LOOK BACK IN ANGER
 |
| Hareshwar |
INTRODUCTION:
Osborne
is an English playwright, screenwriter, actor and critic. Most of
his writing crackled with his anger. His Look Back in Anger changed the course of
British Theater and offered him wide acclaim. This play can be seen as a
reaction against the `drawing room' dramas of the period. He was an 'angry
young man' who raised his strong voice against the injustices of British
society.
KITCHEN SINK DRAMA:
Osborne’s
real breakthrough came when Look Back in
Anger was first staged on 8 May 1956. It blew up the old
British theatre. The term “kitchen-sink drama” was coined for this play. Its
realistic setting revolutionized the British theatre. This play gave voice to
the lower-middle-class. It depicted
the disillusionment and rebelliousness of post-war youth in Britain
SETTING:
The play
takes place in the Porters' one-room flat, a fairly large attic room. The
furniture is simple and rather old: a double bed, dressing table, book shelves,
chest of drawers, dining table and three chairs, and two shabby leather arm
chairs. The plain, drab setting of the play illustrates the contrast between
the idealistic Jimmy and the dull reality of the world surrounding him.
PLOT CONSTRUCTION:
Look
Back in Anger is a well-made play in the tradition of Ibsen, Strindberg,
and Tennessee Williams. There is one place and one plot developed over three
acts. The basic plot device is ancient: misalliance in marriage compounded by a
love triangle. The play takes place in a
one-bedroom filthy flat in the Midlands .
It opens with Jimmy, Alison and Cliff. Jimmy is a university chap
of lower class background. But he is unable to find employment. He lives with his wife Alison. He is an
extremely unusual young man. He spits venom against everything and everybody.
He is apparently convinced that for the young generation of today the world is
an utterly rotten place. His friend
Cliff lives with him and helps Jimmy in running a sweet stall. Jimmy taunts his
friends over their acceptance of the world around them. Jimmy
spends Act I baiting Alison and Cliff. In Act II, Alison's friend Helena
arrives. She persuades Alison to leave Jimmy and then takes her place. In Act
III Alison returns and Helena
THEMES:
Alienation
and loneliness, anger and hatred, apathy and passivity, class Conflict and
identity crisis are the major themes of Look
Back in Anger. Jimmy feels alienated from the society. He finds himself
meaningless. He is deeply angry because no one seems interested in him. His
helplessness produces anger and hatred in him. Jimmy comes from the working
class. It is the class system that makes Jimmy's existence meaningless. Due to
this system he is suffering from identity crisis.
CHARACTERISATION:
Osborne
creates his characters thoughtfully. Their speech and rhythms reflect their
class and education. Jimmy Porter, Alison Porter, Cliff Lewis, Helena Charles
and Colonel Redfernare are major characters of Look Back in Anger. Jimmy Porter is a character of psychological
complexity and interest. He dominates the play through the power of his anger
and language. Alison has been married to Jimmy for three years. She comes from
the upper-middle-class. Cliff is Jimmy's friend and partner in the sweet stall
and shares the Porters' flat. Helena
CONCLUSION:
Osborne
is appreciated for his use of setting, imagery and language. His setting is
fantastic, his imagery is evocative and his language is aligned with realism. His
language is a very powerful weapon of articulation. In short, Osborne is an
outstanding anti-conventional dramatist who attracted the widest attention
during the middle of the twentieth century. His Look Back in Anger has been recognized as a bombshell. In short, it is the one- man play par-
excellence.
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