Journeys End by RC Sheriff Essay -- English Literature

20th Century Drama - The name of this play is Journey's End, written by R. C. Sherriff. 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 thought R.C.Sherrif had written the play for political purposes, or to mock the government e.g. the way the raid was handled by the commanding officers. But it was written to give a tangible account of what the war was like, not from the ordinary soldiers p... ...e. Stanhope's journey was made more difficult by the death of Osborne, and he blames Raleigh for this, because Osborne was waiting for Raleigh when he was killed. At the end of the play, after Raleigh has been brought down into the dugout after being wounded by some shrapnel, Stanhope realises how nasty he has been to Raleigh, and tries to make amends. He makes light of Raleigh's injury, and tells him he's getting sent back to England to recover. Stanhope tries to make Raleigh more comfortable by bringing him some water, blankets and candles when he complains that it's dark and cold. Stanhope is grief-stricken when Raleigh dies as his actions clearly show. [STANHOPE GENTLY TAKES HIS (RALEIGH'S) HAND. AND STARES LISTLESSLY] This is almost the end of Stanhope's journey, and we have to assume that he dies in the German attack. Stanhope is a flawed hero.