How does Sherriff make the character of Stanhope engaging for the audience?

by ja1pal (student)

Sherriff makes Stanhope a complex character by showing the way he changes between his feelings. He shifts from being known as a ‘drunkard’ to someone that starts to understand people’s feelings towards the war and their own problems. Stanhope goes through a lot of changes and situations, most of these he copes with by having a few cups of whiskey. This leads to him become aggressive to anyone that does the smallest thing wrong, which may not concern him. We see how Stanhope becomes more affectionate and understanding towards other people. Sherriff also shows us how Stanhope has many different sides to him and how he expresses these feelings towards his fellow colleagues. We will see how and why his behavior towards other people might be so, aggressive at times and calm and caring at others.

At the beginning of the play Sherriff lets us build our own impression of Stanhope. At first impression we know that Stanhoe copes with the war mainly by drinking. “Because he’s stuck it till his nerves have got battered to bits he’s called a drunkard”. This indicates that Stanhope is an alcoholic. An alcoholic is someone that is addicted to alcohol and cannot control the amount they take. The only way he copes with the war and his troubles are by drinking loads of alcohol. “Drinking like a fish as usual?”. This simile shows that Stanhope drinks to excess, and we can infer from Osborne’s comments that he does so. He drinks to release his stress with the war and any other problems. Stanhope says to Osborne that if he were not drunk, he would ‘age mad with fright’. This proves to us that if Stanhope were to stay sober he would be an emotional wreck just like Hibbert. Stanhope also shows us his softer side by saying this; this tells us that he is not the ‘hard man’ that he is made out to be. This is engaging because although like Hibbert, we might condemn someone for drinking so much and question whether they are responsible enough to be in charge, we can sympathise with the strain that Stanhope is under and don’t want to judge him too harshly.

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Stanhope is engaging for the audience because he is simultaneously threatening and empathic. Stanhope also starts to threaten Hibbert, since Hibbert said to Stanhope that he no longer wants to be part of the war and that he wants to go home. Stanhope then replies, “ I’m fiddling with my revolver… going off by accident”. In this quote Stanhope is hinting to Hibbert that if he were to leave he would be shot for deserting the army. The way Stanhope replied to Hibbert’s comment shows Stanhope to be a multi-dimensional leader, since he is both intimidating and encouraging. Stanhope has no sympathy toward Hibbert even though he is clearly ill, but yet Stanhope tells him to go back on to the front line and fight otherwise he will be shot. This creates a sense of pathos towards Hibbert, by the audience, because Hibbert is very ill and is not fit enough to fight on the frontline. Eventually Stanhope realises that his actions towards Hibbert were wrong, also that Hibbert had the same problem as Stanhope they were both traumatized by the war.

One key aspect of Stanhope’s character that makes him engaging is his temper. He shows very little respect for the people around him. He shouts at Raleigh’ “ D’you understand and order? Give me that letter!” The word ‘order’ defines the fact that he is demanding in this case towards Raleigh about a letter. Stanhope also has very little respect for people who are in higher ranks than him. This is shown when Stanhope is talking to Raleigh about Osborne’s death. At this time he was drunk and had a sense of sarcasm in his tone of voice “How awfully nice- if the brigadiers pleased”. The adverb ‘awfully’ creates the tone of sarcasm, showing little care for the people who have higher ranks than him. Stanhope's temper creates frustration for the audience because he often takes it out on innocent people such as Raleigh and shouts at them unjustifiably. This is frustrating because we wish Stanhope could simply talk about his feelings instead of shouting. However, we understand that he can’t because it is too painful; hence we feel pathos for him because he is so humane and copes with the war in a flawed yet understandable way.

Stanhope is made engaging through his changing relationships with other characters especially Raleigh. He realizes that other people have feelings and starts to understand their feelings and sees how some of these feelings relate to him. Throughout the play Stanhope has not really become fond of Raleigh even though they were best friends at school and that Raleigh’s sister and Stanhope are going to get married. Stanhope acts like he has double the authority than he actually has, to try and act big in front of Raleigh. This is shown when Stanhope gets frustrated because Raleigh called Stanhope by his first name “ Don’t Dennis’ me! Stanhope's my name! You’re not at school! Go and inspect your rifles!” The short exclamations and the use of imperative creates an aggressive tone. However in the last minutes before Raleigh dies Stanhope realises how much he loves him as a friend and says “Steady, old boy. Just lie there quietly for a bit”. The affectionate term ‘old boy’ shows a new and caring side to Stanhope. Sherriff is allowing us to see a deeper tenderness in Stanhope, making us realise that although war changes people and bring pressures, old loyalties still exist.

In conclusion Sherriff makes Stanhope engaging to the audience by placing emphasis on Stanhope’s emotions. The variations of his feelings keep the audience interested into what he is thinking and what his next action will be. In this way the audience understand what he is going through and understand how hard it must be to be in the army under such harsh conditions. Sherriff makes the audience feel sorry for Stanhope, when at times they should not because at time he does not deserve it since he is doing the wrong things e.g. drinking whiskey and shouting at innocent people for no reason. However the audience can understand why Stanhope behaves like this, it is because of his sense of vulnerability. Through his relationship with Raleigh and Hibbert we see that underneath the aggression he is caring. This makes him seem very real and lets him gain a lot of pathos.

By Jaipal Mandair 11B