—The Story of the Play
John Osborne
Act I The plot of Look Back in Anger is driven almost entirely by the tirades of Jimmy Porter rather than outside forces.The play is set in a one-room attic apartment in the Midlands of England.This large room is the home of Jimmy Porter, his wife Alison, and his business partner and friend Cliff Lewis, who has a separate bedroom across the hall.The play opens with Alison at the ironing board and Jimmy and Cliff in easy chairs reading the Sunday papers.Jimmy complains that half the book review he is reading in his “posh”paper is in French.He asks Alison if that makes her feel ignorant and she replies that she wasn’t listening to the question.Immediately one of the main themes is introduced; Jimmy’s railing against the inertia of Alison and the inertia of the whole middle-class of England.Jimmy teases Cliff about being uneducated and ignorant and Cliff good naturedly agrees with him.Jimmy says that Alison hasn’t had a thought for years and she agrees.Jimmy is depressed by their Sunday routine and says their youth is slipping away.He says, “Let’s pretend that we’re human beings and that we’re actually alive.”Cliff complains about the smoke from Jimmy’s pipe.When Alison says she has gotten used to it, Jimmy says she would get used to anything in a few minutes.He then rails about the fact that “Nobody thinks, nobody cares.No beliefs, no convictions and no enthusiasms.”He says that England has lost her soul, that it is dreary living in “the American Age.”There is talk of the sweet stall that Jimmy and Cliff own and operate in an outdoor market.Jimmy derides Alison’s brother Nigel, whom he has dubbed “the chinless wonder from Sandhurst,”and who is a Member of Parliament.Jimmy resents Nigel and all that he stands for, including the fact that he will succeed in the world because of his social class and the schools he has attended in spite of his stupidity and insensitivity.He then turns on Alison, calling her “the Lady Pusillanimous.”Jimmy tries to listen to a concert on the radio and complains at the noise made by Alison’s ironing and Cliff’s rustling of the newspaper.He then harangues against women in general, Alison, and even Mrs.Drury, their landlady.Cliff and Jimmy then playfully wrestle and accidentally push over Alison and the ironing board.Alison has burnt her arm and finally tells Jimmy to get out.Cliff ministers to Alison’s burn and calms her.She tells him that she is pregnant.She is afraid to tell Jimmy lest he think she planned it.Cliff holds Alison and Jimmy enters.There is teasing and play as Jimmy reestablishes himself, and Cliff goes out for cigarettes.Jimmy tells Alison that he wants her; they play a private and affectionate game of “squirrels and bears,”and Alison is about to tell him of her pregnancy when Cliff returns to say Helena Charles, an actress friend of Alison, is on the phone downstairs.When Alison returns she says she has invited Helena to stay with them during her engagement at the local theatre, and Jimmy launches his most shocking diatribe yet.He tells Alison that if she were to have a child and if that child would die, then she might suffer enough to become a human being.The act ends with Jimmy saying of Alison, “She’ll go on sleeping and devouring until there is nothing left of me.”