John Osborne
Paperback | Pages: 96 pages Rating: 3.59 | 8196 Users | 329 Reviews
List Books In Pursuance Of Look Back in Anger
| Original Title: | Look Back in Anger |
| ISBN: | 0140481753 (ISBN13: 9780140481754) |
| Edition Language: | English |
Narrative Concering Books Look Back in Anger
I think what happened was that after the huge horror of World War Two and the major effort to remake society in Britain (welfare state, National Health Service) there was a kind of national exhaustion, a slumping into armchairs, and those too young to have fought those battles took the exhaustion for complacency and in the early 50s got really fed up about it, and hence the Angry Young Men – Jimmy Porter in Look Back in Anger (first produced in May 1956) was more or less the first of those. He arrived at the same time that the teddyboys were smashing up seats in cinemas when they went to see Rock Around the Clock (released March 1956). Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard and the rest of the rockers were just around the corner, waiting to turn the anger into joy. So you might think that this angry play was just the kind of kick-start required – that’s what it was seen to be at the time. But when you get to actually read it, or see it or see the 1959 film, it’s like sticking your hand in a food blender. A really unpleasant experience. Jimmy Porter is a guy who pours out a constant stream of belittling bile and contempt over anything and everything in his poxy life but mostly all over his wife and her female friend. He’s almost but not quite the guy who when his wife undercooks the bacon gives her a black eye and then says look what you made me do. The wife meanwhile is a total doormat. She takes the hours upon hours of psychological bullying because she understands that really he’s a tortured genius who loves her and his pain is caused by the wicked world which persists in not recognising his genius and forcing him to live in a tiny one room flat and sell confectionary in a market place even though his brain is the size of the planet Jupiter at least and he’s really sensitive and watched his father die when he was 10, boo hoo. What Jimmy Porter needs is a solid pistol whipping from Sonny Corleone, but (spoiler alert) this does not happen. A FEW OF JIMMY’S AMUSING REMARKS Have you ever noticed how noisy women are? Have you? The way they kick the floor about, simply walking over it? Or have you watched them sitting at their dressing tables, dropping their weapons and banging their bits of boxes and brushes and lipsticks?. I’ve watched her doing it night after night. When you see a woman in front of her bedroom mirror, you realise what a refined sort of butcher she is. I know that the only way of finding out what’s going on is to catch them when they don’t know you’re looking. When she goes out, I go through everything – trunks, cases, drawers, bookcase, everything. Why? I want to know if I’m being betrayed. My wife… sweet and sticky on the outside, and sink your teeth in it, inside, all white, messy and disgusting. I’ve no public school scruples about hitting girls. Why why why why do we let these women bleed us to death? The plot of the play is pure male fantasy – he spends an hour bullying his wife, then her female friend arrives so he bullies her too, then the wife leaves him (hurray!) then the wife’s friend falls into his arms saying she just loves a bit of rough. Jimmy’s nastiness is all explained by his acute sensitivity and how he was a lonely little boy and now he’s an over-educated market trader in a world where he should be president of everything. So that’s why he hates women. Look Back in Anger was one of those famous British productions I had never read or seen before so I thought I’d tick it off, and now I’m sorry I did.Be Specific About Of Books Look Back in Anger
| Title | : | Look Back in Anger |
| Author | : | John Osborne |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | First Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 96 pages |
| Published | : | November 18th 1982 by Penguin Books (first published 1957) |
| Categories | : | Plays. Drama. Classics. Theatre. Fiction |
Rating Of Books Look Back in Anger
Ratings: 3.59 From 8196 Users | 329 ReviewsColumn Of Books Look Back in Anger
There are certain books in my life I regret reading and if I'm to list them, this play, 'Look Back In Anger', should find its place in the top 5. God! What a squalid exhibition of cheap melodrama! The play means to portray the conflicts between a husband from a working class origin and his upper middle class wife; the never failing age long formulated theme. As it requires, the protagonist is a tough and very 'intelligent' man, proud of experiencing all the harshness of life while the wife isJimmy, I recommend a cold shower and enrolling yourself in Feminism 101.
I have never read a protagonist so devoid of charm. And even when people are abandoning him (FOR ABUSING THEM) they cant stop complimenting him for being such a large smart handsome big man. A deeply unpleasant and ugly play.
I can understand why when this play came out in 1956, it was a very controversial subject. There were many people who thought the play was brilliant and powerful while others thought of it as disgusting and detestable. Although Osbornes writing is extremely blunt and very harsh at times (mostly with Jimmy Porter), the play brings up important political and social issues that were prominent at this time in England (the separation of classes, sexism, etc.).Jimmy is an angry young man and he
Definitely had a lot of ups and downs!
Just as WWI gave Great Britain "The Lost Generation", WWII gave it "The Angry Young Men". This play is significant in that it was the first British play to explore that phenomenon. The angry Young Men were the working class men that were confronted by a country that had lost its empire and standing in the world, and the upper classes were seemingly unaware of it. This is born out in the character of Colonel Redfern. The continued presence of a monarchy also insulted the sensibilities of the
The play Look Back in Anger was interesting for a number of reasons. The main reason being that it echoed the feelings of alienation and anomie felt by the ordinary man in post-imperialistic Britain. For me, the play was representative of a time when British control and power over the rest of the world was on the wane. With their best already behind them, the British were trying to find a new purpose. The character Colonel Redfern represents this longing for the past. Colonel Redfern was a
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