Journey's End by RC Sheriff

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20th Century Drama - The name of this play is Journey's End, written

by R. C. Sherriff.

Introduction

The name of this play is Journey's End, written by R. C. Sherriff. The

play was first preformed on a Sunday night in December 1928. By 1929

it was being shown at the Savoy Theatre where it ran for two years.

Later I will be studying the characters of Stanhope and Osborne, and

how they link in with the title "Journey's End", and I will also

examine the idea of journeys. I will also study the impact the play

had, why it was so successful and journeys of the minor characters,

Hibbert, Raleigh and Trotter.

Journeys

The subtext of the play is about journeys, mental, physical and

emotional. Each character in the play goes through their own journey,

but each face it in a different way.

The Impact of the Play

At first, no theatre managers wanted to show Journey's End as they

thought it wouldn't be interesting to the public and no-one would want

to see a play without women in or want to be reminded about the war

ten years after it had ended. But they were wrong, and the play was a

success. Before Journey's End was written, most plays were about love

affairs between upper-class people and were mostly for entertainment

purposes, whereas Journey's End is about something real, something

dramatic, without being over played. Journey's End was different, and

therefore theatre managers didn't want to risk showing it, in case it

was a failure. Many people thought R.C.Sherrif had written the play

for political purposes, or to mock the government e.g. the way the

raid was handled by the commanding officers. But it was written to

give a tangible account of what the war was like, not from the

ordinary soldiers p...

... middle of paper ...

...e. Stanhope's

journey was made more difficult by the death of Osborne, and he blames

Raleigh for this, because Osborne was waiting for Raleigh when he was

killed. At the end of the play, after Raleigh has been brought down

into the dugout after being wounded by some shrapnel, Stanhope

realises how nasty he has been to Raleigh, and tries to make amends.

He makes light of Raleigh's injury, and tells him he's getting sent

back to England to recover. Stanhope tries to make Raleigh more

comfortable by bringing him some water, blankets and candles when he

complains that it's dark and cold. Stanhope is grief-stricken when

Raleigh dies as his actions clearly show.

[STANHOPE GENTLY TAKES HIS (RALEIGH'S) HAND. AND STARES LISTLESSLY]

This is almost the end of Stanhope's journey, and we have to assume

that he dies in the German attack. Stanhope is a flawed hero.

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