John Osborne’s Theatre in the Teaching and Learningof the English Working Class Culture

Abstract

This paper explores the role of John Osborne‘s theatre in the teaching and learning of working-class life in England. The form of working-class English as used in Osborne‘s theatre is analysed with close reference to the socio-economic and cultural contexts associated with it. The aim is to find out how the theatre of John Osborne enables its audience to have better understanding of English working-class culture. To achieve the above aim, the researcher evaluates the linguistic content and contexts of the characters in John Osborne‘s Look Back in Anger, compares and contrasts the language of the working-class protagonist, Jimmy Porter, with that of his middle-class wife and mother in-law, and concludes with the examination of the functional aspect of Jimmy Porter‘s grammar. Osborne‘s theatre as seen in Look Back in Anger is a compendium of English working-class life.