Theatrical Representation of War

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the three plays "Journey's End" by R.C. Sherriff, "Post Mortem" by Noel Coward and "For Services Rendered" by Somerset Maugham and considers how each of them portrays the Great War of 1914-1918. It looks at how they are all anti-war and the differences in the way they treat the subject. It shows how issues with the concept of war and dramatic devices all differ from playwright to playwright to give an interesting overview of the attitudes to the Great War ten to fifteen years after its end.

From the Paper:

""Post Mortem" is not subtle in its agenda, nor in its mechanisms achieving this. Its anti-war message is relayed by using the idea that someone from the time of the war should be placed in a time thirteen years after the event, thereby highlighting the contrast between attitudes to the war in the trenches and at the time, and those distorted attitudes of the next decade. It also suggests that the newer recollections are reprehensible characters like James Cavan and Lady Stagg-Mortimer are grotesque caricatures and the "returning hero" of the piece is enraged by them, and by his peers who survived him in the war."

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