TSR Wiki > Study Help > Subjects and Revision > Revision Notes > English > The Accrington Pals – Peter Whelan
- Social chance during 1st World War- women briefly change their social position but had to return to pre-war status once the men came home which was difficult
- Social mores very strict- no sex before marriage: Eva and Ralph break this convention, symbolising how things are changing
- Arthur represents older generation- his strict morals in scene 7 contrast sharply to Ralph and Eva in scene 6
- Arthur thinks the war will be a cathartic moment which will cleanse mankind- common view at the start of the war (e.g. futurist art movement)
- Women’s fashions pre-WW1 more restricting (corsets, skirts)- when Bertha hitches up her skirt in order to find it easier to work, it’s a radical thing to do (links to ‘flapper’ fashions after the war)
- Men will come back unable to communicate
- Annie takes her aggression and anger at the war taking her husband away out on Reggie (her son)
- Play first performed in 1982 and has echoes of Thatcherism, especially in the character of May (e.g. getting Reggie to take some responsibility for his mother which helps him to help himself rather than offering direct assistance)
- Tom (Socialist) takes the Reggie incident as political, cannot accept May’s actions
- CSM Rivers is a sort of spiritual figure- mysterious and appears from nowhere
- Ultimately, May and Tom’s political views prevent them from ever being romantically involved
- Women going to the pub together is still a taboo- a masculine world even though most of the men are away
- May realises that the independence the war has given women will go as soon as it’s over
- Information the women receive is either partial or false- propaganda is fed to the public in order to keep them quiet
- England’s Glory (Arthur’s pigeon) returns from France half dead but still going- represents the British spirit continuing in spite of the war
- Annie driven mad by the stress of the war- no hope of psychiatric care for her just as there is none for the shell shocked privates
Comments
These notes are aimed at A Level English students at A2 level.
Originally written by little one on TSR Forums.
