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World War I was triggered by political issues. It was confidently believed that the war would be over by Christmas, however it lasted for four long years. During those bitter years of fighting millions of young men lived and died in the trenches either side of no-mans land. Although millions lost their lives the British public threw massive parties celebrating their victory over Germany and the Triple Alliance. At the time the British public were unaware of the horrific nature of the Great War; instead they saw it as a glory filled victory, well fought and full of heroes. R C Sherriff's play 'Journeys End' was written to give an insight into what life was really like at the front-line at a level the general public could understand and relate to, the play therefore would have had considerable shock horror value.
The play is set in 118, the last year of the war. The German army was once again preparing a massive attack against the allies and it is against this threatening backdrop that the play opens. The British army was very different to what it is today; only men were allowed to fight, women were expected to stay at home and work the land and the public services. In 118 men did not obtain their rank through training and experience but through their class and which school they had been to. All officers would have been to public school. On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in the year 118 an armistice was signed; the war was at an end. 118 was a year of optimism, the public called it the Great War and said that the war to end all wars had been won.
The play was first performed in 18. It was the 10th anniversary of the armistice and memoirs flooded the public from all directions. Among the authors were Siegfried Sasson, Robert Graves and R C Sherriff. The ten years which had past since the war had given those involved a chance to think out their experiences and digest its horrors and lessons. 18 was also a year of uncertainty and disillusionment. With the certainty of peace shattered people seemed ready to hear the truth about war.
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The structure of the play is intense with a period of four years concentrated into four days and the whole play set in the confined space of the officers' dugout. The action in the play is well planned. Long periods of quiet give an eerie atmosphere with short intense fighting providing a strong contrast. Almost as important in this play as conversation is the stage directions; after Raleigh's death R C Sherriff uses pathetic fallacy in his setting, " The faint rosy glow of dawn is deepening to an angry red ", reflecting the unfairness of a young mans premature death and the anger Stanhope felt at himself for his earlier treatment of his friend. Another use of stage directions to give information that the conversation can't or won't give is in the details of the set. Here we are told that magazine pictures of ' girls in flimsy costumes' are pinned to the walls; this reminds the audience that the play is about young men away from home, isolated and perhaps lonely.
In 'Journeys End' the interaction of the characters is what gives the audience their main insight into war. In every play relationships have an important part to play. R C Sherriff has purposely chosen very different characters so that they will conflict and provide dramatic tension. The most controversial character is arguably Stanhope, who has a drinking habit which verges on alcoholic. When Raleigh, a friend from both home and school, arrives his reaction is not the friendly support you'd expect but a cold resentful air, "(He stops short at the at the sight of RALEIGH. There is silence.) " . However there is another side to Stanhope which in the main only appears when he talks to Osbourne, showing the audience that it wasn't all trust and unity in the trenches but a lot about keeping up a front; "must have somebody to tuck me up in bed ", this side of Stanhope is softer and shows a need for love. The men's talk gives another impression of Stanhope " He's a long way the best company commander we've got", showing they think a lot of him. This shows the audience that even the best men crack up under the pressures of war. A situation involving Raleigh not only gives further insight into Stanhope's character but provides the audience with more shocks about war. The first involves Raleigh, who wants to send a letter home. Stanhope's anger and determination to read this letter and therefore, in his eyes, prevent his girlfriend finding out about his drinking habit tells the audience not only that he is ashamed of himself and highly values his loved ones' opinions but backs up again that war was as much about false fronts as about the real characters of men.
Osbourne and Trotter are far less complex characters who nonetheless still show the audience different ways of dealing with war. Stemming from his added years Osbourne has the nickname uncle which he fully lives up to, "Come along, old chap. You come and lie down here." Caring for others seems to help him deal with the pressures of war. Osbourne's caring manner would have endeared him to the audience. R C Sherriff uses Osbourne's death to stress to the audience the unfairness of war; Osbourne was a kind man who hated war, he did not deserve to die and the audience would have felt the unfairness of his death very strongly. Another way Osbourne has of dealing with war is to read, in particular Alice in Wonderland a child's book set in nonsense land; Osbourne had to live with war which was a far extreme of seriousness and horror, Alice in Wonderland went so far in the other extreme of light heartedness and nonsense that it allowed him, for a few moments, to escape the gruelling reality that faced him. This is demonstrated in Act when the only thing that that could distract Raleigh from the thought of the raid was Osbourne's nonsense quote from Alice " ' The time has come, the Walrus said,......'."
Trotter seems to me an even simpler character than Osbourne. His method of coping was to count down the hours until he could leave on a chart. This simplistic, down to earth manner stemmed from his lack of imagination. " Funny not to have an imagination, must be rather nice", although it probably was a benefit because he unlike the others did not spend half his time thinking what if; however it was also a disadvantage because he could not escape from reality in the way that Osbourne and Raleigh could. Trotter's reaction to Osbourne's reading of Alice showed the audience this. " I don't see the point in that " and " You are a funny chap " was all Trotter could say.
As you would expect in a war play there are some very dramatic scenes. The most dramatic I think is in Act when Hibbert begs to be sent down the line claiming he has neuralgia but Stanhope sees straight through him for the coward that he is. This causes a heated argument with Stanhope showing his position as captain" (quietly ) You're going to stay here ", and Hibbert, who had worked himself up into a frenzy, trying to leave against Stanhope's orders "STANHOPE thrusts him back with a lightening movement HIBBERT raises his stick and strikes blindly at STANHOPE ". As soon as this happens Stanhope comes over very commanding officer, swearing at Hibbert and taking hold of his revolver, " You know what this means don't you? striking a superior officer!". After this Hibbert becomes openly cowardly " I'll never go up those steps again - into the line". This scene not only reveals to the audience the extreme respect demanded of superiors but also that in war cowardice was just as common place as heroism.
Although Raleigh's death scene is perhaps not as dramatic as the scene above, it is without doubt the most poignant scene in the play. There are many incidents throughout the play building up Raleigh's image as a young inexperienced boy, straight from school and typical of thousands sent to war. This is emphasised again in his death scene " I got kicked in just the same place at rugger ". Comparing a fatal wound to a rugby injury reminds the audience just how young and inexperienced Raleigh is. The fact that Raleigh doesn't know he's dying and the audience do is a good example of dramatic irony. " But I - I can't go home just for a knock in the back", tells the audience not just how inexperienced Raleigh is (he genuinely doesn't realise the extent of the injury) but also something of the pressure young men were under to join up. Raleigh was in agony but he still couldn't bear the thought of having to be sent home. Although seeing a young man die is emotional, I think the most poignant aspect of the scene is Stanhope's pain and anguish. Men die, the audience knows that but the emotional suffering they went through was something unseen by the public. " Jimmy ", for the first time since Raleigh's arrival Stanhope uses his first name, this gives the audience an idea of the gravity of the situation and Stanhope's final realisation of his behaviour when it's too late. They could relate to Stanhope's situation. He had let his pride come between himself and his friend, he had been cruel when he should have been kind and now his friend was dying and their time together was ended.
In conclusion I believe that 'Journeys End' would have had an extraordinary effect on a first night audience; Those who had not been to war would have been forced to think about aspects of war that hadn't existed to them before and those in the audience who had already survived the horror of war would, I think have been relieved that people finally knew the truth. I believe that 'Journeys End' is written in a way which would have made the audience emotionally involved in the characters suffering and would therefore have suffered themselves, but overall I believe that 'Journeys End' would have given a first night audience a glance at the true horrific nature of war that should have shocked them to the depths of their souls.
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