Genre
Tragic play
Language
English
Setting and Context
The action in the play takes place in WWI British trenches over four days leading up to the battle of Saint-Quentin.
Narrator and Point of View
Tone and Mood
The tone is humorous and bleak; the mood is ominous.
Protagonist and Antagonist
Captain Stanhope is the protagonist; his main antagonists are Raleigh, Hibbert, and the colonel.
Major Conflict
The major conflict in the play is how to maintain sanity under the miserable and despair-inducing conditions of war.
Climax
The play reaches its climax when the German attack finally comes and Raleigh becomes paralyzed by a bombshell.
Foreshadowing
In the first act of the play, one of the soldiers warns Raleigh to prepare himself for a version of Stanhope he has never seen before. This foreshadows Stanhope's mercurial mood, a symptom of his PTSD.
Understatement
Allusions
In the middle of the play, Osborne reads Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, a famous children's book by Lewis Carroll.
Imagery
Paradox
Parallelism
Personification
Use of Dramatic Devices
Throughout the play, Sheriff uses the device of dramatic irony (i.e. letting the audience know more than the characters) by showing Stanhope and Osborne discussing Raleigh while he is off-stage.
