Class Struggles and Economic Inequalities in John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger and Arnold Wesker’s Roots | ||
| مجلة مرکز الخدمة للاستشارات البحثية واللغات | ||
| Volume 26, Issue 80, October 2024 PDF (562.15 K) | ||
| Document Type: المقالة الأصلية | ||
| DOI: 10.21608/jocr.2025.358516.1187 | ||
| Author | ||
| Ibrahim Mohamed Othman* | ||
| English Language Department Suez University | ||
| Abstract | ||
| This study examines class struggles and economic inequalities in John Osborne's Look Back in Anger and Arnold Wesker's Roots, two seminal works of British kitchen sink realism from the 1950s. Both plays critique the socio-economic conditions of post-war Britain, highlighting the frustrations of the working class. In Look Back in Anger, Osborne portrays Jimmy Porter as an "angry young man" disillusioned with the stagnant social hierarchy, expressing resentment towards the establishment and his own lack of upward mobility (Mezher Saddam, 2021). Similarly, Wesker's Roots follows Beatie Bryant's return to her rural working-class family, emphasizing the challenges of class consciousness and the desire for social change (Gilleman, 2008). Through character development and dialogue, both playwrights underscore the pervasive economic disparities and class tensions of their time, contributing significantly to the discourse on social realism in mid-20th-century British theatre. The primary purpose of this study is to examine how class struggles and economic inequalities are portrayed in John Osborne’s Look Back in Anger and Arnold Wesker’s Roots. These two plays, emblematic of the mid-20th century British theatrical landscape, reflect the socio-economic realities of post-war Britain and the frustrations of the working class. Both Osborne and Wesker, through their unique dramatic approaches, present compelling critiques of the entrenched class divisions that defined their era. | ||
| Keywords | ||
| class struggle; economic inequality; John Osborne; Look Back in Anger; Arnold Wesker | ||
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