Sherriff presents Stanhope as a contradictory character. Early on, others see him as a heroic and respected commander, but he is also shown drinking heavily due to war damaging his nerves. When Raleigh arrives, he sees Stanhope as a schoolboy hero, but the audience sees Stanhope's temper and vulnerability. As the play continues, Stanhope loses more control and lashes out, but at the end Sherriff reveals his caring side as he comforts the dying Raleigh, showing the human cost of war.

1. Y11 English Literature
Mock (and Real!) Exam Revision Materials
Questions for the Last 4 Years
June 2014 – Higher Paper

2. June 2013 – Higher Paper
June 2012 - Higher Paper
June 2014 – Foundation Paper

3. June 2013 – Foundation Paper

4. June 2012 – Foundation Paper
How is Stanhope presented by Sherriff? How does Sherriffrevealhow
war has changed him? (grade = A*)
At the start of Act One, before we have even met him, Sherriff presents Stanhope as a
character who is full of contradictions. He does this by using dramatic irony, presenting the

5. audience with lots of information and strong opinions about Stanhope, from the other
characters. Hardy, who is the highest-ranking character on the stage, says that “he’s by far
the best company commander we’ve got”. The ambiguous use of ‘we’ here could suggest
that Stanhope is one of the most effective and heroic soldiers in the British army. However,
Sherrif’s stage directions point out the ‘despite his stars of rank he is no more than a boy’,
which implies that he is young and vulnerable. Hardy has alread referred to Stanhope
‘drinking like a fish’ and shortly after, Osborne tried to explain why this might be, talking
about how ‘his nerves have got battered to bits.’ The word ‘battered’ is violent, with plosive
sibilant sounds, and it is also closely related to the word ‘battle.’ Here Sherriff starts the play
by creating sympathy for Stanhope, and clearly showing his youth, and establishing the war
as the cause of Stanhope’s drinking.
When Raleigh arrives, however, we get another portrayal of Stanhope: that of a schoolboy
hero who was brave and strong enough to be ‘skipper of rugger.’ Raleigh seems to have
been influenced by the propaganda about the war that was being directed at young people
like him at the time. He sees Stanhope as someone to look up to; he is particularly
impressed by his rank, saying ‘I say, I suppose I ought to call him Captain Stanhope?’ He
also reveals himself later to be blind to Stanhope’s terrible temper. After he has given
Raleigh a very cool reception, he still writes home at the end of Act 2 to tell his sister that
‘he’s the finest officer in the battalion, and the men simply love him.’ Here the audience feel
intensely sorry for the innocent, vulnerable Raleigh. In Act 1, Sherriff has told us enough
about Stanhope’s nerves (how he ‘lost control’ while they were on leave; then ‘sort of –
came to – and cried…’) for us to know that the war has caused him serious psychological
damage.
Later in Acts 2 and 3, Sherriff continues to show us Stanhope losing control. When Hibbert
tries to claim he is ill, Stanhope calls him a ‘swine’ and a ‘worm’ and threatens to shoot him
for desertion. This is not sympathetic action, and the audience might begin to harden
against him, in spite of all he has been through. His choice of words to describe Hibbert is
almost snobbish, as if Hibbert was a lower class of being (as both pigs and worms are
animals that are associated with dirt.) Here, perhaps, Sherriff is hinting at the kind of
snobbery a grammar-school background can create, even in an otherwise positive
character. Later in the act, when Osborne has died, Sherriff reveals Stanhope’s loneliness,
when he says Osborne was ‘the one man I could talk to as man to man.’ The repetition of
‘man’ here shows Stanhope’s obsession with masculinity and manhood, and perhaps hints

6. that this is one reason he is finding war so hard – he is expected to be brave and strong by
his fellow soldiers.
Finally, at the end of the play, Sherriff reveals Stanhope’s more caring side. This is
particularly effective as the audience have been waiting for Stanhope to behave in a caring
manner towards Raleigh for the entirety of the play. When Raleigh is injured and Stanhope
refers to him as ‘Jimmy’ this signals a shift in their relationship. Perhaps Sherriff leaves this
until now to show how they have finally cast of the stereotypes they’ve used to see each
other (the war hero and the innocent schoolboy) and started to see each other as people.
This is effectively tragic, because shortly after this line, Raleigh dies. The last action we see
him undertake on stage is when he ‘lightly runs his fingers over Raleigh’s tousled hair.’
Here Sherriff successful hints at the caring father that Stanhope might have been, and
leaves the audience angry at the war that forced him to try and be a stereotypical brave
soldier: the war that must surely kill him as the play finishes with a direct hit to the dugout.
How does Sherriffpresentthe characterof Stanhopein Journey’sEnd?
(Grade = C)
At the start of Act One, Sherriff presents Stanhope as a character who is full of
contradictions. Early on, Osborne says that “he’s by far the best company commander
we’ve got”. This suggests that Stanhope is one of the best soldiers in the army and his
troops respect him. Hardy asks if Stanhope is ‘drinking like a fish as usual?’ This makes the
audience wonder if Stanhope is an alcoholic. This is confusing because Osborne says that
he’s such a good commander. This means that at the start of the play Sherriff shows
different sides to Stanhope.
When Raleigh arrives later in the Act, we see Stanhope as a schoolboy hero who was brave
and strong. Raleigh is impressed because he was ‘skipper of rugger’ when they went to
school together. When Osborne reads his letter, Ralight says that ‘he’s the finest officer in
the battalion, and the men simply love him.’ It is really tense on stage because Stanhope
wanted to censor this letter. Maybe Sherriff really wanted to show the audience how much
Raleigh admires Stanhope.

7. Later in Acts 2 and 3, Stanhope starts losing control. For example, he calls Hibbert a ‘swine’
and a ‘worm’ and threatens to shoot him when he tries to prentend he’s ill. Worms and
swines are dirty animals that nobody really likes. This is not very sympathetic thing to say,
and the audience might start to dislike Stanhope. After Osborne has died, we find out that
Stanhope is really lonely, when he says Osborne was ‘the one man I could talk to as man to
man.’ This helps the audience to understand why Stanhope is under so much strain and
being nasty to everyone.
At the end of the play, Sherriff show Stanhope’s more caring side. When Raleigh is injured
and Stanhope refers to him as ‘Jimmy’ this shows that their relationship has changed. This
is really tragic because just after this, Raleigh dies. The last thing we see him do is that he
‘lightly runs his fingers over Raleigh’s tousled hair.’ Maybe Sherrif wants to show us that
Stanhope is a sort of father figure to Raleigh. This leaves us with a good impression of him.
Overall, Sherriff presents Stanhope as a man under too much pressure who is still very
popular and likeable.
Unseen Poetry

9. A* Poetry
Answer

12. C minus Poetry
Answer