Look Back in Anger by John Osborne summary

 

The title Look Back in Anger refers to the frustrated and unpleasant life of the central character, Jimmy Porter. He is well educated and married from an esteemed family, but still struggles emotionally to meet the both ends in his life. Jimmy is highly disturbed and exasperated by the lack of future he sees in economically depressed England. He expresses outrage over the political and social conditions of post–World War II England, which to him are a great disappointment in terms of hope for the people.

 

Act 1

The setting of the play is Jimmy and Alison Porter's small apartment. The play opens with Jimmy and his friend Cliff Lewis sitting in leather armchairs reading newspapers and magazines on a Sunday night. Alison is in the room too, doing some ironing. The play progresses primarily based on the attitude and the emotional reaction of the central character Jimmy porter.  He is a young man totally frustrated with his life and circumstances, and he takes his frustrations and anger out on everyone around him. He is at once charming and sensitive also aggressive and indignant. Cliff sometimes acts as a mitigator between Jimmy and Alison. Alison comes from a privileged background, and Jimmy is educated but works selling sweets from a street stall. Alison's life with Jimmy is not what she hoped for when she turned away from her family to marry him.

As Jimmy and Cliff read their papers, Jimmy expresses his opinion on a myriad of topics such as the actions of a local bishop, how Cliff doesn't fold the papers correctly, dying British culture, how slothful and empty his wife can be. He laments they are all too passive and says they need to do something in the world rather than just sitting around. Jimmy rants about how horrible Alison's mother is, how tied to the past her father is, and what a vacuous political aspirant her brother is. He antagonizes Alison with the word pusillanimous (which means lack of determination or cowardly), which he's recently learned, claiming it is the perfect word to describe her. Cliff and Jimmy begin playfully wrestling around the apartment, and Jimmy pushes Cliff into the ironing board. The iron burns Alison's arm. She yells at Jimmy to leave the apartment.

While Cliff attends to Alison's injury, she tells him she's pregnant, but she hasn't told Jimmy yet. Cliff urges her to tell Jimmy, but she is afraid of how he'll react. When Jimmy returns, Cliff leaves to get them more cigarettes. Jimmy apologizes for hurting her arm. They playfully pretend to be like the stuffed teddy bear (Jimmy) and squirrel (Alison) they keep on playing such childish game. Cliff returns and tells Alison she has a phone call from her friend Helena Charles. Alison returns and tells them Helena will be staying in the building while she's in town for a traveling show. Jimmy does not like Helena, and he argues with Alison. He says Alison is far too naive and innocent, and he wishes something would happen to her to wake her from her privileged "beauty sleep." Jimmy even suggests she could have a child and it could die. He exits, leaving Alison and Cliff stunned.

 

Act II

Two weeks later Alison and Helena are preparing Sunday afternoon tea. Jimmy is playing trumpet in a room down the hall. Alison tries to explain to Helena about how difficult their marriage has become. She is cut off from her family and doesn't really have any friends but Cliff and Helena, who is always traveling. Helena has seen enough of the way Jimmy treats Alison, and she urges her friend to leave him for the sake of the baby. Helena doesn't understand why Alison married someone like Jimmy. Alison tells her about how they met and fell in love. Her parents were vehemently opposed to the marriage, but Jimmy acted like a "knight in shining armor" to win and keep her. Nevertheless Helena says Alison has to fight Jimmy and leave.

Cliff and Jimmy arrive for tea, and Jimmy immediately starts ridiculing Alison in front of her friend. Helena is infuriated and offended by the things Jimmy says about Alison and Alison's mother, and she challenges him, threatening to slap his face. Jimmy threatens to hit her back. When Alison says she is going to church with Helena this evening, Jimmy mocks both of them and religion. He accuses Helena of trying to win her over. Jimmy asks Helena if she has ever watched someone die. She replies she hasn't. He then tells them about watching his soldier father die slowly when he was only 10. He relates how confusing it was and how angry and helpless he felt. Helena exits to prepare for church. Jimmy accuses Alison of being an unfaithful Judas, but Alison says all she wants is "a little peace."

Jimmy turns upset after receiving a phone call.  The mother of a good friend has had a stroke and is dying. He has to leave for London immediately. He expects Alison to go with him, but she silently walks to the door and leaves with Helena for church.

The following day, Alison's father, Colonel Redfern, is watching his daughter pack up her things to leave. They discuss the attitude of  Jimmy, and the colonel confesses he always thought Jimmy was clever in his own way. Alison tells her father about how he expects allegiance from the people around him. He says he was horrified by some of the things his wife did, like hiring detectives to investigate Jimmy. 

Helena arrives to help Alison pack her things. The colonel thanks her for letting them know about what has been happening between Alison and Jimmy. Cliff arrives to say goodbye to Alison. She gives him an envelope to give to Jimmy when he returns. Alison and her father leave. Cliff doesn't want to be around when Jimmy arrives, so he gives the envelope to Helena and departs. Jimmy comes into the apartment agitated. Helena gives him the envelope. He reads it aloud and starts cursing. He says Alison didn't even have the courage to say she hates him.

Helena tells Jimmy that Alison is pregnant and she had to get away from him. Jimmy is taken aback at the news, but then quickly dismisses it, saying he doesn't care. He has spent the past day sitting beside his friend's mother as she died, and Alison wouldn't go with him. He doesn't care about a "cruel, stupid girl" having a baby. Helena slaps him in a violent manner. He covers his face. Helena pulls his hand away and kisses him passionately as they lie down on the bed together.

Act III

It's several months later. Another Sunday night: Jimmy and Cliff are reading newspaper and Helena is behind them ironing. The two men bicker about what they read, as they usually do, with Jimmy declaring his opinions on the news of the past week. Jimmy and Helena joke about the general things  even using Cliff. It's the usual Sunday activity, only now Jimmy is a little less hostile. He does chide Helena about her faith and going to church, as he finds religion to be outdated and doesn't understand her interest in it. He makes fun of the church by comparing faith to the bodybuilder ads in the magazines he reads that promise weaklings a muscular body. Helena asks him to stop; he changes the subject.

When Helena leaves to wash the dirty clothes, Cliff tells Jimmy he's going to move somewhere else for a change of pace. Jimmy says he'll miss his friend but understands why he wants to make his own way. Jimmy confesses he knows Helena can't give him what he needs or wants.  Cliff leaves, and Jimmy tells Helena he thinks they are worthy opponents. Helena says she loves him. Jimmy suggests they leave town and make a new start somewhere else together. Helena agrees. In the meantime, the door opens and Alison enters. She looks frazzled and very sickly.

Helena and Alison have tea and discuss what has happened between them and Jimmy. Jimmy's trumpet playing can be heard from down the hall. Alison tells her she lost the baby. She has tried to come to the apartment a number of times but could never make the trip all the way. Helena apologizes for staying with Jimmy; Alison says she has no reason to apologize. But Helena says she still believes in right and wrong, and what she did was wrong, even evil.

Helena says she has figured out what's wrong with Jimmy: he was born into the wrong time. Helena is going to leave the apartment, not to step aside for Alison, but because Helena feels what she has done is morally wrong. She hopes Alison doesn't return to Jimmy.

Jimmy enters. He notices Alison looks "ghastly." He says he knows what happened, it was his child too, but it wasn't his first loss. Helena tells him she is leaving immediately. She explains it's her decision and Alison had nothing to do with it. Helena says she can't be happy doing something so wrong. As she leaves, Jimmy tells Helena everyone wants "to escape from the pain of being alive" and love can be a very messy thing. Helena leaves.

Jimmy tells Alison that he believes the strongest creatures are the loneliest. He reminds Alison of the first night they met and how relaxed she seemed to him, and how much strength he thought she had. But he learned while they were married she didn't really have strength, she'd never had an ounce of distress in her life. When she lost the baby, she wanted to die. She had never felt anything so painful in her life. She realized it was the kind of suffering Jimmy wanted her to have to become stronger and more human. She collapses at his feet and he picks her up, holding her. Jimmy says they can be together in their pretend bear and squirrel.