Whilst Young Men’s Characters Were Changed as a Consequence of the Barbarity They Experienced in the Trenches, Society in England Generally Remained Unaware and Unchanged by the True Horror of War Until 1916. Compare

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The tragedy of the First World War left nobody truly unaffected, and changed the lives of everyone in society in a number of different ways. While the war meant the loss of life and suffering for millions of men, it also opened up new opportunities for women, even though this came at a high cost. The character of Stanhope in “Journey’s End”, serves to show the dramatic change in the men and how their emotions were affected by the horrors they experienced in war. The first description of Stanhope is that he was, “no more than a boy”. This implies that physically he is young, though it is soon discovered that his mental state is not quite as intact, as pointed out by Hardy “Stanhope really is a sort of freak”. The audience is quickly introduced to the dependency on drink that the soldiers have, and the change in Stanhope is reinforced by Raleigh’s memories of him at school, “He caught some chaps in a study with a bottle of whisky… he gave them a dozen each with a cricket stump.” This is wildly different from Stanhope’s character now, and represents the dramatic measures taken by soldiers to forget their daily suffering. The play introduces the issue of Stanhope’s drinking almost immediately; giving the impression that he is reliant on drink and it is beginning to define his character. On the first introduction of Stanhope, he commands, “Damn the soup! Bring some whiskey!” After hearing Raleigh’s story of Stanhope’s anti-drinking past, this reliance on drink is made all the more shocking. It soon becomes apparent that Stanhope is not pleased to see Raleigh in his platoon, subsequently because of his close romantic relationship with Raleigh’s sister. Likewise, the appearance of Raleigh shocks Stanhope in to seeing the change in his own character. This would imply that Stanhope is embarrassed by the extent to which his character has changed, and fears that society

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