries. The positive economic
situation led to the emergence of an intensely consumerist
society with a high demand for the latest in clothing,
household appliances, cars, holidays, etc. being reinforced
by the mass media — millions of people now owned their
first TV. Consumerism was a sign of economic well-being
but was also criticised as a sign of spiritual poverty — postwar Britain was a country in which money and possessions
had become the prime objective.
Section 6 From 1946 to the Present Day
John Osborne
8
BIOGRAPHY
This document
contains
information about
the life and works
of Osborne.
John Osborne
John Osborne in 1957.
Investigating
D2
(1929-94)
London born John Osborne was the son of a lower-middle class commercial artist
who married a publican’s daughter. Family life was not particularly happy for young
John as he later recounted in his autobiography A Better Class of Person (1981).
Osborne’s father, to whom he was very close, died in 1941 after a long illness and John
was devastated by the loss. In contrast he described his mother as: “the grabbing,
uncaring crone of my childhood”.
Osborne was educated at state schools until 1943 when he attended an inferior
boarding school in Devon. Intelligent but outspoken and rebellious, he was finally
expelled for hitting the headmaster, leaving after only two years. He returned to London
and started work as a journalist for trade papers but soon abandoned this career for
the theatre. He worked as a stage manager for a touring theatre company, was soon
offered small acting roles and by the early 1950s he was employed
steadily as an actor, mainly touring in repertory theatre. Filling time in
dressing rooms and between jobs Osborne started writing. He co-wrote
two plays before being compelled to write Look Back in Anger, a
reaction to his first, failing marriage, his life in seedy rented
accommodation and his disillusionment with post-war England. He said
of the period: “I believe we started out with hope, and hope deferred
makes the heart sick, and many hearts are sick at what they see in
England now.” The vitriolic, iconoclastic Jimmy Porter was the voice of
Osborne and many young people of his generation. However, Osborne
claimed that Look Back in Anger was not predominantly a political play:
“I want to make people feel, to give them lessons in feeling. They can
think afterwards.”
The English Stage Company at the Royal Court in London, a famous
venue for new and experimental drama, took the risk of staging Look
Back in Anger on 8th May 1956 causing a major stir throughout the
theatre world. The London public, sedated by comedies and dramas
portraying the upper classes in their comfortable surroundings, had
never experienced a play of such unsparing anger and honesty.
Osborne continued his success with The Entertainer (1957),
commissioned by the actor Laurence Olivier, and maintained his
technique of portraying one dominating character in the plays Luther
(1961), A Patriot for Me (1961) and Inadmissible Evidence (1964).
Although he continued to write plays over the next decades, they did
not receive the same critical acclaim as his earlier work. Osborne wrote
for TV and film including the screenplays Tom Jones (1963) and The
Charge of the Light Brigade (1968). He became a theatre director and
occasionally acted in films or on stage.
Married five times, Osborne continued to be an uncompromising,
controversial figure in public and in private. In 1991 the second part of
his autobiography Almost a Gentleman was published. He lived his last
years in the Shropshire countryside and died of complications with
diabetes on 24th December 1994.
John Osborne’s Look Back
in Anger at the Royal Court
in 1957. When Osborne’s script
came into the hands of the
Artisitc Director, George Devine,
Devine snapped up the chance
of staging the play at the Royal
Court, home at that time
to the new English Stage Company.
This company was founded
in 1955 to promote new plays
by contemporary authors
and Devine realised that Osborne’s
play would “blow a hole
in the old theatre”, as he put it.
Section 6 From 1946 to the Present Day
John Osborne
9
Say itabout
Right
Learning
Poetry
SAY
IT
RIGHT
a
NOTEBOOK
Check what you know and how to say it. You are going
to use your literature notebook to verify your knowledge
about Osborne and his works, and learn how to express
what you know.
a. Copy and complete the text in your notebook, check
your answers with your teacher.
b. In groups, use the completed and corrected texts
to write questions and quiz your classmates.
The playwright John Osborne with actor Kenneth Haigh
in front of the Royal at the first production of Look Back in Anger.
When Look Back in Anger was performed
1956
in London in (1)
, its author John
actor
Osborne became famous overnight.
anger
Although fairly (2)
in terms of
disillusioned
structure, characterisation and plot
five
development, the play and its main
innovative
protagonist Jimmy (3)
spoke out to journalist
a generation of (4)
young people
lower
of the 1950s.
Porter
John Osborne was born into
reactions
the (5)
-middle class and at an early
rebellious
age he was devastated by the death of
traditional
his father. He was a (6)
teenager
and expelled from school after which he
moved to London. There he briefly worked as a
(7)
before focusing on the theatre. He worked as
a stage manager, an (8) and he started writing his
own plays. His major success was Look Back in Anger, a
play which expressed the (9)
and disillusionment
he was feeling at the time. The play shocked the
theatre-going public and received mixed (10)
from critics, but it was generally agreed to be highly
(11)
and honest. Osborne continued writing
and also became involved in creating screenplays and
in theatre direction. He married (12)
times and
died in 1994.
and although she is carrying Jimmy’s (19) , Alison
decides to leave him after being partly persuaded by
her close friend Helena.
Helena stands up to Jimmy and tries to match him
(20)
in his tirades but then, once Alison has left,
succumbs to his (21)
and powerful personality
and becomes his lover. Sometime later Alison returns
to the flat after losing the (22)
. Helena sees the
immorality of her position and leaves Jimmy. At the
end of the play, Alison and her husband are (23)
.
During the play Jimmy reveals he is extraordinarily
eloquent. His long (24)
reveal both savage
and (25)
aspects of his character but always burst
with angry dissatisfaction. His sarcasm against Alison
and Helena is cutting and his threats (26)
.
However, if Jimmy’s anger is considered in a context
which goes beyond the walls of his (27)
, it is an
anger with a specific object — it is a (28)
of the
hypocrisies and complacency of the middle and
upper classes which, despite social reform, hang onto
and reinforce an unfair (29)
based on class and
wealth. Disillusionment is also expressed regarding
the new (30)
society. Jimmy firmly believes
that true (31)
ideals have been irreparably
betrayed and cites the slow and painful death of his
(32)
as a symbol of this betrayal.
The play Look Back in
baby
monologues
Anger tells the story of
child
reconciled
Jimmy, a young, defiant,
consumerist
sarcasm
(13)
-class intellectual
criticism
socialist
who has deliberately
dangerous
system
chosen to give up his
establishment tender
(14)
education,
father
university
living in a tiny flat with
flat
upper
his wife Alison and a
lodger
verbally
(15)
, Cliff. Jimmy’s
magnetic
working
attitude to life is one of
rage against the
(16)
and the middle classes and their value
system. Alison, Jimmy’s wife, comes from an
(17)
-middle class background and, since she is also
close at hand, usually becomes the recipient of
Jimmy’s rage and (18)
. He treats her cruelly
The play is referred to as a ‘ (33)
-sink
anti
drama’ thanks to its naturalistic portrayal domestic
of working-class (34)
life and is part
generation
of a general movement in art in the period kitchen
referred to as ‘Social Realism’. Both John
philosopher
Osborne, the author, and Jimmy Porter,
protesters
the play’s (35) -hero, are referred to as
social
‘Angry Young Men’, a phrase coined by a
young
religious (36)
in 1951 but which
became the accepted label for dissident (37)
of
the period. The men and women writers who were
considered ‘ (38)
angries’ included Osborne,
Wesker, Delaney and Sillitoe. They used their writing
as a tool of (39)
criticism or complaint. In more
general terms, the Jimmy Porters of the 50s were a
younger (40)
of post-war citizens unconvinced
of the success of social reform.
Section 6 From 1946 to the Present Day
John Osborne
10