Editing Angry young men (section)

==John Osborne==
The [[playwright]] [[John Osborne]] was the archetypal example, and his signature play ''[[Look Back in Anger]]'' (1956) attracted attention to a style of drama contrasting strongly with the genteel and understated works of [[Terence Rattigan]] that had been in fashion. Osborne's ''[[The Entertainer (play)|The Entertainer]]'' (1957) secured his reputation, with [[Laurence Olivier]] playing the [[protagonist]] Archie Rice. Osborne became a successful entrepreneur, partnering with [[Tony Richardson]] to form the film production company [[Woodfall Film Productions|Woodfall]].<ref name=gill/> In addition to being seen as archetypal, Osborne was claimed to be one of the leading literary figures of the Angry Young Men "movement". This "movement" was identified after the [[World War II|Second World War]] as some British intellectuals began to question orthodox mores. Osborne expressed his own concerns through his plays and could be relied upon to provide controversial "angry" pronouncements, delivered with an immaturity compared to impatient youth.<ref name=gill>{{cite journal |last=Gilleman |first=Luc |date=2008 |title=From Coward and Rattigan to Osborne: Or the Enduring Importance of ''Look Back in Anger'' |journal=Modern Drama |volume=51 |issue=1 |pages=104–124|doi=10.3138/md.51.1.104 |s2cid=163110701 }}</ref>

Some critics ridiculed Osborne for a lack of maturity in his statements, and fuelled a debate about his politics and those of the "movement".<ref name=gill/> Osborne also had consistent and often sarcastic criticism of the [[British left|British Left]].<ref name=lang>{{cite journal |last=Langford |first=Larry |date=1997 |title=The Unsocial Socialism of John Osborne |journal=English Studies|volume=78 |issue=3 |pages=237–257|doi=10.1080/00138389708599074 }}</ref> In 1961, he made public headlines with "Letter to my Fellow Countrymen" that represented a "damn you, England" mentality.<ref name=gill/> and protested against Britain's decision to join the arms race.<ref name=gill/> Osborne strongly expressed anger at what Britain had become at that time, but also at what he felt it had failed to become.<ref name=lang/>

===''Look Back in Anger''===
Osborne's play ''Look Back in Anger'' was the monumental literary work that influenced the concept of the Angry Young Man. He wrote the play to express what it felt like to live in England during the 1950s. The main issues that Angry Young Men had were "impatience with the status quo, refusal to be co-opted by a bankrupt society, an instinctive solidarity with the lower classes". Referred to as "[[kitchen sink realism]]", literary works began to deal with lower class themes.<ref name=gill/> In the decades prior to Osborne and other authors, less attention had been given to literature that illuminated the treatment and living circumstances experienced by the lower classes. As the Angry Young Men movement began to articulate these themes, the acceptance of related issues was more widespread. Osborne depicted these issues within his play through the eyes of his protagonist, Jimmy. Throughout the play, Jimmy was seeing "the wrong people go hungry, the wrong people be loved, the wrong people dying".<ref name=weis>{{cite journal |last=Weiss |first=Samuel |date=1960 |title=Osborne's Angry Young Play |journal=Educational Theatre Journal |volume=12 |issue=4 |pages=285–288|doi=10.2307/3204555 |jstor=3204555 }}</ref>

In Britain, following the Second World War, the quality of life for lower-class citizens was still poor;{{r|life19580526}} Osborne used this theme to demonstrate how the state of Britain was guilty of neglect towards those who needed assistance the most. In the play there are comparisons of educated people with savages, illuminating the major difference between classes. Alison remarks on this issue while she, Jimmy and Cliff are sharing an apartment, stating how "she felt she had been placed into a jungle". Jimmy was represented as an embodiment of the young, rebellious post-war generation that questioned the state and its actions. ''Look Back in Anger'' provided some of its audience with the hope that Osborne's work would revitalise the British theatre and enable it to act as a "harbinger of the [[New left|New Left]]".<ref name=weis/>