Techniques and themes used in Journey's End.
Techniques and themes used in Journey's End. There are a large number of techniques R.C. Sherriff uses in Journey's End to make his play entertaining to the 19th Century audience. In this essay I will be exploring these techniques, which include powerful characters and comedy, to portray his ideas of the struggles of coping with war and the differences between classes. I will start by analysing the comedy. The only comedy within the play, apart from when Stanhope, Trotter and Hibbert are drunk and telling each other humorous stories, comes from the cook, Mason. The humour is used to break the tension between the characters at awkward moments in the play and through Mason it is used to keep up the morale of himself and his fellow men in the dugout. Throughout the play we discover the things which keep the officers going during the war and comedy seems to be the thing which Mason uses. For example "Yes sir. Quite nice and lumpy." The second technique is the directions Sherriff uses in his play; these are used in a variety of ways. The main use of the directions is to reveal the humans as rather than just soldiers, for example a policeman shows authority rather than a person; whereas Sherriff portrays them as individuals. On page 61 there are understated emotions by Trotter and Osborne, "What a damn nuisance"/ "It is rather". Osborne's attitude and kindness, even as an
Explain how much of the emotion in the play comes from the relationship between Raleigh and Stanhope, both of whom have the sympathy of the audience. What makes the barrier between them so poignant and how is it removed at the end?
Journey's End - R.C. Sherriff Explain how much of the emotion in the play comes from the relationship between Raleigh and Stanhope, both of whom have the sympathy of the audience. What makes the barrier between them so poignant and how is it removed at the end? Journey's end is a play set in the final year of the First World War. The action takes place entirely in one location. This location is A dug-out in the British trenches before St. Quentin. The play opens on the evening of Monday, the 18^th march 1918. On stage the audience can see the inside of a dimly lit dug-out, a table, wooden boxes serving as stools as well as bottles holding candles. This glum scene is the setting for the majority of the play. The play opens with a meeting between lieutenant Osbourne, who is second in command to Captain Stanhope and Captain Hardy whose company Stanhope's men are relieving from their spell of duty in the front line. Captain Hardy is quite a useless commander is the image that is portrayed at the beginning of the play. Lieutenant Osbourne appears to be annoyed by Captain Hardy's lack of efficiency. This is shown when Hardy tells Osbourne about the trench stores, the rifle grenades in particular (Hardy) "Besides, they are rusty, in any case' Also when Hardy says there are '34 gum boots' Osbourne replies (Osbourne) "That's seventeen pairs -" (Hardy) "Oh, no;
"Journey's End" by R.C. Sherriff - A dramatic analysis of Act three, Scene one, showing how R.C Sherriff brings the raid to life and conveys the horror of war, despite the limitations of the stage.
"Journey's End" by R.C. Sherriff: A dramatic analysis of Act three, Scene one, showing how R.C Sherriff brings the raid to life and conveys the horror of war, despite the limitations of the stage. The author of the play R.C Sherriff, was an officer in the First World War. The play is based upon his real life experiences. He wrote several other plays, but it is for "Journey's End" that he is best remembered. The play shows the horrific conditions in the trenches. It also shows the class divide between the officers and the men. The scene is set in a dugout in the British trenches before St. Quentin. It is the 20th March 1918. Seven months before the end of the First World War. The dugout is bare and gloomy with make shift seats, a bed and a large table. The walls are of bare earth with a few pictures of girls pinned to them. There are candles burning and faint sound of the war. The front line is only fifty yards away. Act three, scene one, begins with Stanhope, the commanding officer, pacing up and down. It is dusk and a glow from the setting sun focuses the audience's attention solely on him. His mood is agitated and anxious. Two officers, Osbourne and Raleigh and ten other men are to go over the top of the trench to find out what is happening on the German's front line. They hope to cross seventy yards of no-mans land, and go through the German's wire fences. Their
What is the effect of warfare on the characters and their relationships in "Journey's End?"
What is the effect of warfare on the characters and their relationships in "Journey's End?" The First World War, what can you expect? Dirty, horrible conditions, rat infested trenches, disinfected water, intense boredom and the repetition of machine guns viciously rattling in the distance. These are the predicaments that the soldiers had to cope with in the deadly war. Though there was a battle on between the Germans and the British, there was also an internal battle on within the characters as they fought to relieve their depression. The trench conditions inside and outside was very bad in the war. There was only a 'narrow strip of starlight sky' and a 'pale shaft of sunlight' outside the trenches. The 'intense darkness' tell us that the soldiers were living in a very poor state. The trench conditions affected the men in different ways. Stanhope is the most affected soldier from the rest of the characters. Although he has the best position that anybody could have, 'The Company Commander of an Infantry Company,' he has one problem, drinking. To cope with the war, he turns to alcohol to relieve his depression, for one incident occurred when he arrived back to the 'C' Company, he had an 'awful affair on Vimy Ridge,' and so he knew he would 'go mad if I didn't break the strain. - I couldn't bear being fully conscious all the time.' This shows us that he can not live
Journey's End - Compare and contrast Osborne, Stanhope and Raleigh as people and as soldiers.
Journey's End 2. Compare and contrast Osborne, Stanhope and Raleigh as people and as soldiers. In the play we learn very little of Dennis Stanhope's character as a man and much more of his character as a soldier. One reason for this is that he is the Commander of Infantry Company C and so always has to appear strong, composed and in charge. He feels that he must be very dedicated to his work and present a stern but fair front to the rest of the men. It is important for him to do this as he has only been a commander for a year and is relatively young, as he is just 21 years old. Another reason why we see very little of his character as just a man is that he has been fighting in the war for a long time "Nearly three years. He came out straight from school- when he was eighteen." This has hardened him and he is much more used to the war as an everyday reality, and because of this he has found ways to cope with the stress and horror of war. He uses drink to forget about his life at home and the atrocious war going on around him. He relies on drink a lot and he drinks most of the six bottle of whisky they brought with them in just three days." The last bottle! Why, damn it, we brought six!" He is able to admit to his drinking problems and why it is that he drinks so much: "if I went up those steps into the front line- without being doped with whisky- I'd go mad with fright" His
Journey's end - Focusing on the exchange between Stanhope and Hibbert in act two, consider how R.C Sheriff presents the comradeship felt by the men fighting in the 1st World War.
GCSE English coursework 'Journey's end' by R.C Sheriff Comradeship is a special kind of bond partly imposed by the constant threat of death and mutilation; it is more than mere friendship. Focusing on the exchange between Stanhope and Hibbert in act two, consider how R.C Sheriff presents the comradeship felt by the men fighting in the 1st World War. On the 4th August 1914, Britain declared war on Germany. Germany had dishonoured the Belgian treaty of neutrality. Millions of British men and younger boys volunteered for war, it later became compulsory for British citizens. The play I am studying is 'journey's end', written by the English novelist R.C Sheriff. He was born in 1896 and served as an officer in the East Surrey regiment. Journey's end is based upon some of Sheriff's real-life experiences, highlighting the comradeship between the soldiers in the trenches. Of all Sheriff's plays and films, Journey's end seems to have become the most remembered. In 1928, the anniversary of the armistice, a huge flood of memoirs and recollections of peoples experiences at war. This included stories, plays and a huge number of poems written by men from the trenches. Novels speaking of all the horrors of war and the treacherous conditions became coming about when in 1928 people started to become disillusioned about the peace. This came about after in 1919, everyone was speaking
How does the play 'Journey's End' convey realistically the horrors of war?
Robbie Elder February 2003 Journey's End Coursework How does the play 'Journey's End' convey realistically the horrors of war? 'Journey's End' was written in 1928, ten years after the end of the First World War. The author, R. C. Sherriff, was injured during action in World War 1 and therefore got a ticket home. Sherriff was trying to raise money for a new boat club and so decided to write this play and perform it. The other club members refused to act out this play because it was too like the World War. There had been a tendency for men returning from the front not to discuss their experiences as they were too horrific and they did not wish their womenfolk to know the truth. So Sherriff went to the 'Incorporated Stage Society'. They agreed, after a while of asking, to have one Sunday performance at the Savoy Theatre in London. They were to judge the play and see if it was successful. It was very successful and then ran for another 600 shows. Sherriff then became a full time writer and died in November 1975. After 'Journey's End', many other books and plays were written and performed about World War 1, but Journey's End had been the first. In the play Sherriff uses many ways to portray the horrors of war and because it is set in a dugout the audience is brought right to the front line for the entire play. The conditions are conveyed in great detail and they are
A Journey Through the Unknown: Raju and Saleem Through the Hero's Journey.
Mary Collins Postcolonial Novels 3/11/03 A Journey Through the Unknown: Raju and Saleem Through the Hero's Journey When examining the word "hero" a great deal of confusion or uncertainty may come over the thinker regarding the actual definition of the word. This sense of indecision has to do largely with the ambiguous nature of the word hero. In truth, a hero can be the protagonist of a story or a person who exhibits a set of ideals and acts in a certain honorable or admirable way. Oftentimes it is difficult to ascertain whether or not a character deserves to be called a hero in the later sense of the word. (Kiley) An excellent device for determining hero-status is following the character through the story using the model of the Hero's Journey. Joseph Campbell first published extensive literature on the idea of the Hero's Journey in his book The Hero with a Thousand Faces where he examines "The Adventure of the Hero:" "The whole sense of the ubiquitous myth of the hero's passage is that it shall serve as a general pattern for men and women, wherever they may stand along the scale. Therefore it is formulated in the broadest terms. The individual has only to discover his own position with reference to this general human formula, and let it then assist him past his restricting walls. Who and where are his ogres? Those are the reflections of the unsolved enigmas of his own
20th Century Drama - The name of this play is Journey's End, written by R. C. Sherriff.
20th Century Drama Introduction The name of this play is Journey's End, written by R. C. Sherriff. The play was first preformed on a Sunday night in December 1928. By 1929 it was being shown at the Savoy Theatre where it ran for two years. Later I will be studying the characters of Stanhope and Osborne, and how they link in with the title "Journey's End", and I will also examine the idea of journeys. I will also study the impact the play had, why it was so successful and journeys of the minor characters, Hibbert, Raleigh and Trotter. Journeys The subtext of the play is about journeys, mental, physical and emotional. Each character in the play goes through their own journey, but each face it in a different way. The Impact of the Play At first, no theatre managers wanted to show Journey's End as they thought it wouldn't be interesting to the public and no-one would want to see a play without women in or want to be reminded about the war ten years after it had ended. But they were wrong, and the play was a success. Before Journey's End was written, most plays were about love affairs between upper-class people and were mostly for entertainment purposes, whereas Journey's End is about something real, something dramatic, without being over played. Journey's End was different, and therefore theatre managers didn't want to risk showing it, in case it was a failure. Many people
How does R.C Sherriff use dramatic devices to effectively recreate the horror and reality of the war upon the stage?
NEAB Modern drama coursework Journey's end by R.C Sherriff How does R.C Sherriff use dramatic devices to effectively recreate the horror and reality of the war upon the stage? In your answer, you must refer to one scene in close detail Kasun Wickramasinghe Journeys End The prime purpose of this assignment is to show how the author of "journeys end" has used dramatic devices to effectively recreate the horror and the reality of the war. Journeys End, is a play based on the real-life experiences of R.C Sherriff during the First World War. In the play R.C Sherriff has used the setting for the play as a dug-out in the British trenches. Overall, the play reflects the life style of the people in one particular dug-out. The main Characters (people living in this dug-out) of this play include Stanhope - the commander of that infantry Company, Osborne, Trotter, Hibbert and Raleigh - officers of the company, and Mason - the officers' cook. Recreation of the physical horrors of war on stage is an arduous task. These horrors that R.C Sherriff has confronted within the play briefly consist of - death, home sickness, families destroyed, mental disease, living conditions, suspense, Mal-nourishment and the way in which the Characters gradually change. Unable to realistically create such horrors, R.C Sherriff has relied on alternative techniques and methods which focus on the mental