Concetti Chiave
- John Osborne played a pivotal role in the Angry Young Movement, revitalizing post-war English theater with new realism and aggressive language.
- His groundbreaking play "Look Back in Anger" in 1956 marked a significant success, establishing him as a prominent dramatist.
- Over time, Osborne shifted from rebellious themes to more personal and intimate subjects in his works.
- Osborne was known for his difficult personality, which affected his relationships and led to a turbulent personal life.
- Significant works by Osborne include "Look Back in Anger," "Epitaph for George Dillon," "The Entertainer," and "Luther."
Indice
What is the significance of John Osborne and the Angry Young Movement?
Osborne's playright works has a relevant impact because not only they drew the international attention to the new-born Angry Young Movement but also they revitalized the post-war English theatre.As a matter of fact, they brought a new kind of realism through the use of surprisingly new aggressive language and a passionate criticism of the Establishment.
John Osborne was born in London in 1929 where he lived with his working-class parents (his father was a copywriter and his mother a barmaid).
He was educated first in London and then in Devonshire, but he was a rebel who found school intolerable.
He therefore left early and he was employed by different kind of jobs, including working in the journalism field. He then abandoned the latter for the theater.
In fact, he worked for some years with a touring company, first as actor, then as a stage manager.
Success and decline of Osborne
His first stage success was Look Back in Anger which was performed on the 8th of May 1956.It was such a moving show that it has remained one of the most impressive works of him, although he did not stop to write for the theatre. Instead, he produced a number of significant plays since then.
After the immense success of this play, Osborne worked widely in different entertainment sectors such as the theater, the television and the cinema.
In his later works he gradually modified the earlier rebelliousness, so conspicuous in his most famous play, to more personal, intimate themes.
Difficult Character and Personal Life
He was a difficult person to deal with.For instance, he abused his friends and wives (he had five wives, one of whom committed suicide).
He died in 1994 with a sense of failure at his declining career as a playwright, the same sense of failure which, two years before, had led him to describe himself in his last play, Dèja-vu, as " a spokesman for no one but myself; with deeding effect, cruelly abusive, unable to be coherent about my despair".
Main Works of Osborne
The best of Osborne's work includes:-Look Back in Anger (1956).
-Epitaph for George Dillon (1955).
-The Entertainer. (1957)
-Luther (1961).
-Inadmissable Evidence. (1964)
-Dejà-vu. (1991)
Look Back in anger
Look back in anger is composed by three acts set in a shabby apartment in the Midlands.
In the first act the main character, the bubbly and furious Jimmy Porter, who feels to have been betrayed by the post WWII English society, takes out his frustration on his patient wife Alison Porter and his bourgeois family because they seem to represent the ideals he continuously rejects. The same fate is also reserved for his roommate, Cliff Lewis who always tries to find a way to peace.
After Alison is injured by her husband she confides Cliff that she’s pregnant with Jimmy’s baby but she is scared to tell him the truth because of how he may reacts.
At the same time, Alison’s friend Helena Charles comes to her house and, after witnessing Jimmy’s behaviour, she strongly suggests Alison to rebel against her husband.
In the second act, the fights between Jimmy and Helena starts to badly increase day after day until Helena convinces Alison to run away from her husband.
She only leave him an hand-written message that will make Jimmy more angry than ever but, surprisingly he gets together with Helena.
In the last act, Alison returns to her apartment, in which Jimmy and Helena lives a tense relationship, but she had lost her baby and she is heartbroken.
Since the dynamics are changed, Helena decides to leave forever that apartment while Alison and Jimmy reconcile themselves.
As a matter of fact, at first, Jimmy is distant but then he understands that his pain is resembled in Alison’s sufferings so they find a sort of connection.
At the end, they try to console themselves by playing a game of their childhood.
Domande da interrogazione
- What impact did John Osborne have on post-war English theater?
- How did John Osborne's career evolve after his initial success?
- What challenges did John Osborne face in his personal life?
John Osborne revitalized post-war English theater by introducing a new kind of realism through aggressive language and passionate criticism of the Establishment, drawing international attention to the Angry Young Movement.
After the success of "Look Back in Anger," Osborne worked in theater, television, and cinema, gradually shifting from rebellious themes to more personal and intimate ones in his later works.
Osborne was known for being difficult, abusing friends and wives, and he struggled with a sense of failure in his declining career, which he expressed in his last play, "Déjà-vu."
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