Look back in anger

Look back in anger, 1957.

A play in three acts.

John Osborne.

Faber and Faber Limited, London 1960.

  The characters of this play are the following. Firstly, Jimmy Porter, he is frustrated for her social class, but he does not recognise it and always is complaining of the others social classes. He is not happy with his type of life. He is the main character. Jimmy is married Alison, a woman of a high social class, and she suffers a psychological mistreatment by Cliff due to her social class. Alison and Jimmy have a friend who shares flat with them, he is Cliff Lewis. He is always arguing with Jimmy who thinks that Cliff is inferior to him because he has studied a degree. Ellen is the best friend of Alison, and after she has an affair with Clive. Finally, the following character is Alison’s father, Colonel Redfern, who appears in the play to bring Alison to his house.

  The play takes place in the Porter’s one-room flat in the Midlands in the 1956. The play begins in a Sunday’s evening with Jimmy and Cliff seated and reading newspapers and Alison is ironing like all the Sundays. Jimmy and Cliff starts to argue and Jimmy follows with Alison without any motives.

  The play follows with the arrival of Helena, the best friend of Alison, who comes to the Midlands for job’s motives. Helena discovers the mistreatment of Alison from Clive. And she says to his best friend that she needs to leave her husband. Helena hates Clive, they are always arguing. Alison is pregnant and she does not want to tell to Clive. Finally, Alison decides to abandon her husband, Clive, and calls her father, Colonel Redfern.

Alison leaves her house without saying anything to Clive.

  Now Helena substitutes Alison’s place, she has an affair with Clive, and in this time we go to the beginning of the play with some change. Jimmy and Clive seated reading newspapers in a Sunday’s night, but Alison is not ironing, the woman who is ironing is Helena. Cliff realise that Helena and Cliff have a good relation, and he decides to go away to find a good woman with whom share his life.

  At the end of the play Alison arrives and Helena goes. Alison apologised with Clive and they kiss and decide to follow with their marriage.

  The play takes place in the Midlands, and the time is 1956. The play begins a Sunday’s night in April. The second act is two weeks later in first scene and the second is the following evening. Finally, act three is several months later and the second scene a few minutes later.

  Principal aspect of this play is the language used by Jimmy when he speaks to Alison; he has a very bad behaviour with her. “(…) if you could have a child, and it would die. Let it grow, let a recognisable human face emerge form that little mass of indiarubber and wrinkles. Please, if only I could watch you face that. I wonder if you might even become a recognisable human being yourself. But I doubt it (…)”

  For conclusion, in my opinion Jimmy feels him inferior to Alison because she is a higher social class than him and for this reason he is always mistreating her psychologically and also arguing with Cliff and insulting him because Cliff has not studied a degree. Jimmy needs to seem superior to all people because he feels inferior.