John Osborne, vituperative artist
Subtitle: a reading of his life and work
By: by Luc Gilleman.
Series: Studies in modern drama
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2002
Place of publication: New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 260
Subjects: Osborne, John, 1929- -- Criticism and interpretation.; Invective in literature.
Description: "What can be said about the work of a man like John Osborne, who always had a knack for writing the wrong things at the wrong times? Steeped in personal neurosis, Osborne peopled his plays with a cast of unappealing characters who muddle through life, tormenting themselves and others. Starting with Look Back in Anger in 1956, he defied aesthetic convention and fashionable ideology throughout his career and left behind a richly diverse, though often frustratingly complex body of work.

Despite the ambivalence of critics and audiences, he is recognized today as one of the most important playwrights of the twentieth century as well as the father of modern British theater. This study by Luc Gilleman provides a fresh critical perspective on Osborne's complete oeuvre, addressing the issues in his plays most relevant today, notably the relationship between his life and work, the function of the gaze, and the construction of gender. Gilleman examines all of the major plays chronologically, offering both detailed analysis and contextual overview.

Those interested in the history of modern English-speaking theater will welcome this timely reappraisal of Osborne's provocative life and work."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 234-254) and index.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note: Preface vii; title: Acknowledgmentsx; title: References to Osborne's Works xi; title: 1. Osborne's Phallic Art 1; title: Part I; title: 2. Rise to the Top, 1956-1963 29; title: 3. Look Back in Anger (1956): Of Bears and Traps 45; title: 4. The Entertainer (1957): The Use of Despair 63; title: 5. Luther (1961): The Negative Way of Anger 85; title: Part II; title: 6. At the Top, 1964-1971 109; title: 7. Inadmissible Evidence (1964): The Birthing of the Self 123; title: 8. A Patriot for Me (1965): Society and the Hidden Self 141; title: Part III; title: 9. The Long Descent, 1972-1994 163; title: 10. A Sense of Detachment (1972): The Limits of Authenticity 177; title: 11. Watch It Come Down (1976): A Most Necessary Failure 197; title: 12. Dejavu (1992): Elegy for Lost Origins 213; title: A Note on Further Reading 234; title: Notes 235; title: Index 255.