Journeys_End-R_C_Sheriff

Compare the ways Sheriff uses setting in Journey’s End with the ways Barker use the enclosed environment of Craiglockhart hospital in Regeneration Both works use settings to enhance the emotional turmoil suffered by the characters. The personalities can be compared; for example, Stanhope and Sassoon are men who hate the war and are horrified by its brutality and pointlessness. The trenches play an integral part in each story; in Journey’s End the trenches fray the men’s minds; they live in a constant state of fear of death which leads them to behave in an irrational way in life. In Regeneration the trenches are linked to the emotional trauma that the men suffered; Stanhope turns to drink to cope with life on the frontline; in Regeneration Willard copes with his mental illness by believing that he only has a physical illness and is not a mental patient. Claustrophobia is a theme in both works, the trenches of Journey’s End are a physical constraint and the hospital is a mental environment. All characters have some wish to leave these places behind but in Stanhope’s case he fears leaving the trenches, feeling that he is a changed man and wonders how people would react to him in his current state, especially his love, Raleigh’s sister. Hibbert is desperate to leave the trenches for every time he leaves the dugout he feels he is going to be killed; this drives him to malinger in order to evade going on the frontline again. Prior, however, is eager to leave the hospital to return to the frontline to be with his men but Barker questions whether the whole process of Regeneration will repeat itself. The dramatic presentation of Journey’s End is Spartan. The dugout in the play is dimly lit which gives a realistic impression of what life would have been like in these trenches. The layout suggests that luxuries are non- existent and that day to day life is an extremely harsh affair and personal space and privacy is limited. However, it does represent shelter for the men, their home and the outside world is a threat to them. An example of this is Osborne’s bed which shows that the smallest possessions are important when there is very little. Action is reported by the characters themselves or by supporting characters in one continuous scene that does not stop until the end and culminates in the death of Raleigh. This happens as the Sergeant-Major comes in to request the presence of Stanhope on the frontline and the play ends with the lighting fading as both characters leave the dugout. These events take place over a very short time span that is less than a week and this is emphasised by a scene which barely changes. Sheriff uses the stage directions to make this very clear references are often made to the changing light: Act II scene2 ‘the sunlight has gone from the dugout floor, but still shines brightly in the trench.’ Act III scene 1 ‘the earth wall of the trench glows with a light that slowly fades with the sinking sun’ Sheriff implies war by the sounds which take place in the distance which are not clearly heard in the dugout. ‘The earth walls deaden the sounds of war’. This use of distant sound helps to concentrate the attention on the trench so that it’s seen as a type of shelter, protecting the men from them fighting that’s going on all around them. Food helps to encourage the image of it being a cosy place as Mason is the comic character that regularly appears with comfort food. ‘What a lovely smell of bacon,’ says Trotter.This shows the setting as home. Sheriff uses the dugout to express the miserable life that is frontline life. These characters live in this place for the whole play; the lighting plays a part in conveying a low mood amongst the characters. There is constant talk of rats and disease between the characters and the lack of food for the men; this also brings on the class division between the men and the officers as are they able to enjoy a degree of luxury while the men have barely enough to eat. This becomes apparent when Raleigh admits to eating with his men Stanhope reminds him of his place as an officer and he does not want him to become a mockery. Even in the confined space of this dugout Sheriff emphasises the class division still exists between officers and men. Sheriff and Barker’s characters suffer similar fates but they are seen at different points in their experience. They are observed at intervals in their lives in different surroundings and their reactions vary according to the length of time they have spent in their environment and resulting trauma. There are remarkable similarities between the trenches and the hospital because they are both confined spaces from which there is no escape; the men cannot leave the trenches because the risk death at the hands of the Germans and the men cannot leave the hospital without fear of being arrested. The settings of the hospital and the trenches highlight the men’s lack of freedom because they both act like prisons. There is an irony that the men move from one prison environment to another to be cured. The Regeneration may be complete for the men but sending them back to the trenches may only start a vicious cycle of yet more mental anguish.