Jimmy Porter as the Figure of Post-War Alienated Youth DEBAYAN BHATTACHARYA College

1956 can be called the “year zero” because it makes a certain distinction between ‘the old era’ and the ‘new era’. Since after G.B Shaw and Galsworthy British theatre presented nothing noteworthy to hold the attention of the People of England, especially for the generation that did not serve in the wars. The socio-political sphere of England consisted of people pro-establishment and as well as rebels against the establishment. The rebels wanted literature that would represent them, the ordinary ‘working Joe’. When Osborne’s magnum opus ‘Look Back in Anger’ was first performed at the Royal Court Theatre by the English Stage company on May 8, 1956, British theatre was radicalized overnight. The play initially received mixed responses from the critics and audience alike- that is because Jimmy Porter appealed to a particular section of the population. One of the very first critics to apprehend the worth of the play, Kenneth Tynan figures out in his Observer review Osborne’s intended audience: “I agree that Look Back in Anger is likely to remain a minority taste. What matters, however, is the size of minority. I estimate it roughly 6,733,000, which is the number of people in this country between the ages of twenty and thirty.”...