30 pages • 1 hour read
John OsborneLook Back in Anger
Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1957A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Jimmy Porter
Jimmy is the main character of the play. He is a complex character that fills each scene with angry, derisive monologues. He complains about the middle class and, by proxy, his wife, Alison. He used to be a trumpet player in a jazz band, but now runs a sweet stall with his friend and roommate, Cliff. He and Cliff talk heatedly about politics and religion. Jimmy dislikes the church just as much as he dislikes the middle class, both of which represent the Establishment to him. Jimmy’s anger extends to Cliff at times as well, though the two often wrestle playfully to end their disputes. Jimmy dislikes Alison’s parents, as they represent stuffy, Edwardian beliefs. He is utterly prideful, and cruel in his taunts and actions, yet also described as cheerful. His character is known as the archetype for later characters that define “the cruel individual with a heart of gold.” Jimmy rages when Alison leaves him, but then sleeps with her friend Helena and pretends not to care about Alison. When Helena leaves him, Alison returns. The two make up, and it is implied that Alison now knows how Jimmy feels about the structure of the world.
Alison Porter
Alison is a quiet woman who is married to Jimmy Porter. She was raised in the middle class, and because of this, her husband insults her and her family relentlessly throughout the play. Her father is Colonel Redfern, and her family lived in India until 1947. Her brother, Nigel, is a member of Parliament. Her entire life had been one of ease when Jimmy sparked something in her. She disobeyed her parents’ wishes and married him. Alison admits that people can marry for revenge, not love, and thinks perhaps that Jimmy married her for this very reason. At the start of the play, she is pregnant with Jimmy’s child but is too afraid to tell him. What Jimmy hates most is her passiveness. Like her father, Alison tries her best not to step on anyone’s toes. Jimmy wants her to be fiery and have an opinion, but she admits that she has not had an idea in years. Alison is also close to Cliff, though the two do not have a sexual relationship. This closeness sometimes irks Jimmy, and even causes Helena Charles—Alison’s friend—to question it. Alison leaves Jimmy, but when she loses their child, it is implied that she now understands Jimmy’s worldview; she returns to him and the two seemingly make up.
Helena Charles
Helena is an actress, and one of Alison’s only remaining middle-class friends. She is invited to stay with the Porters in the first act, as she will be in town performing. Jimmy despises Helena, and she dislikes him just as much. Helena blames Jimmy for treating Alison so cruelly and for causing her to live beneath her status. She also thinks Jimmy—and Cliff, to some extent—are unmanly in being so cruel to Alison and blaming the world for their problems. Helena telegrams Colonel Redfern one day and arranges to have Alison return home for her sanity and peace of mind. Helena confronts Jimmy after Alison leaves, only to slap him and then kiss him. She ends up having an affair with Jimmy, and finds herself in the same position as Alison. When Alison returns, Helena realizes that what she is doing is wrong and leaves Jimmy.
Cliff Lewis
Cliff is Alison and Jimmy’s roommate. He is also Jimmy’s friend and business partner. The two work at a sweet stall together. Cliff is very neutral in the play, hardly ever taking sides. He does admit to Helena that if he were not staying with the Porters, they might have separated long ago. Cliff is Welsh, and it is implied that he is poorly educated. Jimmy often makes fun of these facts. Cliff is affectionate toward Alison and makes sure that she is alright after Jimmy’s abuses. The two often hug and embrace as if they are a couple, though Alison swears there is no sexual relationship between them. Cliff does not like Helena either, but, since Jimmy is his friend, when Jimmy takes up with Helena, Cliff tries to like her. Cliff eventually leaves to find a wife of his own who will take care of him.
Colonel Redfern
Colonel Redfern is Alison’s father. He is a retired officer who was stationed in India from 1913 to 1947. He hardly spent any time in England, and so finds himself at odds with what it means to be modern in England. Though he had many notions about how life should be when he was younger, he now realizes that his beliefs are out of date. He dislikes Jimmy, but he understands some of where Jimmy is coming from in his beliefs about change and order in England. Though Mrs. Redfern hates Jimmy, Colonel Redfern believes that his wife went too far in trying to separate Jimmy and Alison. He tells Alison that she and he are alike in that they sit on the sidelines and are passive. He picks Alison up from the flat one day and takes her home, at Helena’s request.
