R.C. Sherriff's Journey's End
Set on the Western Front, ‘Journey’s End’ is based on R C Sherriff’s
experiences as an
Officer in the trenches of the First World War. It was the first war
play to look at the reality of the day to day life of soldiers. Prior
to ‘Journey’s End’, plays either demonised the enemy, and focused on
deeds of heroism, or preached the futility of war.
This play was one of a number of literary works, produced about 10
years after the end of the war, which showed the horror of war by
looking at the mens’ day to day lives. These included ‘Undertones of
War’ by Edmund Blunden, ‘Goodbye to All That’ by Robert Graves, ‘All
Quiet on The Western Front’ by Remarque, ‘Her Privates We’ by Frederic
Manning and ‘Memoirs of an Infantry Officer by Siegfried Sassoon.
In a ‘Journey’s End’, the horror of war is often shown in the
subtext, of the soldiers conversations, not by the direct actions of
the men.
Although in the first instance it was rejected by theatre managers,
the play went on to strike a chord with the public and had a two year
run in London. They responded to the play because it showed them, for
the first time, the fear and squalor that the men faced continually
and how they dealt with it.
Extract 1 (Pages 1-4) gives the audience the opportunity to understand
the terrible conditions in which the characters lived. The characters
engage in sarcastic banter as they can not afford to give into their
true feelings towards the situation. Everyone does what they can to
keep each others spirits up.
The Director would need to enhance the horror of the mens’ situation
in the way that he sets the stage. The setting is a dug out in a
trench during World War I. A depressing mood and claustrophobic
atmosphere needs to be created by this set and the lighting. The
beds, table and stalls need to be on top of each other, rotten wood,
the occasional sound of dripping water and a muddy floor are
essential. Bottles, glasses and papers need to be piled high on the
small table.
The dugout should be poorly lit, by a candle or oil lamp. The sky,
visible through the door, needs to be bright. The contrast between
light and dark represents the soldiers’ confinement versus the world
that they knew before the war.
If the characters had the choice they would not talk about death and
squalor, however it is the stuff of their daily lives. They get
around talking about the subject but using light hearted banter.
Robert Ross’ is introduced to characters with varying outlooks on the world, based on their own social and economic backgrounds. The soldiers around Robert Ross differ greatly,...
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"Reader Responses to Soldier's Home." Literature and Composition. 10 Feb.,2003. David Toth. 14 Feb., 2003. .
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As we know, the pretext of the play is the aftermath of a war, so I
A certain matter-of-fact quality pervades the descriptions of the wounds inflicted and received by soldiers; the face-to-face attacks with rifle butts, spades, and grenades; the sounds, smells, and colors of death and dying in this book.
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