John Osborne's 'the Entertainer' (Act 3, Scene 10)

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TEATRO INGLES II (Desde la Restauración) ORAL REPORT JOHN OSBORNE’S ‘THE ENTERTAINER’ (Act 3, Scene 10) By Fco. Javier Campillo Herrera The passage of the play is situated near the end of it. On the previous scene, Frank, Archie Rice's youngest son (and main character of the play), has been singing about the convenience of bringing back the body of Mick, his eldest brother, who has died fighting in Egypt with some of their comrades in the battlefield. After the scene analyzed, Billy, Archie's father, will die just immediately before going back to the stage to perform his old, successful music-hall performance. The scene I am going to write about is situated very near the end of the play, and it deals nostalgia for the glory days concerning Billy Rice's career as music-hall performer, apathy, indifference, vacuity and lack of remorse concerning Archie Rice's way of living and behaviour. There is personal reproach for his nihilistic attitude on Jean's part, because she thinks he is harming the persons who appreciate him. Reproach and sorrow is also reflected when Jean tells Frank, her brother, about Archie's love affair with a young lady who is being manipulated in order to make her parents finance his old-fashioned and unsuccessful music-hall show. There is also pity and compassion when Jean says that Bill is too old and frail to take part in Archie's show in order to give it a boost. On the other hand, Archie's answer to Bill and Jean reflects bitterness and a sense of revenge, as he thinks Bill owes him something for having ruined his plans for using the young lady's parent's money for funding his career, as Bill has told them Archie is already married. The issue of nostalgia for the glory days long gone is reflected in the play in Act 1, scene 4, when Archie sings a jingoistic and selfish song about the British Empire, because it expresses a feeling of
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