Summary:
In John Osborne's "Look back in anger," with Jimmy Porter, Osborne created the voice not only for his own criticism of the way in which England was failing.
To be able to understand Jimmy Porter's character, and perhaps to even sympathise with him, it is necessary to see him, indeed, the whole play, in social, historical and cultural context, and, perhaps, to glance at John Osborne's own life and persuasions as well. With Jimmy Porter, Osborne created the voice not only for his own criticism of the way in which England was failing, but for those of the whole generation.
England after the Second World War was economically and politically exhausted. The Labour government did not have the situation under control and was therefore in a state of inertia (the development of the elections' results are proof enough for the widely spread dissatisfaction with the Labour Party: in 1945 and 1950 they won with 393 and 315 seats, while in 1951 there was a big swing and the Conservatives won with 321 seats. They stayed in power until 1964). The stagnancy of the economy prevented the country from adequately developing.
The patriotic Jimmy feels betrayed by the government and his landsmen, who do nothing to prevent the country's decline. There is great bitterness and resignation in his lines: the bitterness and resignation of a lone-standing warrior, who has powerlessly to watch his own city being captured.
'Nobody thinks, nobody cares. No beliefs, no convictions and no enthusiasm.'
These kind of emotions are also expressed in Philip Larkin's poem "Going, Going", in which he complains that life is becoming more and more meaningless:
'more houses, more parking allowed/more caravan sites, more pay.
(...)greeds / and garbage are too thick-strewn / to be swept-up now, or invent/excuses that make them all needs'
Both, Philip Larkin and John Osborne are fighting against the apathy and the materialism of their countrymen - they are 'railing at the lack of passion of their age' (Paul Bond).
"Look back in anger" was also bringing 'class as an issue before British audiences' (Paul Bond). Through Jimmy as the voice of the lower-middle class, Osborne is blaming, amongst other things, the upper class for the country's miserable situation. Jimmy uses Alison's brother Nigel as a symbol for the privileged, and therefore despised, upper class's members who fill important positions regardless of whether they are talented or not but merely as a result of their connections. He accuses them of 'selling out their (his) countrymen'. It is significant that, although Jimmy studied at a university, he runs a sweet stall. This could be considered to be a sign of rebellion.
Jimmy's situation is not less piteous than Beckmann's in "The man outside" by Wolfgang Borchert: one immediately feels for Borchert's protagonist who is treated miserably in his quest for help and support in destroyed post-war Germany ('a manager is cowardly and the door is slammed and again he's outside'). No one wants to take responsibility for, or listen to somebody who sees through situations and discerns the truth and Jimmy, who cannot find help in kindred minds either, is 'a man running in circles, trying to find a way out.' (Paul Bond)
Both these character are, if in different ways, misunderstood, but while Beckmann's life finds an end through this, Jimmy's energetic character gets even more angry. He is looking for provocation and challenge and for someone who wants to and does understand him, and he certainly does not find this in Alison.
Jimmy has to struggle in his marriage with Alison; it has arrived at an 'cul-de-sac'. He cannot handle her passivity and she is seen as someone who is likely to be an unequal partner for him, as she cannot challenge him and does not want to meet him on his high mental 'niveau'. There is an incessant hierarchical conflict between them. Osborne initially portrays Alison as a passive character who cannot make a significant emotional contribution to their marriage. One discovers later what a strong woman she is as she shows great strength and courage in enduring Jimmy's accusations, the loss of the baby and, eventually returning to her husband.
The character of Alison is comparable to Katherina in Shakespeare "The Taming of the Shrew": like her, she finds herself in a 'difficile' romantic relationship and has to learn to cope with it. Although Katherina is a "shrew", she has insecurities, especially as regards her marriage with Petruchio and his awkward character and behaviour. With both women it is only near the end of the play that they are able to summon the courage and speak up; Katherina has her first 'revealing' speech in scene 3 of Act IV, when the plot is already developed considerably far ('Why sir, and I trust I may have leave to speak,/And speak I will. (...)/My tongue will tell the anger of my heart, / Or else my heart concealing it will break, / And rather than it shall, I will be free even to the uttermost, as I please, in words.') and Alison needs even more time. It is only when she has suffered the loss of her baby that she and Jimmy are able to be reconciled.
'I was wrong, I was wrong! I don't want to be neutral, I don't want to be a saint! (...) Don't you see! I'm in the mud at last! I'm grovelling! I'm crawling! Oh, God - '
Jimmy Porter is a cleverly crafted character in a well-constructed play. There are quite a few questions in the play that remain unanswered as Osborne chose only to reveal certain aspects of his characters and gives us the freedom to develop them for ourselves. As Robert Wright said:
'He obviously wants to shake us into thinking but we are never quite clear what it is he wants us to think about.'
Many of the problems, desperation and resignation of British post-war society are to be found in "Look back in anger" and thrown at us by a 'bullying, hectoring, self-pitying, conceited young man', called Jimmy Porter. He 'renders the lives of those around him more difficult to bear' out of rebellion against a blind and deaf world around him. Although his tirades are hard to listen to, on sympathises with Osborne's Jimmy Porter and his frustrations as he stands as a voice for an angry generation and is, in a sense, a tragic hero, who inspires rebellion and encourages us to look under the surface of situations and people.
This is the complete article, containing 1,041 words
(approx. 3 pages at 300 words per page).
