Journeys End Coursework

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In what way does R.C. Sheriff re-create for his audience the tremendous stress & fear suffered by the men on the front line?

 The first world war was the biggest war to even break out. Approximately 20 million people died as a result of the battles between The Triple Entente (France, Britain & Russia) and The Triple Alliance (Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy). A vast majority of these battles took place in trenches set up in France and Belgium. They were just narrow strips of path dug into the ground, so naturally they weren’t in the best conditions. When it rained, the trenches flooded and sometimes began to collapse. These trenches were filled with rats and diseases such as trench foot were common. The smell wasn’t wonderful either. Considering the average age of a solider was just 25, living in these such conditions would have been very hard. R.C. Sheriff himself played a part in World War One as captain of the east Surrey regiment.

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What strikes you straight away is that Stanhope is also captain of a regiment, giving the instant impression the author writes from experience. He interprets Stanhope as a alcoholic as he copes with the stresses of the war. Drinking is his way of forgetting about the war, and gives him the strength to go out on the front line to fight.  In a discussion between Osborne and Hardy in Act One, Scene One, Osborne describes Stanhope’s drinking as being as cruel but entertaining as ‘bearbaiting or cock fighting’.  In a later scene, Stanhope asks to be tucked in ...

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