Comment on Sherriff's presentation of Stanhope in the first two acts of Journey's End.

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Comment on Sherriff’s presentation of Stanhope in the first two acts of Journey’s End

In the first two acts of ‘Journey’s End’, Sherriff presents Stanhope as a character who is, although in many ways the model war-hero, plagued by the flaws of alcoholism and mental decay. Throughout the first two acts of the play Sherriff shows these to change the audience’s understanding of, and feelings toward, him as events unfold.

The audience is first introduced to the character of Stanhope in the conversation that takes place between Osborne and Hardy at the beginning of Act 1, which also provides insights into the men’s situation. The two accounts of Stanhope we hear are vastly different; while Hardy sees him as a ‘sort of freak’, telling stories about when he ‘drank a whole bottle [of whisky] in one hour fourteen minutes’ and ‘knocked all the glasses off the table’ after an argument, Osborne, established as his second-in-command, does not encourage Hardy’s gossip and clearly has great admiration for Stanhope, saying ‘I love that fellow. I’d go to hell with him.’ However, though the two characters have very different opinions of their commanding officer, Sherriff nonetheless provides the audience with some concrete facts about Stanhope’s character: most importantly, that he has been fighting in the war for ‘three years’, having come ‘straight from school when he was eighteen’ to rise to a high rank, despite his age; that he is, as Hardy puts it, ‘a hard drinker’; and that he has been badly affected by his time on the front, as even Osborne admits his ‘nerves have got battered to bits’ (unlike Hardy, he sees this as an understandable consequence of years of service). Despite being defended by Osborne, Stanhope is clearly a troubled character; Sherriff uses this discussion to build anticipation in the audience for Stanhope’s first appearance.

Though the audience gets a few details of Stanhope’s character during the play’s first scene, through the arrival of the new officer Raleigh Sherriff provides more insight into Stanhope’s back-story and further builds the tension preceding his arrival. Raleigh first appears as a new officer, his ‘boyish voice’, hesitant speech, and ‘very new uniform’ all indicating his lack of experience. However, he is full of naïve enthusiasm; having known Stanhope at school, he is expecting the ‘skipper of rugger’ he once knew. Sherriff builds tension through Raleigh’s reminiscence of how Stanhope once gave some schoolboys ‘a dozen each with a cricket stump’ when he caught them drinking whisky; his character has evidently changed greatly since he has come to the front. Despite Osborne’s attempts to prepare Raleigh for this—‘If you notice a – difference in Stanhope – you’ll know it’s only the strain’ – he clearly does not grasp the fact that his hero will not be as he remembers him. Having now heard three very different accounts of the same character—the temperamental drunk that Hardy describes, the troubled but respected leader of Hardy and the idealistic boy of Raleigh— the anticipation for Stanhope’s first reveal is great.

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Despite the audience’s high expectations, when Stanhope eventually appears on stage, he seems to physically fulfil all that would be expected of the romantic hero. He is ‘tall’ and ‘slimly built’, with ‘attractive features’; though ‘well cut and cared for’ his uniform has clearly seen much service, being ‘old and war-stained’. It does not indicate, therefore, the inexperience that Raleigh’s spotless uniform does. It is also apparent, as Osborne has said, that he has been badly affected by the war; there is ‘a pallor under his skin and dark shadows under his eyes’. His neat uniform and hair indicate ...

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