John Osborne's LOOK BACK IN ANGER : Summary, Themes, Characterization

  LOOK BACK IN ANGER BY JOHN OSBORNE 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

John James Osborne (12 December 1929 – 24 December 1994) was an English playwright, screenwriter and actor, known for his excoriating prose and intense critical stance towards established social and political norms. The success of his 1956 play Look Back in Anger transformed English theatre.

In a productive life of more than 40 years, Osborne explored many themes and genres, writing for stage, film and TV. His personal life was extravagant and iconoclastic. He was notorious for the ornate violence of his language, not only on behalf of the political causes he supported but also against his own family, including his wives and children.

Osborne was one of the first writers to address Britain's purpose in the post-imperial age. During his peak (1956–1966), he helped make contempt an acceptable onstage emotion

SETTING OF THE PLAY 

The setting of the play was Midland town in England in 1955. Although Osborne wrote the play in just about seventeen days in May, 1955, the events of the play cut across the late 19th and early 20th century upper ruling class. In contrast, Osborne used the play to depict the raw emotions and living conditions of the working-class people in England. 

BACKGROUND OF THE PLAY 

Look Back in Anger, like some other Osborne's works, depicts the fierceness of post-war youths in Britain. It presents the beginning of revolution in the British theatre, and the central and most immediately influential expression of the mood of the ‘Anger of Young Man’. Although the form of the play was not revolutionary, its content was suitable for the events of the time. Therefore, the play is considered as one of the most outstanding plays in the modern British theater. Osborne draws inspiration from his personal life and failing marriage with Pamela Lane while writing Look Back in Anger, which was his first successful outing as a playwright. In fact, the play is the first well known example of "Kitchen Sink Drama". Kitchen Sink Drama is a style of theater that explores the emotion and issue beneath the surface of ordinary domestic life. The play's main character, Jimmy became the model for the “Angry Young Man," a nickname given to an entire generation of artists and working-class young men in the post-World War II British society. 

Structurally, the play adopts the prominent divisional structure of conventional plays and some elements of dramatic unity. Osborne wrote the play in just about seventeen days in May, 1955. The play was first rejected by many of the agents and theater companies that Osborne approached to produce it. George Divine, the creative producer for the struggling Royal Court Theater, decided to gambie on the play and staged its first production. The play opened on May 8, 1956. It received mixed reviews from English theater critics, yet it won a rave review from the Times. This established the play's notoriety and helped it to eventually build an audience. 

The two major subject-matters of the play are the issue of the Angry Young Man and the Kitchen Sink drama. The Angry Young Man message came to be associated with a group of young writers and artists, Kingsley Amis was the most recognized amongst them, that the cultural public believed to personify an anger, boredom, and frustration with British cultural life that many working-class families felt during this time. The second one is the idea of the Kitchen Sink drama which formed a revelation in the British theater. The dramatic styles of most British theater before Look Back in Anger favored Victorian dramas and comedies of classical plays. In a general sense, the Victorian plays dealt mostly with polite themes from the late 19th and early 20th century upper ruling class. In contrast, Osborne's play depicts the raw emotions and living conditions of the working class. This style of theater was given the name "Kitchen Sink" because of its focus on the interior domestic and emotional lives of ordinary people. In the case of Look Back in Anger, the kitchen is literally a part of the set. Unarguably, the background of the play is the rise and fall of the British Empire. The beginning of the twentieth century saw the peak of power and influence of British colonialism. By the 1950's, two World Wars, which devastated the British economy, and the rise of the United States as the new world military and political power meant that the British Empire had entered a steep decline. Jimmy Porter is representative of an entire culture that remained nostalgic for this past glory. He idealizes the worthy causes of the past even while he mocks those who tannot understand why the times have suddenly changed. 

PLOT OF THE PLAY 

The events of the play begin in Mr. Porter's one-room apartment in Midland town. The apartment wears an old look with nearly dilapidating furniture. As the curtain rises, Jimmy and Cliff are seen seated in the two armchairs, left and right respectively. Beside them is a jungle of newspapers and weeklies. It is a Sunday morning in April. Jimmy and Cliff are reading the Sunday papers while Alison, Jimmy's wife is ironing in a corner of the room. Jimmy is a hot-tempered young man who always engages in provoking jokes but doesn't like to be provoked. Jimmy begins to annoy both Cliff and Alison by making jest of their background. He makes derogatory comments about Cliff's working-class background and makes fun of him for his low intelligence. Cliff is easy-going and good natured. He takes issues calmly. Even when Jimmy describes him as ignorant and peasant, he gives no response and he picks no offence. Jimmy also attempts to provoke his wife, Alison, by making fun of her family and her well heeled life before he married her. As the conversation continues, Jimmy seems to display a nostalgic feeling for England's powerful past. He observes that the world has entered a dark age as power has shifted to American. Alison becomes tired of Jimmy's rants and begs for peace. This prompts a fight between Jimmy and Alison. Cliff attempts to keep peace between the two. Their wrestling ends up running into Alison, causing her to fall down. Jimmy is sorry for the incident, but Alison makes him leave the room. “Jimmy makes a frantic, deliberate effort, and manages to push Cliff on to the ironing board and into Alison. The board collapses. Cliff falls against her, and they end up in a heap on the floor. Alison cries out in pain. Jimmy looks down at them, dazed and breathless”. (Page 27) 

After Jimmy leaves, Alison confides to Cliff that she is pregnant with Jimmy's child, though she has not yet told him. Cliff advises her to tell him, but when Cliff goes out and Jimmy re-enters the room, the two instead fall into an intimate game. Jimmy impersonates a stuffed bear and Alison impersonates a toy squirrel. Cliff returns to tell Alison that her old friend, Helena has called her on the phone. Alison leaves to take the call and returns with the news that Helena is coming to visit and stay with them for a while. Jimmy does not like Helena and he becomes angry that Helena is coming to stay with them. In his words, he says he wishes that Alison would suffer in order to know what it means to be a real person. He curses her and wishes that she could have a child only to watch it die. 

“Oh, my dear wife, you've got so much to learn. | only hope you learn it one day. If only something - something would happen to you and wake you out of your beautiful sleep! If you could have a child, and it would die...” (Page 45). Alison's head goes back as if she were about to make some sound. But her mouth remains open and trembling, as Cliff looks on. (Page 46). 

Two weeks later, Helena has arrived and Alison discusses her relationship with Jimmy. She tells of how they met and how, in their younger days, they used to crash parties with their friend, Hugh Tanner. Jimmy keeps his love and respect for Hugh's family, especially Hugh's mother, though his relationship with Hugh was strained when Hugh opted to travel to another country and Jimmy decides to stay with Alison, his wife. Jimmy seems to regret that he didn't travel with Hugh and leave Alison stranded. At the same time, Jimmy is also angry at Hugh for abandoning his mother. Helena inquires about Alison's affectionate relationship with Cliff and Alison tells her that they are Strictly friends. 

‘Is Cliff in love with you?” — Helena (Page 50).” No... | don't think so. You mean there must be something physical too? | suppose there /s, but it's not exactly a consuming passion with either of us” — Alison (Page 51') 

Cliff and Jimmy return to the flat and Helena tells them that she and Alison are leaving for church. Jimmy disagrees and goes into an anti. religious rant and ends up insulting Alison's family once again, He becomes fiercely angry and he's capable of anything now. He says. ‘I've got every right. That old bitch should be dead!” (referring tg Alison's mother), (Page 68).Helena replies him, “Oh for heaven's sake, Yon't be such a bully! You've no right to talk about her mother like that, (Page 68). Helena becomes angry and Jimmy dares her to slap him on the face, warning her that he will slap her back. He tells her of how he watched his father die as a young man. His father had been injured fighting in the Spanish Civil War and had returned to England only ta die shortly after. Alison and Helena begin to leave for church and jimmy feels betrayed by his wife. 

A phone call comes in for Jimmy and he leaves the room. Helena tells Alison that she has called Alison's father to come and take her away from her aggressive and abusive husband. Alison relents and says that she will go when her father comes to pick her up the next day. When Jimmy returns, he tells Alison that Mrs. Tanner, Hugh's mother, has become sick and she's going to die. Jimmy decides to visit her and he demands that Alison make a choice of whether to go with Helena or with him. Alison picks up her things and leaves for church and Jimmy collapses on the bed, heartbroken by his wife's decision. 

The next evening, Alison's father, Colonel Redfern has come to fetch her. She is seen packing her luggage and talking with her father. The Colonel is a soft-spoken man who realizes that he does not quite understand the love that exists between Jimmy and Alison. He admits that his own actions and that of Alison's mother are partly responsible for Alison's marital unrest. He says: “It's a little late to admit it, | know, but your mother and | weren't entirely free from blame... | have always pelieved that she went too far over Jimmy. Of course, she was extremely upset at that time, we both were, and that explains a good deal of what happened... All those inquiries, private detectives and the accusations”. The Colonel was an officer in the British military and served in India and he is nostalgic for his time there. He considers his service to be some of the best years of his life. Alison observes that her father is hurt because the present is not the past and that Jimmy is hurt pecause he feels the present is only the past. Alison begins to pack her toy squirrel, but then she decides not to do so. Helena and Cliff soon enter the scene. Alison leaves a letter for Jimmy explaining why she has decided to leave her marital home for her father’s house. She gives the letter to Cliff to be the delivered to Jimmy. After Alison leaves, Cliff becomes angry and gives the letter to Helena, blaming her for the situation. 

jimmy returns but he’s shocked that he was almost hit by Colonel Redfern's car and that Cliff pretended not to see him when he was walking by on the street. He reads Alison's letter and becomes very angry. Helena calmly reveals to him that Alison is pregnant. She says: lf you'll stop thinking about yourself for one moment, I'll telf you something | think you ought to know. Your wife is going to have a baby. (Page 97). But Jimmy replies, “/ don't care if she's going to have a baby. | don't care if it has two heads!” Rather, Jimmy insults Helena and she slaps him, then passionately kisses him. 

She slaps his face savagely. An expression of horror and disbelief floods his face. But it drains away and all that is left is pain. His hand goes up to his head, and a muffled cry of despair escapes him. Helena tears his hand away, and kisses him passionately, drawing him down beside her. (Page 98). Several months later, on a Sunday evening, Jimmy and Cliff once again are reading the Sunday papers while Helena stands in the corner ironing. Jimmy and Cliff still engage in their angry banter and Helena's religious tendencies have taken the brunt of Jimmy's punishment. Jimmy and Cliff perform scenes from musicals and comedy shows but when Helena leaves, Cliff notes that things do not feel the same with her here. Cliff then tells Jimmy that he wants to move out of the apartment for some reasons. “... / think Helena finds it rather a lot of work to do with two chaps about the place. It won't be too much for her if there’s just the two of you. Anyway, | think | ought to find some girl who'll just look after me” 

Jimmy takes the news calmly and tells him that he has been a loyal friend and is worth more than any woman. Cliff eventually leaves Jimmy's house after a long period of staying together. After Cliff leaves, Helena makes her intention known to Jimmy as they are both in the room. She puts out her hands and runs it over Jimmy's head, fondling his ear and neck. In a very sonorous voice, she says, 'I love you'. Jimmy doesn't say much but, in a moment, his lips find her fingers and he kisses them. She presses his head against her. (Page 116). Helena responds, ‘I've always wanted you - always! They kiss again. (Page 117). At the rise of the curtain, Alison suddenly enters. She begins to be sorry for having come back. Helena tells her she doesn't need to be sorry. She explains that she is sorry because everything was her fault and that all of them would have wished her to be a thousand miles away! Alison and Helena talk while Jimmy leaves the room. He begins to loudly play his trumpet. Alison has lost her baby and looks sick. Helena tells Alison that she should be angry with her for what she has done, but Alison is only grieved by the loss of her baby. 

Helena is driven to distraction by Jimmy's trumpet playing outside and demands that he comes into the room. When he comes back in, he laments the fact that Alison has lost the baby but waves it off. Helena then tells Jimmy and Alison that her sense of morality -right and wrong -has not diminished and that she knows she must leave. Alison attempts to persuade her to stay, telling her that Jimmy will be alone if she leaves. 

When Helena leaves, Jimmy attempts to once again become angry but Alison tells him that she has now gone through the emotional pains and physical suffering that Jimmy has always wanted her to feel. He realizes that she has suffered greatly, has become like him. Jimmy therefore becomes softer and tenderer towards Alison for the first time in many years. The play ends with Jimmy and Alison embracing, once again playing their game of bear and squirrel. Joy returns after much anxiety and pandemonium. The play ends on the note of happiness and therefore, it is a comedy. 

ACT BY ACT SUMMARY 

ACT1 

The first scene of the play opens where Jimmy and Cliff are reading the Sunday papers in Mr. Porters’ one-room flat in Midland town. The setting is mid-1950's in a small town in England. Jimmy and Alison share their apartment with a young working-class man who is a best friend of Jimmy. Cliff and Jimmy both come from a working-class background, though Jimmy has had more education than Cliff. They are in business together running a sweet-stall. Alison comes from a more prominent family being a daughter of a retired Colonel. Alison is attempting to do the week's ironing and is only half listening as Jimmy  and Cliff engage in the expository dialogue. 

It becomes apparent that there is a huge social difference between Jimmy and Alison. Her family is upper-middle-class military, while Jimmy belongs to working class. He has to fight hard against her family's disapproval to win her. As their conversation continues, Jimmy becomes annoyed and begins to express his annoyance for Alison's family by abusing Alison and calling her "pusillanimous” (timid) and belittling her and her family. When Alison is alone with Cliff, she confides in him that she is accidentally pregnant for Jimmy but she refuses to tell him. Cliff urges her to tell him. When Jimmy returns, Alison announces that her actress friend, Helena Charles is coming to Stay with them. Jimmy is not happy that Helena is coming to stay in his house but he has no choice than to accept her wife's friend. He becomes angry again and calls Helena a bitch. 

ACT 2 

Two weeks later, Helena has started staying with Alison in Jimmy's house. On that Sunday afternoon, Helena and Alison are making lunch, As they are talking, Alison says that she decides to marry Jimmy because of her own minor rebellion against her upbringing as well as her love for Jimmy's campaigns against the neglect of young people in - post-war England. She describes Jimmy as a difficult person. Helena tells her she has got to fight him. Eventually, Jimmy enters and his anger evolves again. When the two put on their hats and declare that they are going to church, Jimmy's sense of betrayal peaks. When he leaves to take an urgent phone call, Helena announces that she has forced the issue. She has sent a letter to Alison's parents asking them to come and take her away from her quarrelsome husband. Alison is stunned but agrees that she will go. 

The next evening, Alison's father, Colonel Redfern, comes to withdraw her and take her back home. The playwright presents the Colonel as quite a sympathetic character but totally out of touch with the modern world, as he himself admits. "You're hurt because everything has changed" whereas Alison tells him, “and Jimmy is hurt because everything has stayed the same". Helena arrives t0 Say goodbye, intending to leave very soon herself. Alison is surprised that Helena ig staying on for another day, but she (Alison) leaves with her father giving Cliff a note for Jimmy. Cliff gives the note to Helena and leaves, saying "I hope he rams it up your nostrils". 

Almost immediately, Jimmy bursts in. His annoyance on getting a "goodbye" note from his wife makes him turn on Helena again, warning her to keep out of his way until she leaves. Helena tells him that Alison is pregnant for him but Jimmy admits that he does not care whether she going to have a baby or not. However, his anger evolves again. Jimmy abuses Helena and she slaps his face. The two come to physical blows, and then suddenly curtain falls. Jimmy and Helena are kissing passionately and Helena is drawing Jimmy down beside her to fallon each other. 

ACT3 

Act 3 opens with series of events several months after Alison has left Jimmy's house. It is another Sunday evening. Alison's personal belongings, such as her make-up things on the dressing table, have been replaced by Helena's. This time around, Helena is at the ironingboard wearing Jimmy's old shirt. Months have passed and she looks more attractive than before. Jimmy is notably more pleasant to Helena than he was to Alison, his legitimate wife. She actually laughs at his jokes, and the three of them (Jimmy, Cliff, and Helena) get into a comedy routine that obviously is not improvised. Cliff announces that he has decided to leave Jimmy's house. As Jimmy leaves the room to get ready for a final night out for the three of them, he opens the door to find Alison, looking like a monster. Jimmy does not even talk to her, rather he turns to Helena and says, "Friend of yours is here to see you" and he leaves immediately. The two women are left talking to each other. Alison explains to Helena that she lost her baby (as Jimmy predicted in Act 1 when he says that Alison would conceive a child and lose it), The two women reconcile, but Helena realizes that what she has done is immoral and she in turn decides to leave. She summons Jimmy to hear her decision and he lets her go with a sarcastic farewel, The play ends with a sentimental reconciliation between Jimmy ang Alison, They revive an old game they used to play, pretending to be bears and squirrels, and seem to be in a state of truce. Happiness afte harshness and tension, the real meaning of comedy.

 CHARACTERIZATION 

Jimmy Porter - Jimmy is the central character of the play. The whole issue of the play starts and ends with him. He is a tall, thin young man of about twenty-five years of age. He is a proud and ruthless human being who has got his own private morality and never submits to any man, He is always right in his own world; angry with every British institution such as the Church, the Monarchy, the government and he rants against ‘posh' Sunday papers, though he buys them every weekend. He is against all forms of upper-class manners, yet he married a girl from that class. He comes from working class background but hates working class people with passion. Though a university graduate, Jimmy and his friend, Ciff are into candy-stall business, which they have run together for many years. Jimmy frequently attacks Alison's timidity and weakness. He is dependent on Alison and this causes anxiety in him. He makes use of one of the ego defence mechanisms called ‘reaction formation’. In other words, he expresses anger and aggressive behaviour in order to hide his vulnerability and dependence. In his insecurity, he suspects Alison's devotion and submission; he doubts Alison's loyalty when he goes through her things in her absence. Jimmy and Allison actually have a marriage based on love but Jimmy's anger eventually forces Allison to leave him while carrying an unborn baby for him. However, Jimmy is accommodating. He accommodates his friend, Ciff and his wife's friend, Helena. At times, Jimmy tries to be jovial as he and his wife somehow play squirrel and bear game. The only time Jimmy becomes repentant of his actions is when Alison comes back and informs him that she loses the baby. He is a typical angry young man.

Cliff Lewis: Cliff is a longtime friend of Jimmy. He lives with Jimmy in his father's apartment in the Midlands. They both run sweet-stall business. Although Cliff is not as educated and intelligent as Jimmy claims, he's well behaved and compassionate. He is of the same age as Jimmy. He's actually short, dark, easy-going and relaxed with natural intelligence of the self-taught. Cliff is tender and lovable. He pacifies Alison whenever Jimmy castigates her or treats her badly. He comes from working class background which Jimmy abuses at will. He is able to put up with Jimmy's misdemeanors until the day he decides to leave Jimmy's house. He tells Jimmy: “I don't think I shall stay here much longer. I have just thought of trying somewhere different. The sweetstall is all right, but I think I'd like to try something else. You're highly educated, and it suits you, but I need something a bit better” (Page 112). 

Alison Porter: She is the wife of Jimmy Porter. She is tall, slim and dark. The bones of her face are long and delicate. There is a surprising reservation about her eyes which are so large and deep. Alison gets married to Jimmy in error and she never knows happiness in her marriage until her father comes and takes her away on the advice of Helena, Alison's friend. After marrying Jimmy and he starts maltreating her, she regrets a lot as she says: “Well, for twenty years, I'd lived a happy and uncomplicated life, and suddenly, this — this spiritual barbarian - throws down the gauntlet at me.” (page 89). Alison finds it difficult to confide in Jimmy. Even when she becomes pregnant, she refuses to tell him. She tells Cliff who later advises her to tell her husband. 

Helena Charles - She is a bosom friend of Alison who has come to live with her (Alison) in her matrimonial home. She is the same age as alison; medium height, always carefully and expensively dressed. sh ls very attractive. Her sense of matriarchal authority makes most men anxious to meet her. Helena receives her due respect and admiration, even from other young women like Alison. Her appearance arouses aj) the instincts in a man and she is not accustomed to having to defenq herself against catcalls. However, her sense of modestly exalteq responsibility enables her to behave with impressive show of strength and dignity. She betrays her friend, Alison by falling in love with Jimmy after Alison packed out of the house. Although when Alison comes back, she apologizes to her as she leaves the house for Alison and her husband. Colonel RedfernHe is the father of Alison Porter. A large handsome man of about sixty years of age. Colonel Redfern has spent forty years in the military as a soldier. He is soft-spoken and understanding. He decides to go and withdraw his daughter, Alison from her marriage to Jimmy Porter when the later begins to treat her anyhow. He is a loving father who still finds a space in heart to forgive her daughter after she goes contrary to their advice in marriage. Colonel Redfern is an honest and straight forward person. He admits that Alison's marriage to Jimmy is partly their fault and they have to be blamed. 

THEMES OF THE PLAY 

Love and Friendship — This is a major theme that runs across the play. It is demonstrated between Jimmy and Alison who love each other to the extent that they disregarded all odds and got married, even though the marriage did not last. It is also shown between Jimmy and Cliff who lived together for many years and the same business together all in the name of friendship. It can also be found between Alison and Helena. 

Betrayal and Treachery — Helena betrays the trust Alison has In her to bring her to her husband's house not knowing that she would later fall in love with her (Alison's) husband. Although Helena later realized that what she did was immoral, not until Alison had lost her baby and her matrimonial integrity. 

Social Class Distinction — The characters in the play belong to different social classes, in the post-World War II period in England. While Jimmy and Cliff are from working class background (the most ordinary people of the society), Alison and Helena are from uppermiddle background of rich and well-to-do people. Jimmy does not really like being associated with working class people, probably because he is now very educated. He has in some ways left his background behind, but he also doesn't feel fully comfortable and hasn't been accepted into the upper class. Alison and Jimmy's relationship is the main place where class conflict unfolds. Both portray the struggle between the two classes in military terms, focusing on the ways they fail to blend. Though the couple try to make their relationship work, the class division between them still hamstrings their effort. Jimmy, in his insecurity and inferiority complex, uses anger and aggressive behaviour to intimidate Alison, who would have exhibited chauvinism, prejudice and supremacy over him. 

Anger — Jimmy is full of inordinate anger which nearly ruins his life. Due to anger, he temporarily loses his wife, he loses what could have been termed as his first and only child. The same untold anger makes him receive insults and slaps from his wife's friend, Helena. Although they later became lovers and did a lot of things together. 

Suffering — Alison suffers so much in her marriage despite the fact that she gave a lot of sacrifices to marry her husband. She suffers neglect and alienation from her parents. She also suffers insults and abuses from Jimmy. 

Hypocrisy ~ The pretentious lifestyle of the upper class is of great concern in this play. Their hypocrisy is such that their public appearance contrasts sharply with their private conduct. Helena pities Alison for having married Jimmy and works out a way through which Alison leaves her husband's house, only for her (Helena) to fall in love with the same man she has severely condemned.