Socio-historical
World War One lasted through the years 1914 – 1918. It involved two alliances – The Triple Entente (Britain, France and Russia) and The Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy). With every great super-power in Europe all becoming more and more politically hostile with each other, and arming themselves more and more, World War One was a time bomb waiting to explode. When Austria-Hungary Archduke Franz Ferdinand was on an official visit to the recently claimed Serbia, a collective of people opposing Austria’s presence in Serbia assassinated him. Austria-Hungary, being distraught, blamed Serbia, who denied all knowledge, whom, seeked help from Russia. Austria-Hungary eventually, invaded Russia with the help of Germany to begin what would be known as the last “Great-War”.
Much of the fighting in World War One was done on small areas of land, sometimes as small as 75 yards or so across, with trenches on either side. Men would live in these trenches for months on end, mostly ending their stay with being told to “Go over the top”. This was usually greeted with heavy Machine-Gun fire. Due to this bizarre tactical manoeuvre, 8.6 million soldiers were killed. 15.1 million overall.
Stanhope/Raleigh relationship development
At a first glance, the reasons for Raleigh and Stanhope’s relationship seem clear: Stanhope appears to be simply a casualty of war, taking out his anger on a ghost and looking glass at his past, and what he used to be. However, the more you look at Raleigh, the more you can see things from Stanhope’s side. At school, Raleigh adored Stanhope, almost to the point of
hero-worshipping his older, athletic and class-favourite friend. Raleigh recalls the times “Dennis” would come over and stay with him and his family in the summer holidays. Raleigh also mentions how Stanhope was “fond” of his sister, Madge. Could it not be that Stanhope was simply staying with the Raleigh family to get close to Raleigh’s sister, the woman he loves, while all during his stays he is hounded by her younger brother, constantly tagging along with them? It has been several years since Stanhope had his visits. Raleigh was much younger at the time, with him being the age he was, Raleigh may have misconstrued the situation and not realised, seeing Stanhope as a genuine good friend of his. With the amount of time without contact, Raleigh’s mind has simply cemented this idea in his head and is deluded with this idea of a “friendship”.
This hero-worshipping is not healthy. What does he want from poor Stanhope – A young man feeling the full extent of life at war? Perhaps Raleigh is determined to make sure his deluded friendship is a real companionship with substance. This would explain why Raleigh is seemingly desperate to find Stanhope, with him joining the army, travelling overseas and asking his Uncle to get him in the same company as Stanhope, all just to see his old friend. It isn’t surprising Stanhope is so furious with Raleigh. Before Stanhope’s “Good friend” came into his company, his plan was to simply try his hardest and make it through the war, no matter what that meant – Drinking, shouting, acting the tough man, anything as long as it got him through the days, weeks, months and years before he made it back to Madge.
When Raleigh enters the trench for the first time, he expects the same Stanhope from several years ago. Obviously, this was never going to happen. This was very naive. Even though young Stanhope is adored by most of his company, he has been left in a state. We can see that by the conversation between Raleigh and Stanhope at the opening of the play:
Hardy: How is the dear old boy?
Osbourne: Why do you say that?
Hardy: Well, damm it it’s just the natural thing to ask about Stanhope. Poor old man, it must be pretty rotten for you, being his second in command, and you such a quiet, sober thing.
Osbourne: He’s a long way the best company commander we’ve got.
Hardy: Oh, he’s a good chap, I know. But I never did see a youngster put away the whiskey quite like he does.
If they were real friends, surely he would not expect the same Stanhope? Wouldn’t they have sent letters to one-another if they were such good friends, as Raleigh believes they were?
Through the play, Stanhope is usually aggressive and furious at Raleigh. However, there are moments where we see a totally different side to Stanhope. In the “Letter Scene” We see Stanhope differ from furious, depressed, and guilty. In the scene, Raleigh asks where letters are to be collected, Stanhope, paranoid Raleigh will write back to Blighty telling everyone what he has become, tells Raleigh to “Leave it open”, and explains to Raleigh as Company Leader he must censor all letters. When Raleigh declines and says he’s changed his mind about sending it, Stanhope snaps. He screams “Give me that letter!” Raleigh pleads and begs “But Dennis, I haven’t said anything about where we are!” Stanhope then bellows “Don’t ‘Dennis’ Me! Stanhope’s my name! You’re not at school! Go and inspect your rifles! Don’t you understand an order!?”. Stanhope becomes furious when Raleigh calls him “Dennis”. Perhaps this is Stanhope finally getting sick of Raleigh thinking he is his friend? After Raleigh leaves, Stanhope is deflated. When he requests Osboune reads the letter, and finds nothing about him, he is left feeling foolish and depressed. This shows Stanhope isn’t simple the idiotic drunk he is thought as, it shows he does have a conscience, and that he simply can’t take any more of Raleigh.
Scene Direction
I am going to attempt to direct Stanhope through the Letter scene. As Raleigh asks where he should put the letters, I would have Stanhope sitting a corner, not looking at Raleigh, saying “You leave it open” in a quiet and snarling voice. When Raleigh questions him about this, I would have Stanhope sigh very loudly before saying “Yes. I have to censor all letters”. After Raleigh mentions that he hasn’t said anything about where they are, I would now have it very clear that Stanhope is beginning to lose his temper, by making him stand up and look at Raleigh, saying sharply “It’s the rules that all letters must be read”. I would then have him burst into a fit of rage, screaming “D’you understand an order!? Give me that letter!” Stanhope would be trying to physically grab the letter from Raleigh. As Raleigh pleads with Stanhope, shouting “Dennis!” Stanhope would stop fighting for the letter, but be even more angry, shaking with rage and fighting for breath as he screams “Don’t ‘Dennis’ Me! Stanhope’s my name! You’re not at school anymore! Go and inspect your rifles! Do you understand an order!?”. Raleigh would then quickly run out the dugout. Stanhope would slouch back on the chair, taking a whiskey, breathing heavily. As Osbourne asks why he just did what he did, I would have him answer very quietly “Look here, Osbourne, I’m commanding this company. I ask for advice when I want it.” I would have him then pick the letter up while he is still sitting in the chair, and shout “Oh God, I don’t want to read this blasted thing” at himself, placing the letter on the table. After Osbourne asks if he would like him to look at it for him, Stanhope would now have his face in his hands, muttering “If you like”, then shaking his head saying “You better…I can’t”. After Osbourne reads the letter and asks if he should stick it down, I would then have Stanhope sitting there, emotionless, still with his head in his hands, just being able to say “Yes…please.”
Conclusion
Stanhope is a young commander ravaged by the horrors of World War One. He fights his demons at the bottom of every bottle of whiskey, and is simply trying to keep his head above water and make it through the war, to make it back to his beloved Madge. When Raleigh, Madge’s younger brother uses family connections to join his company, Stanhope sees a skeleton that he’d rather had stayed in the closet. While staying with Madge during the summer holidays, Raleigh would often tag along with the young couple, and Stanhope would keep him happy by being a friend to him. Raleigh eventually begins Hero-Worshipping Stanhope, seeing him as his best friend.