In what ways does R.C Sherrif recreate the tremendous stress and fear suffered by the men at the front in Journey's End?
In what ways does R.C Sherrif recreate the tremendous stress and fear suffered by the men at the front?
Introduction
In the play “journeys end” R.C Sherrif recreates the tremendous stress and fear suffered by the men at the front line in the First World War. The essay will focus on two characters, which show stress and fear. The charters, which the essay will focus on, are Stanhope, who is the captain and hibbert who is an officer.
Some background facts about the war are that it started in 1914 and many countries were evolved like Germany and England. This war was different to other wars previously fought because they used more modern weapons such as gas bombs and machine guns. It total 9 million people died.
R.C Sherrif recreates the war in the play journeys end by making the audience feel if they actually in the war. The play is set in the officers dug out (a dug out is a hole in the ground with a roof over it) which all the action takes place. R.C Sherrif was an officer in the First World War so he had first hand experience of the war and what the officers would have had happen to them. In order to make the audience feel as if they are in the war R.C Sherrif adds notes in the stage directions like “the red and green glow of German alarm rockets comes faintly through the dugout door” in this example the stage which the play would be performed on would have been pitch dark and red and green flashing lights would have lit the stage up. This would have made the audience feel as if they were on the stage and in the war. As well as the bangs and flashes the audience would have felt involved with the characters because of personal things they are saying like when they have an argument.
