- Summary
- Different
- Look Back in Anger (Osborne)
On Sunday evening, in one of the cities of England, in the one-room apartment of the spouses Jimmy and Alison, two young people sat in armchairs and looked through the press.
They are friends and neighbors. Jimmy is not yet thirty. He is intrusive, proud, in any conversation he reserves the last word; in his company, those around him feel awkward.
His friend Cliff is the complete opposite, he is smart, self-possessed, well-mannered, pleasant to talk to and be in company with.
Jimmy and Alison are the same age. The girl is tall, with aristocratic features, large blue eyes and an obstinate character. The apartment is quiet and peaceful. Jimmy begins to provoke a scandal by speaking about Alison's parents in unkind words. He affects his wife's brother, hurling insulting phrases at him.
Cliff tries to reason with Jimmy, and a fight breaks out between the young people. Jimmy pushes Cliff onto the ironing board and it falls, taking Alison and Cliff with it. The girl burns herself on the iron and cries, Cliff calms her down. Alison tells Cliff that she is pregnant with Jimmy's child. Her husband knows nothing about her situation. She is afraid to confess to him because she does not know how her husband will react to this news.
The phone rings, and the voice of Elena, Alison's friend, is heard on the receiver. Elena is an actress, she needs a room in their house. Jimmy doesn't like Elena and is not friendly towards her. A call from his girlfriend irritates Jimmy and provokes a new quarrel. The scandal broke out in earnest; in a fit of anger, Jimmy wishes Alison pregnancy, and then the loss of the child. He believes such a wish should “sober up” his wife.
After some time, Elena arrives. This woman is attractive and well-groomed. Jimmy was greatly impressed by Elena and the desire to own her. Meanwhile, Alison, not noticing her husband’s lustful glances towards her friend, invites Elena to stay.
In the evening, the friends indulged in memories. Alison remembered how she met Jimmy. She met her future husband through mutual friends when Alison was barely twenty.
Her parents were against the marriage, they didn’t like Jimmy right away, but the obstacles only accelerated the event. The young immediately began to live separately from their parents. They lived with Jimmy's friend Hugh. Alison constantly fought with Hugh, and he left for China.
Everyone gathered at the table for dinner. As usual, Jimmy wants to break up with Alison. But the wife shows restraint and does not pay attention to her husband’s attacks. Since nothing worked out for Jimmy, he talks about his father, who returned from the war sick, and then died for a long time and painfully. Jimmy wanted to be shown pity. Those present were not moved by his story; Jimmy’s pride was hurt and he called Alison Judas. There was a scandal, Alisson smashes the cup on the floor in anger.
Elena sees what is happening in the family, calls Alison’s father, he takes his daughter away. Elena is outraged by Jimmy's actions, she tells him that Alison is expecting a child, and Elena herself does not want to stay in his house, and leaves.
After this, Jimmy remains, unperturbed, Elena hits him on the cheek, and then kisses him. Elena did not leave, she stayed to live with Jimmy. Her behavior towards him is different from Alison's. Elena reacts to Jimmy's attacks with humor and is not offended by his statements, but openly laughs.
Alison could not bear the child, after a while she decides to return. Alison still loves her husband, despite his difficult character. Elena does not want to interfere with her friend’s happiness and leaves. Jimmy feels sorry for his wife, he hugs and kisses her, the couple make up.
The story teaches you to be tolerant of your loved ones, not to offend them and to appreciate them.
Reader's diary.
Other works by the author: ← Utopia of Thomas More↑ MiscellaneousTeachings of Vladimir Monomakh →
Look back in anger
The play takes place in Jimmy and Alison Porter's studio apartment in Birmingham, one of the major cities of Middle England, on a Sunday evening. Jimmy and his friend Cliff, who lives in the next apartment, are sitting in armchairs and reading newspapers. Jimmy, a young man in his mid-twenties, is an irritating mixture of sincerity and mocking anger, gentleness and unabashed cruelty. He's impatient, obsessive, and full of himself—a combination that can turn anyone off. His bright temperament helps him almost always have the last word.
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Cliff, the same age as Jimmy, is calm and slow to the point of apathy. His sad face bears the stamp of a natural mind - the property of a self-taught person. If Jimmy pushes people away from him, then Cliff cannot but evoke sympathy or at least outward affection even among cautious people. He is the inevitable, calming opposite of Jimmy.
Alison, Jimmy's wife, stands near the ironing board and irons clothes. She is about the same age as the men, tall, graceful, brown-haired, with delicate features of a thoroughbred face. In her large and deep eyes there is some kind of hidden obstinacy that makes her a force to be reckoned with.
The room is quiet. Suddenly, Jimmy throws the newspaper on the floor, starts pestering Cliff and trying to piss off Alison with rude attacks towards her father, mother and brother. Alison pretends not to react. She notices that Cliff's new pants are wrinkled and asks him to iron them. Jimmy's attacks follow one after another. He ends up getting into a fight with Cliff, and during the fight he deliberately pushes him onto the ironing board. The board tips over, and Cliff and Alison fall with it. Alison screams in pain: she was burned by the iron. Cliff motions for Jimmy to leave while he tries to calm Alison down. It feels like she is at her limit and can barely hold back her tears.
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In the conversation, she confesses to Cliff that she is pregnant, but Jimmy has not yet told about it and does not want to talk, fearing that he will begin to suspect her of some kind of intrigues, because he does not want to have a child while they have neither their own apartment nor money. Cliff is very gentle with Alison and tries to reassure her that if she needs to tell Jimmy about the baby, everything will work out. Then Jimmy returns and tries to make peace with Alison, then they call him to the phone. Elena, Alison's friend, calls. She is an actress and has just arrived in town with her troupe. By prior agreement with Alison, she is going to rent a spare room in their own house. Jimmy considers Elena his blood enemy, as she turns Alison against him. He again bursts into angry outbursts and goes so far as to say that he would like to see how something suddenly shook his wife, for example, so that she had a child, and then suddenly died. Stunned, Alison recoils from him, throws her head back as if to scream; her lips are trembling.
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Some time later, Elena arrives. She is the same age as Alison, dressed expensively and tastefully. When the dry and wary expression on her face softens, she becomes very attractive. She exudes a sense of female superiority, so that not only men, but even women of her age, like Alison, pay tribute to her person. In Jimmy, as one would expect, she arouses all the dark instincts, all the bad inclinations of his nature. However, Elena is not used to protecting herself from ridicule and feels an obligation to act confidently and with dignity, which forces her to be in constant tension, and this is already annoying. At Alison's request, she stays with them for another week after the troupe's departure.
One evening, two weeks after Elena's arrival, she has a serious conversation with Alison about the reasons that prompted her friend to marry Jimmy four years ago, and about her current life with him. When Alison first saw Jimmy at someone's house, she was twenty years old. She had just returned with her parents from India, where her father, a colonel, served for several decades. Here in England, at first everything seemed somehow unsettled. Jimmy came to visit her friends on a bicycle, his jacket was splashed all over with machine oil. Soon, despite the fact that men in society greeted him with distrust, and women generally tried to show contempt for such a strange creature, she began to meet with him. In her house there were constant screams of horror and bewilderment about this. Her mother was especially indignant, but this only accelerated everything. It was no longer so important whether he loved her or not. Jimmy decided to marry her at all costs in order to challenge her environment. After their wedding, they lived with Jimmy's school friend, Hugh. In terms of temperament and outlook on life, both were very close to each other. Alison's relationship with Hugh did not work out due to his scandalous nature, and after a while he decided to go abroad - to China. He also invited Jimmy to come with him, but he refused, however. A terrible scandal ensued. Hugh left, leaving his mother in England to fend for herself. Alison sometimes thinks that in Jimmy’s heart, Hugh blames her for leaving, although he never talks about it. Sometimes she even wanted them both to leave and finally leave her alone.
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Elena convinces her friend to decide what she will do next, because she will have a child, and first takes her to church, where Alison has not been since she got married.
At dinner, Jimmy, as usual, tries to drive his wife and Elena into a frenzy, but does not achieve much success. Then, wanting to show how much he had to suffer in life and what a vulnerable nature he is, he begins to tell how for a whole year he watched the slow death of his father, who returned from the Spanish War. After this, he calls his wife Judas and a slut. Alison throws the cup to the floor. He finally achieved his goal.
Elena tells her friend that she sent a telegram to her father asking her to take Alison out of this house. She agrees to go to her parents. It is assumed that Elena will leave with her. The next day, while Jimmy is away, Alison, having collected all her things, leaves with her father coming for her. Elena stays supposedly for one more day under the pretext that she has urgent business in Birmingham.
Jimmy soon arrives, to whom she informs about his wife's departure and her pregnancy. He pretends he doesn't care, insults her, and ends up getting a slap from Elena. An expression of horror and amazement appears on his face. Elena takes her hand away from his face, suddenly kisses him and pulls him towards her.
A few months later, when Elena has already firmly established herself in Jimmy's room, she, like Alison before her, irons Jimmy's shirts on Sunday evenings. She reacts to Jimmy's attacks completely differently than Alison: sometimes with laughter, sometimes with amazement. The friends, out of habit, have a fuss on the floor, during which Jimmy accidentally tears and stains Cliff's only clean shirt. Cliff reluctantly gives it to Elena, who offers to tidy up the shirt. While she is out of the room, he tells Jimmy that he is going to move away from them because Elena is having a hard time caring for both of them. Elena gives him the shirt and Cliff goes home.
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Soon Alison appears at the door. She recently lost a child and has not yet fully recovered. She talks with Elena about Jimmy, about the fact that, in her opinion, he was born at the wrong time. He is one of what they call the "distinguished Victorians" and is therefore somewhat ridiculous, but she loves him. Elena admits that everything is over between her and Jimmy. She cannot build her happiness on the misfortune of another, and then, she and he are too different. She leaves, and Alison remains with her husband. Seeing how much she has suffered, Jimmy softens. They make peace, with sadness and with hidden tenderness they make plans for the future.
Osborne D. Look Back in Anger. Summary
Essay on the topic: Osborne D. Work “Look Back in Anger”
The play takes place in Jimmy and Alison Porter's studio apartment in Birmingham, one of the major cities of Middle England, on a Sunday evening. Jimmy and his friend Cliff, who lives in the next apartment, sit in armchairs and read newspapers. Jimmy, a young man in his mid-twenties, is an irritating mixture of sincerity and mocking anger, gentleness and unabashed cruelty. Vaughn is impatient, intrusive and proud - a combination that can alienate someone dear to you. His dazzling temperament helps him almost always have the last word
Cliff, the same age as Jimmy, is calm and slow to apathy. His sad face bears the stamp of a natural mind - the property of a self-taught person. If Jimmy pushes people away, then Cliff cannot help but revive the sympathy or at least the outward disposition of more cautious people. Vaughn is the inevitable calming opposite of Jimmy.
Alison, Jimmy's wife, stands near the ironing board and irons clothes. She is about the same age as the men, tall, graceful, brown-haired, with delicate features of a thoroughbred face. In her large and deep eyes there is some kind of hidden obstinacy that forces her to be taken into account.
The room is quiet. Suddenly, Jimmy throws the newspaper onto the field, starts pestering Cliff and trying to piss off Alison with rude attacks towards her father, mother and brother. Alison pretends not to react. She notices that Cliff's new pants are wrinkled and asks him to help him iron them. Jimmy's attacks follow one after another. In the end, he gets into a fight with Cliff, and during the fight, he deliberately pushes him onto the ironing board. The board overturns, and Cliff and Alison fall with it. Alison screams out in pain: she was burned by the iron. Cliff motions for Jimmy to leave while he tries to calm Alison down. It feels like she is at her limit and can barely hold back her tears.
In the conversation, she confesses to Cliff that she is pregnant, but Jimmy has not yet told about it and does not want to express it, fearing that he will begin to suspect her of some kind of intrigues, because he does not want to have a child while they have neither their own apartment nor finance. In the conversation, she confesses to Cliff that she is pregnant, but Jimmy has not yet told about it and does not want to express it, fearing that he will begin to suspect her of some kind of intrigues, because he does not want to have a child while they have neither their own apartment nor finance. Cliff is very gentle with Alison and tries to reassure her that if she tells Jimmy about the baby, everything will work out. Then Jimmy returns and tries to make peace with Alison, here he is called to the phone. Elena, Alison's friend, calls. She is an actress and has just arrived in the city with her troupe. By prior agreement with Alison, she is going to rent a spare room in their own house. Jimmy considers Elena his blood enemy, as she turns Alison against him. Vaughn again bursts into angry outbursts and agrees that he would like to see how something suddenly shook his drive, for example, so that a child appeared in it, and then suddenly died. Stunned, Alison recoils from him, throws back her head, as if to scream; her lips tremble.
Some time later, Elena arrives. She is the same age as Alison, dressed expensively and tastefully. When her dry and wary expression softens, she becomes very attractive. Here comes the consciousness of female superiority, so that not only men, but moreover women of her age, like Alison, pay tribute to her person. In Jimmy, as one would expect, she arouses all the dark instincts, all the bad inclinations of his nature. However, Elena is not used to protecting herself from ridicule and feels a real obligation to behave confidently and with dignity, which forces her to be in constant tension, and this is already annoying. At Alison's request, she stays in them for another week after the troupe's departure.
One evening, two weeks after Elena's arrival, she has a serious conversation with Alison about the reasons that prompted her friend to marry Jimmy four years ago, and about her current life with him. When Alison first saw Jimmy at someone's house, she was twenty years old. She had just returned with her parents from India, where her father, a colonel, had served for several decades. She had just returned with her parents from India, where her father, a colonel, had served for several decades. Here in England, at first everything seemed somehow unsettled. Jimmy came to visit her friends on a bicycle, his jacket was splashed with motor oil. Soon, despite the fact that men in society greeted him with distrust, and women generally tried to show contempt for such a strange creature, she began to meet with him. At home, constant screams of horror and bewilderment were heard about this. Her mother was especially indignant, but this only accelerated everything. It was no longer so important whether he loved her or not. Jimmy decided to marry her at all costs in order to challenge her environment. After the wedding, they lived together with Jimmy's school friend, Hugh. In terms of temperament and outlook on life, both were very close to each other. The relationship with Hugh and Alison did not work out due to his scandalous nature, and after a while he decided to go abroad - to China. Jimmy also called to come with him, but he refused, however. A terrible scandal ensued. Hugh left, left his mother in England to fend for herself. Alison sometimes thinks that Hugh blames her for Jimmy's absence, although he never says so. Sometimes she even wanted them both to leave and finally leave her alone.
Elena convinces her friend to decide that she will continue to work, because she will have a child, and first takes her to church, where Alison has not been since she got married
At dinner, Jimmy, as usual, tries to drive Elena into a frenzy, but does not achieve much success. Then, wanting to show how much he had to suffer in life and what a vulnerable nature he had, he began to tell how he spent an hour watching the slow death of his father, who returned from the Spanish War. After this, he calls the persecutor a Judas and a scoundrel. Alison throws the cup onto the floor. He finally achieved his goal.
Elena tells her friend that she sent a telegram to her father asking her to take Alison out of this house. And he agrees to go to his parents. It is assumed that Elena will leave with her. The next day, while Jimmy is away, Alison, having collected all her things, leaves with her father coming for her. The next day, while Jimmy is away, Alison, having collected all her things, leaves with her father coming for her. Elena stays supposedly for one more day under the pretext that urgent business has appeared in Birmingham.
Soon Jimmy arrives, to whom she publishes about his wife's departure and her pregnancy. Vaughn pretends that he doesn’t care about this, insults her and achieves that he gets Elena’s slap in the face. An expression of horror and amazement appears on his face. Elena takes her hand away from his face, suddenly kisses him and pulls him towards her
A few months later, when Elena has already firmly settled in Jimmy's room, she, like Alison to her, irons Jimmy's shirts on Sunday evenings. She reacts to Jimmy's attacks completely differently than Alison: sometimes with laughter, sometimes with amazement. The friends, out of habit, have a fuss on the floor, during which Jimmy accidentally tears and stains Cliff's only clean shirt. Cliff reluctantly gives it to Elena, who offers to tidy up the shirt. While she is not in the room, Jimmy announces that he is going to move them because Elena is having a hard time caring for both of them. Elena gives him the shirt and Cliff goes home
Soon Alison appears at the door. She recently lost a child and has not yet fully recovered. She talks with Elena about Jimmy, who, in her opinion, was born at the wrong time. He is one of those who are called “outstanding Victorians”, and therefore in some ways it is funny, but she loves him. Elena admits that everything is over between her and Jimmy. She cannot build her happiness on the misfortune of others, and then, she and he are too different. She leaves, and Alison remains with her husband. Seeing how much she has suffered, Jimmy softens. They make peace, with sadness and with hidden tenderness they make plans for the future.
