Masculinity in John Osborne's Look Back in Anger

1 Life Under the Weight of Contradictions: Masculinity in John Osborne's Look Back in Anger Jimmy Porter, the central character in Look Back in Anger, is a young man living in the working class in 1950s England, and as Osborne presents it, he is therefore an extremely contradictory character. The most direct expression of his contradictions comes in Jimmy's description of one of the few men in the world that he actually liked: “He's not only got guts, he's got sensitivity as well. That's about the rarest combination I can think of” (13). Jimmy fights within himself between what he thinks it means to be a man, and the need he sees to be sensitive. Although Look Back in Anger is credited with launching the “Angry Young Men” movement in British theatre and culture, Jimmy Porter himself cannot quite be described by that label, because anger is only a part of his character. The stage directions describe him as “a disconcerting mixture of sincerity and cheerful malice, of tenderness and freebooting cruelty; restless, importunate, full of pride, a combination which alienates the sensitive and the insensitive alike.... To be as vehement as he is is to be almost non-committal” (1). When examining the masculine entity that is Jimmy Porter, the reader must not forget his sincerity, tenderness, and sensitivity, even as Jimmy tries ever harder to present his malice, cruelty, and pride. Describing him as “almost non- committal” suggests a certain stasis that has resulted from these contradictions in Jimmy's character. This paper will examine those contradictions and their origins, and a state of masculinity that has ground to a halt under their weight. In Jimmy's dialogue there are many articulations of the sort of “typical” masculinity that he tries to rebel against. While confronting Helena about her conversation with a Reverend, he uses religion to comment on an unthinking, conformist ideal of masculinity: “Do you think that some of this spiritual beefcake would make a man out of me? Should I go in for this moral weightlifting and get myself some over-developed muscle?... I can perform any kind of press there is without betraying the least sign of 2 passion or kindliness” (82-3). Jimmy is often very cruel to the ones he loves, but he might defend that as an example of the passion that is missing in other men. Whether justified or not, this hypothetical weightlifter with no passion or kindliness is an affront to Jimmy's sensitivity. The “over-developed muscles” represent the excess and “take-what's-yours” mentality of classic masculinity. But what really gets to Jimmy, and the issue that is really at the heart of Osborne's Angry Young Men, is that this brand of masculinity has just won a war, but seems to have no place in 1950s England. With no wars to win or empires to enlarge, these masculine ideals have no noble outlet. Jimmy hates the “Sunday night yobs in the front row” (8) at the movie theatre because he hates the outlet they have found to replace wartime violence, namely being loud and obnoxious in public places. Jimmy's outlet, however, does not seem to be all that different. Jimmy is volatile, reckless with the ones he loves. In many ways he is indistinguishable from the masculinity he despises, though even his violence has complex motivations. In one of his most frightening scenes, Helena has threatened to slap him, and he tells her “I've no public school scruples about hitting girls.... if I find some woman trying to cash in on what she thinks is my defenceless chivalry by lashing out with her frail little fists, I lash back at her” (58). This has the hallmarks of a domineering type of masculinity, but it is also a response to what he feels is the current state of men, namely being repressed and made weaker by social mores and changing gender dynamics. He resents the fact that a woman might have power over him if she believes he will not hit her, but the only possible reaction to that resentment is to be a typically violent man, eschewing sensitivity. And there is nothing more typically masculine than the wrestling matches he gets into with Cliff several times throughout the play. When Cliff gets angry that Jimmy is ripping his shirt, Jimmy responds, “well what do you want to wear a shirt for? A tough character like you!” (87). He is being a little sarcastic, admittedly, but the fighting is physically real, and the statement reeks of gladiatorial manliness, complete with unnecessary violence and a whit of homoeroticism. 3 And yet, Jimmy has a great many moments of sensitivity that seem to challenge this image of masculinity, though again this is often shown in a complex fashion. Jimmy's sensitivity can be seen in the game he plays with Alison throughout the play, in which they pretend he is a bear and she a squirrel. The bear suggests the western-hero brand of solitary masculinity, “following his own breath in the dark forest” with “no warm pack, no herd to comfort him” (101), yet what Alison says sheds a wholly different light on their game: “We could become little furry creatures with little furry brains. Full of dumb, uncomplicated affection for each other. Playful, careless creatures in their own cozy zoo for two. A silly symphony for people who couldn't bear the pain of being human beings any longer” (46). This is not typical masculinity because it is not even typical humanity. This allows them to have moments of pure affection and love for each other, but it does not allow them to figure out their era's notions of masculinity and femininity which have gotten them stuck and which made the game necessary in the first place. Jimmy wants to have these moments of purity and connection, but he wants to have them as a human, and as a man. Early in the play, he is trying to rouse Alison and Cliff: “Why don't we have a little game? Let's pretend we're human beings, and that we're actually alive.... it's such a long time since I was with anyone who got enthusiastic about anything” (9). He wants vitality, vigour, to live a real life, but for Jimmy this is impossible as a young man in the 1950s. So he acts out, blindly and violently, as a substitute. In place of becoming a real man he acts like a fake one, acts like a brutal hulk of a man, to goad sensitivity out of others as he ruins it in himself. The angry young man's contradictions expressed in the play seem to have two major causes: women and history. So much of the reason that Jimmy cannot shed typical masculinity is contained in this line of Helena's, regarding Jimmy: “I've never seen such hatred in someone's eyes before. It's slightly horrifying. Horrifying and oddly exciting” (39). Eventually, Helena falls for that excitement and moves in with Jimmy and Cliff. Jimmy has won over not one but two educated, religiously brought up, upper- or at least upper middle-class women by being violent and temperamental. He wants men to 4 exhibit sensitivity, but that is a very difficult thing to do when one can make women fall in love by being angry. We know that Jimmy will do anything for a woman's love, thanks to this line, spoken to Cliff: “You've been loyal, generous, and a good friend. But I'm quite prepared to see you wander off... all because of something I want from [Helena], something I know in my heart she's incapable of giving. You're worth half a dozen Helenas to me or to anyone” (89). One could simply say that Jimmy is a bad friend, but when he asserts that Cliff would do the same thing, Cliff agrees. Cliff, who shows great sensitivity toward Alison, who at some points one could almost see as embodying what Jimmy wants in a man, agrees. As the typical masculinity falters in the post-war era, women gain more power over men (recall Jimmy's insistence that he will hit a girl even though it is no longer proper), and men become helpless when it comes to women. The other origin of Jimmy and his generation's contradictions is their recent history. How can one feel like a man when men only a decade older fought and died in a just war? Moreover, the war was essentially won by people who embodied the typical, old-fashioned masculinity, people like Alison's father, and those people are “still casting well-fed glances back to the Edwardian twilight” (9). No contemporary of Jimmy Porter, according to Jimmy himself, can find nobility: I suppose people of our generation aren't able to die for good causes any longer. We had all that done for us, in the thirties and forties, when we were still kids. There aren't any good, brave causes left. If the big bang does come, and we all get killed off, it won't be in aid of the old-fashioned, grand design. It'll just be for the Brave-New-nothing-very-much-thank- you. About as pointless and inglorious as stepping in front of a bus (87). When confronted with this existence, one has few options. Although he sees himself differently, both Jimmy and the yobs he mocks choose various forms of violence, noise, and aggression.

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