Look Back in Anger By John Osborne: Characters and Question and Answer

Look Back in Anger by John Osborne

John Osborne

John Osborne was a British playwright, screenwriter, and actor who was born in London on December 12, 1929.
Osborne is best known for his play “Look Back in Anger,” which was first performed in 1956 and is considered a key work of the “Angry Young Men” movement in British theater.
Osborne’s plays often featured characters who were disillusioned and frustrated with society, and they often explored themes of class conflict, love, and relationships.
In addition to “Look Back in Anger,” Osborne’s other notable plays include “The Entertainer,” “Inadmissible Evidence,” and “A Patriot for Me.”
Osborne was also a prolific screenwriter, and he wrote the screenplays for several films, including “Tom Jones” (1963) and “Luther” (1973).
Osborne was known for his outspoken and controversial personality, and he often made headlines for his outspoken views on politics and social issues.
Osborne was married five times, and he had four children.
In 1965, Osborne was awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for his contributions to the arts.
In the 1970s, Osborne turned his attention to acting, and he appeared in several stage productions and films.
Osborne’s work has been translated into numerous languages and has been performed around the world.
Osborne received several awards and honors throughout his career, including the Evening Standard Award for Best Play (twice), the Tony Award for Best Play, and the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play.
Osborne died on Christmas Eve 1994 at the age of 65.
In 2006, a biographical film about Osborne’s life, “John Osborne: The Angry Young Man,” was released.
A number of Osborne’s plays have been adapted for film and television, including “Look Back in Anger,” “The Entertainer,” and “Inadmissible Evidence.”
Osborne is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential playwrights of the 20th century, and his work continues to be studied and performed around the world.

The Plays written by John Osborne are

‘The Devil Inside him’ was staged in 1950.
‘Personal Enemy’ was written in 1955
‘Epitaph for George Dillon’
‘The Entertainer’ in 1957, a highly realistic play
‘Inadmissible Evidence
‘A patriot for me’
‘Play for England’
‘A Bond Honoured’
‘A sense of Detachment’
‘The End of Me Old Cigar’

Characters

Jimmy Porter: The protagonist of the play, Jimmy is a working-class man who is deeply disillusioned with society and the people around him.
Alison Porter: Jimmy’s wife, Alison is a middle-class woman who is trying to find her place in the world.
Cliff Lewis: A friend of Jimmy and Alison’s, Cliff is a more easy-going and laid-back character who tries to act as a mediator between Jimmy and Alison.
Helena Charles: A friend of Alison’s, Helena is an upper-class woman who is engaged to be married to a man named Charles.
Colonel Redfern: Alison’s father, the Colonel is a retired military officer who is distant and aloof.
Mr. Baldwin: A friend of the Colonel’s who visits the Porters’ home.
Mrs. Tanner: A neighbor of the Porters who is nosy and gossipy.
Mrs. Whitehead: Another neighbor of the Porters who is a bit more compassionate and understanding.
Mr. Slater: A man who works at the local pub and is friends with Jimmy.
The Vicar: A local clergyman who visits the Porters’ home to try to offer spiritual guidance to Jimmy.
A postman: A minor character who delivers mail to the Porters’ home.
A milkman: A minor character who delivers milk to the Porters’ home.
A newsboy: A minor character who sells newspapers in the neighborhood.
A young boy: A minor character who appears in the final scene of the play.

Facts

“Look Back in Anger” is a play by British playwright John Osborne that was first performed in 1956.
The play centers on the character of Jimmy Porter, a working-class man who is deeply disillusioned with society and the people around him.
“Look Back in Anger” is considered a key work of the “Angry Young Men” movement in British theater, which emerged in the 1950s and was characterized by a sense of disillusionment and frustration with the status quo.
The play made a significant impact on the development of contemporary British drama and is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential plays of the 20th century.
“Look Back in Anger” has been adapted for film, television, and stage numerous times, and it continues to be produced and studied around the world.
The play explores themes of love, relationships, class conflict, and the human condition.
In addition to its impact on theater, “Look Back in Anger” also had a significant cultural impact and helped to define the attitudes and values of a generation.
“Look Back in Anger” was the first play produced by the Royal Court Theatre in London, and it launched Osborne’s career as a playwright.
In addition to “Look Back in Anger,” Osborne’s other notable plays include “The Entertainer,” “Inadmissible Evidence,” and “A Patriot for Me.”
Osborne was also a prolific screenwriter, and he wrote the screenplays for several films, including “Tom Jones” (1963) and “Luther” (1973).

Look Back in Anger: Question and Answer

These are popular question and answers related Look Back in Anger by John Osborne.

1. When was John Osborne born ?
(a) 1920
(b) 1929
(c) 1925
(d) 1930

Ans. b 1929

2. Where was John Osborne born ?
(a) New York
(b) Paris
(c) London
(d) None of these

Ans. c. London

3. Who was his mother?
(a) Tanner
(b) Nellie Beatrice Grove
(c) Drury
(d) Mrs. Redfern

Ans. b. Nellie Beatrice Grove

4. What was his mother by profession?
(a) Dancer
(b) Social worker
(c) Bar-maid
(d) Call-girl

Ans. C

5. Osborne was of about……when his father died.
(a) twelve

(b) ten
(c) fifteen
(d) twenty

Ans. a

6. In which boarding house was he sent for study?
(a) Fletcher College
(b) Bellmont College
(c) British College
(d) Salem House

Ans. b

7. When did Osborne leave the school?
(a) 1946 (b) 1940 (c) 1942 (d) 1944

Ans. a

8. Which was Osborne’s most successful play?
(a) Hotel in Amsterdam
(b) The Entertainer
(c) Look Back in Anger
(d) Almost a Gentleman

Ans. c

9. When was ‘Look Back in Anger’ performed in ?
(a) 1950 (b) 1956 (c) 1914 (d) 1945

Ans. b

10. In which theatre was it enacted ?
(a) Royal Court Theatre
(b) Globe Theatre
(c) London Theatre
(d) English Society Theatre

Ans. a

11. Which dramatic company performed it ?
(a) Royal Stage Company (b) English Stage Company
(c) British Stage Company (d) None of these

Ans. b

12. How old is Jimmy?
(a) 25
(b) 30
(c) 20
(d) 28

Ans. a

13. How old is Cliff ?
(a) Twenty nine
(b) Twenty five
(c) Twenty two
(d) Twenty one

Ans. b

14. How old is Alison ?
(a) Twenty one (b) Twenty three (c) twenty five (d) Twenty two

Ans. c

15. How old is Helena ?
(a) Twenty five (b) Twenty eight (c) Eighteen (d) Twenty

Ans. a

16. How old is Colonel Redfern?
(a) Fifty (b) Sixty (c) Fifty five (d) Sixty five

Ans. b

17. How many years has he spent as a soldier ?
(a) Twenty (b) Twenty five (c) forty (d) Thirty five

Ans. c

18. The play presents the……period.
(a) Post-Second World War (b) Pre First World War
(c) Post First World War
(d) None of these

Ans. a

19. Which game do Jimmy and Alison play?
(a) Chess
(b) Cards
(c) Bears and Squirrels
(d) Hide and seek

Ans. c

20. The action of the play opens on……
(a) Sunday (b) Monday (c) Tuesday (d) Friday

Ans. a

21. Alison is always busy in……
(a) cooking (b) ironing (c) washing (d) dusting

Ans. b

22. Who remarks: ‘She’s a beautiful girl, isn’t she?’
(a) Jimmy (b) Helena (c) Cliff (d) Redfern

Ans.

23. Who makes a very moving appeal to all Christians to do all they can to assist in the manufacture of the H-Bam?
(a) Jimmy
(b) Bishop of Bromley
(c) Clift
(d) Hugh

Ans. b

24. How much does Jimmy spend on newspaper every week?
(a) Nine pence
(b) Four pence
(c) Ten pence
(d) Twelve pence

Ans. a

25. What is Hallelujah?
(a) Song of loud noise (b) Song of praise to God
(c) Indiscipline
(d) A dramatic character

Ans. b

26. Who was Madeline ?
(a) Jimmy’s sister
(b) Jimmy’s mother
(c) Jimmy’s mistress
(d) Alison’s friend

Ans. c

27. How older was Madeline than Jimmy?
(a) Ten years
(b) Four years
(c) Five years (d) Eught years

Ans. a

28. Who calls Jimmy ‘little Marchbanks’?
(a) Helena (b) Cliff (c) Alisen (d) Redfern

Ans. b

29. In which play does Marchbanks appear?
(a) Shaw’s ‘Apple Cart’
(b) Sheridan’s Rivals
(c) Shaw’s ‘Candida
(d) Sheridan’s ‘Critic’

Ans. c

30. Who was Emily Bronte ?
(a) The author of Wuthering Heights’
(b) Jimmy’s landlady
(c) The author of ‘Vanity Fair
(d) Alison’s mother

Ans. a

31. Who was Ulysses ?
(a) A poet
(b) The great Trojan Warrior : King of Ithaca
(c) A dramatist
(d) A novelist

Ans. b

32. Who is Nigel ?
(a) Jimmy’s friend
(b) Jimmy’s brother
(c) Alison’s brother
(d) None of these

Ans. c

33. Whom does Jimmy call Lady Pusillanimous ?
(a) Alison
(b) Helena
(c) Alison’s mother
(d) Jimmy’s mother

Ans. a

34. Who is Jimmy’s landlady?
(a) Mrs. Redfern
(b) Miss Drury
(c) Mrs. Tanner
(d) None of these

Ans. b

35. Who applies soap on Alison’s burn?
(a) Cliff
(b) Jimmy
(c) Helena (d) None

Ans. a

36. After……of married life, Alison is pregnant.
(a) five years (b) three years (c) two years
(d) six years

Ans. b

37. Who is regarded as a mouse?
(a) Jimmy (b) Nigel
(b) Cliff
(d) Hugh

Ans. c

38. Who does Jimmy love the most?
(a) Ya Hugh’s mother
(b) Alison’s mother
(c) Jimmy’s mother
(d) Cliff’s mother

Ans. a

39. Who is Mrs. Tanner ?
(a) landlady
(b) Hugh’s mother
(c) Jimmy’s mother
(d) Alison’s mother

Ans. b

40. When Jimmy plays the bear, Alison……
(a) squirrel
(b) she-bear
(c) fox
(d) sheep

Ans. a

41. Who comes to live with Alison ?
(a) Colonel Redfern
(b) Nigel
(c) Helena Charles
(d) Mrs. Tanner

Ans. c

42. Who calls Jimmy’s house a menagerie ?
(a) Helena
(b) Cliff
(c) Alison (d) Redfern

Ans. a

43. What is a menagerie ?
(a) A mad house
(b) place to collect wild animals
(c) A playground
(d) Ruined building

Ans. b

44. What is theology?
(a) Study of or system of religion (b) Study of plants
(c) Study of animals
(d) None of these

Ans. a

45. Who is called Auntie Wordsworth?
(a) Wordworth’s wife
(b) William Wordsworth
(c) Wordsworth’s sister Dorothy (d) Wordsworth’s mother

Ans. C

46. To what year does the action of the play belong?
(a) 1924 (b) 1920
(c) 1930 (d) 1940

Ans. a

47. In which year did Colonel Redfern leave England ?
(a) 1920 (b) 1914
(c) 1925
(d) 1910

Ans. b

48. Colonel Redfern served in the army of……
(a) East India Company
(b) The Burmese Police
(c) The Maharaja
(d) Indian Government

Ans. c

49. Who is worth a half a dozen Helenas as to Jimmy?
(a) Cliff
(b) Alison
(c) Hugh’s mother
(d) Madeline

Ans. b

50. Who remarks that Jimmy was born out of his time?
(a) Alison (b) Helena
(c) Cliff
(d) Redfern

Ans. b

51. Who comments that Jimmy wants a kind of cross between a mother and a Greek courtesan……
(a) Helena (b) Cliff
(c) Alison (d) Redfern

Ans. c

52. Who remarks : ‘They all want to escape from the pain of being alive’?
(a) Jimmy (b) Helena (c) Cliff (d) Alison

Ans. a

53. Who says, ‘Don’t you see ! I’m in the mud at last ?’
(a) Helena (b) Alison
(c) Cliff
(d) Redfern

Ans. b

54. Jimmy stands frozen for a moment when……
(a) Helena slaps on his face
(b) Alison collapses at his feet
(c) Alison leaves him
(d) Cliff leaves him

Ans. b

55. What does Alison say when Jimmy says pathetically “Poor Squirrels !
(a) Dear Darling
(b) Poor bears
(c) Love me
(d) Nothing

Ans. b

56. In which scene does Helena appear in the play?
(a) Act II Scene 1
(b) Act II Scene II
(c) Act III Scene I
(d) Act III Scene II

Ans. a

57. In which scene does Colonel Redfern appear?
(a) Act I Scene II
(b) Act II Scene II
(c) Act III Scene II
(d) Act III Scene I

Ans. b

58. In which scene does Cliff give up Jimmy?
(a) Act III Scene II
(b) Act II Scene I
(c) Act III Scene I
(d) Act II Scene II

Ans. c

59. In which scene does Helena seduce Jimmy?
(a) Act I Scene I
(b) Act II Scene II
(c) Act III Scene I
(d) Act II Scene I

Ans. b

60. In which Act do Jimmy and Alison play Bears and Squirrels game?
(a) Act
(b) Act II
(c) Act II
(d) None of these

Ans. a