Journey's End- Captain Stanhope Character Study
How does R.C Sheriff Present Captain Stanhope as a character to be admired? Journey’s end is a play by R.C Sheriff, it is set in a dark and gloomy officer’s trench during world war one. It depicts life in the front line, and it shows it truthfully, showing all the horrors and emotional struggles of the war. R.C Sheriff knows fully what it is like to be on the front line in world war one having been in it himself. This makes for a very accurate, real and vivid play. Captain Dennis Stanhope is the commander of C Company, he’s one of the most important characters in the play and R.C Sheriff uses him to show the struggles and strains of life in the front line. He presents him as a brave character, a character to be admired. The character of Stanhope is introduced by the other characters in the play before he makes his entrance. Hardy is the Captain Of another company that is about to leave the front line, and Osborne is Stanhope’s second in command. Stanhope is introduced by these two characters before he comes into the play. This dramatic device is used by R.C Sheriff, to build up the suspense before his entrance. It makes the audience want to see what Stanhope is actually like. Although they never meet on stag Hardy is used as a contrast to Stanhope. Hardy has a very laissez-faire attitude to life in the trenches. You can tell this because of his organization for example when he’s talking about how many boots there are in the trench he says ‘Oh no (there are) 25 right leg and 9 left leg, but everything’s down there’. This shows not only very poorly organized but that he doesn’t seem to care. He simply brushes off the fact that the boots are in a mess by saying ‘everything is down there’ as if it’s all okay, when it’s not. Then R.C Sheriff introduces Stanhope via the dialogue between Hardy and Osborne. They immediately start discussing his drinking problem, however Osborne still holds Stanhope in a very high regard despite this. When
Hardy questions Stanhope’s position over his drinking, Osborne defends him ‘He is a long way the best company commander we’ve got’. You are more inclined to see Stanhope from Osborne’s view because he seems the better natured character. Hardy is depicted as lazy and also quite gossipy. This makes the audience think highly Stanhope before he is even introduced. The quote from Osborne about Stanhope ‘I love that fellow, I’d go to hell with him’ makes the audience even more eager to find out more about Stanhope, and to see why he is admired so much by Osborne. Then the ...
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Hardy questions Stanhope’s position over his drinking, Osborne defends him ‘He is a long way the best company commander we’ve got’. You are more inclined to see Stanhope from Osborne’s view because he seems the better natured character. Hardy is depicted as lazy and also quite gossipy. This makes the audience think highly Stanhope before he is even introduced. The quote from Osborne about Stanhope ‘I love that fellow, I’d go to hell with him’ makes the audience even more eager to find out more about Stanhope, and to see why he is admired so much by Osborne. Then the character of Raleigh is introduced, he is a new officer who is just 18 years old. He is naive and has no idea, when he first arrives, what life on the front line is like. However this character is different to the others because he knew Stanhope before the war. This gives us an insight into his life prior to the First World War. Osborne introduces himself, but also in doing this, he mentions that the other officers call him uncle. This nickname shows how the other officers see him, as an honest and dependable person, who looks after everyone. This links back to what has been previously said about Stanhope, making us more inclined to trust ‘Uncle’ Osborne’s more favourable view of him. It is clear that Raleigh looks up to Stanhope and we learn that this dates back to when they were at school, Stanhope was always the older boy that lead by example and was admired by Raleigh. It is clear how much Raleigh looks up to Stanhope ‘Last time he was on leave he came down to the school; he’d just got his M.C and been made Captain, he looked splendid, it sort of made me feel keen’ This shows how much Raleigh admires him and wants to be like him, this makes the audience feel the same way. In addition, it is backed up with the fact that he has and M.C which is a prestigious award for bravery, this alone makes him a very admirable character. The young and naive Raleigh is so keen to be with his idol, that he went out of his way to be in his company, by asking a favour from the General (who is his uncle). After a big build up around him, Stanhope is introduced to the play, due to what has been said before his entrance, R.C Sheriff makes it so his arrival is highly anticipated by the audience. The way he is described is very important to our first impressions of seeing him. He is tall and attractive, a sort of heroic looking character which makes him immediately likeable. He is well kept, with ‘carefully brushed’ hair and a ‘well cared’ for uniform. This shows how he cares about his appearance and image (good personal qualities that are being associated with him, before he even speaks). Then we have the fact that his uniform is ‘war-stained and old’ and he has dark shadows under his eyes. This makes the audience like admire him even more because they can see his experience and how much effort he has put into commanding his company. Dark circles are often associated with tireless work. As soon as Stanhope makes his entrance he shows to the audience that he is a very experienced commander with the way that he co-ordinates the trench affairs. He knows what times everyone should be on patrol, this shows that he is clearly an excellent captain and it links back to the contrast with Hardy. Even some of the little things that occur in the play such as the tinned-apricots and pepper incidents show that he is well organized. We also see that he is self-less and very hardworking when he is choosing his bed. ‘No, you (Osborne) sleep there I’d rather sleep by the table here. I can get up and work without disturbing you’. We admire his consideration of others, and the fact that the bed he declined (the comfiest) was Hardy’s old bed. This really tops off the contrast between the two, at this point in the play it is clear that there are many contrasting points between them and that Stanhope is a much better commander. This great contrast makes the audience admire him even more because it makes the good features of Stanhope stand out even more. However it isn’t all good things that we hear about the character of Stanhope, the way he handles the arrival of Raleigh and his letters shows how much stress he is under. Stanhope is under the impression that Raleigh will write badly of him in his letters to his sister. (Stanhope and Raleigh’s sister are in a relationship). Stanhope wants to censor his letters and he gets very angry with Raleigh. In the end he forces the letter from his hand so that he can read it. This showing of temper does not make us think less of Stanhope. If anything it makes him seem more human, not always perfect. We understand why he has done this to an extent because of the enormous amount of stress he is under. When the letter is read by Osborne it is very different to what Stanhope had thought it would be. He is embarrassed when it is read to him. This presentation of guilt makes up for his showing of temper and makes him still a very admirable character. The letter also provides an insight into what the ordinary men think if him. An extract from Raleigh’s letter reads ‘Then I went into the front line and a sergeant told me all about Dennis. He said that Dennis is the finest officer in the battalion, and that the men simply love him’. This part of the letter is very important because it shows that he is not only admired by the officers but the ordinary soldiers also, it shows that Stanhope has care for all of the soldiers and he doesn’t judge based on rank. This gives us a broader picture of Stanhope, and he is still admired by all, making it even clearer what an admirable character he is. As the play develops it becomes more serious, with the ‘big attack’ approaching. The Coronel requests to see Stanhope regarding a raid. However Stanhope is hesitant over sending Raleigh in this raid because he feels compassion for him but he has to send Osborne and Raleigh. After this, there is the incident involving the character of Hibbert, who is eager to go home on sick leave, is terrified of the war. However Stanhope is very against this and he wants him to stay. The incident escalates when the pair are arguing with each other and Hibbert strikes his superior officer, Stanhope. Stanhope is furious, he threatens to shoot him; however he does share some compassion for Hibbert despite what he thinks of him. He then makes him feel better by telling him that all the men share the same fears. The way Stanhope is shown in this part of the play makes the audience understand what a compassionate and understanding character he is. People admire him for this. Lastly the way that Stanhope tends to Raleigh in the closing stages of the play is important in showing the inner qualities of Stanhope. He keeps a strong heart for the sake of Raleigh even though his world is falling apart (with the death of Osborne and now the injury of Raleigh). He re-assures him that he is okay just by being there, and makes Raleigh more comfortable. The way that he tends to Raleigh so avidly shows how he really feels about him, he gives him water for example. This kind and loving Stanhope is the last depiction we get of him and it definitely ends his character on a very admirable note. I think R.C Sheriff has done a superb job at making Captain Stanhope a character to be admired; he uses both subtle and powerful devices to make it clear what Stanhope is like and he is clearly an admirable character, a true war hero.