Look Back in Anger : Themes

Themes

Themes

1. Class Struggle: This is one of the main ideas in the play. Jimmy Porter belongs to a poor, working-class family. His wife Alison is from a rich, upper-middle-class family. Their marriage often becomes a fight between these two worlds. Jimmy feels left out by Alison’s rich family and friends. He hates that poor people face all the problems while rich people live in comfort. Jimmy is educated, but he only runs a small sweet shop because there are no better chances for him. His anger at this unfair system made him known as the “Angry Young Man” of British drama. 
2. Love and Relationship: Jimmy and Alison’s marriage is full of fights and bad feelings, but they still love each other. Jimmy’s anger and Alison’s rich background cause them to clash again and again. Alison tells her father that Jimmy married her to get back at the rich people. Still, their love continues through their “Bear and Squirrel” game. It symbolizes a private world they imagine where they can feel safe and happy. Osborne shows that in a society full of class problems, love can survive only in such a dream world, away from real life.
3. Gender Roles and Sexuality: The play shows how the roles of men and women were changing after World War II. Jimmy is proud, full of energy, and often angry. Alison is more traditional and quiet, like most wives of the 1950s. Helena is different. She is modern and independent. She does not follow the old rules for women. Both Alison and Helena leave Jimmy. It shows that women can choose for themselves. But Helena is still attracted to Jimmy’s manliness. Jimmy often says women can be harmful to men. He even compares Alison’s love to a python swallowing its prey.
4. Alienation and Frustration: Jimmy feels stuck in a world that stops him from reaching his dreams. Even though he is smart and educated, he works in a job far below his talents. He feels cut off from other people. This makes him angry, sarcastic, and ready to attack others with his words. He speaks against rich people. But he also hurts his friends and family. Jimmy wants love and closeness, but his anger pushes people away.

Other Themes: The play also talks about marriage problems. It shows how love can break because of class differences and personal anger. Friendship is an important theme, especially between Jimmy and Cliff, which is warmer than Jimmy’s marriage. The past appears in Colonel Redfern’s memories of life in India and in Jimmy’s sadness about his father’s death. There is another theme of hope and despair. It is a moments of love that quickly turn into anger. Osborne also shows the restlessness of young people after the war. Osborne also shows the restlessness of the post-war young generation. He says that they reject old traditions but struggle to find their own purpose in the modern world.