The Winslow Boy Literary Elements

Play

London, early twentieth century

There is no narrator. The book is written from the point of view of Winslow's family, and the team defending him.

Combative and determined; resolute

Winslow is the protagonist; the Royal Navy is the antagonist.

The main conflict is between the military and Winslow. They believe him to be guilty of the crime of theft, and he maintains his innocence. Essentially the entire play is about a conflict, because all court cases are conflicts, with two opposing sides fighting it out until one emerges victorious.

Winslow is acquitted of the theft and is allowed to continue his military career.

The fact that Catherine is so vocal in her support of her brother, and is going up against the military, foreshadows the disintegration of her relationship because her fiancé's father is a military man and therefore on the side of the Navy. He pressures his son into calling off the engagement.

Catherine tells Morton that he does not understand women. This is an understatement; he believes that if a woman is a suffragette they essentially hate men and want to take on the role of a man, rather than understanding that they merely want the role of women to be expanded and made equal.

The play alludes to the real-life case of George Archer-Shee who was accused of theft whilst a student at the Royal Naval College.

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Catherine does not like Morton because she believes his motives are political; she is completely wrong as his motives are helping a young man he believes to be innocent, and in fact his political career ends before it begins when he turns down the position of Lord Chief Justice.

There is a parallel between the case of Crown versus Winslow and the case of Crown versus Archer-Shee as both are accused of a crime they did not commit and both were too unimportant in the scheme of things to be properly represented.

The Crown is the term used to mean "Queen and Country". In England, everything that happens is symbolically in the name of the Queen, and so when any arm of the government or military is prosecuting they are known as the Crown, rather than being named as individuals.

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