Look Back in Anger Characters
JP
Jimmy Porter
Protagonist
Intelligent
Disillusioned
Articulate
Passionate
Jimmy Porter is the main protagonist of the play, a working-class man in his twenties filled with rage at class privilege, hypocrisy, and the emptiness of modern life. He delivers long, passionate monologues expressing his disillusionment with society. Despite his frequent verbal cruelty, he shows moments of genuine tenderness, particularly in the childlike 'bear and squirrel' game he shares with his wife Alison.
AP
Alison Porter
Supporting
Gentle
Reserved
Emotionally repressed
Passive
Alison Porter is Jimmy's wife, born into an upper-middle-class military family. She endures Jimmy's verbal abuse largely in silence, her quiet and repressed nature forming a stark contrast to his fiery temperament. She suffers a miscarriage during the play, an event that deeply affects her and ultimately leads to a fragile reconciliation with Jimmy.
CL
Cliff Lewis
Supporting
Easy-going
Warm
Loyal
Peaceable
Cliff Lewis is Jimmy's close friend and working-class Welsh lodger who shares the flat. He serves as a peacemaker between Jimmy and Alison, providing both comic relief and emotional stability. Despite his loyalty, he eventually decides to leave the flat in order to pursue his own independent life.
HC
Helena Charles
Supporting
Strong-willed
Moralistic
Principled
Conflicted
Helena Charles is Alison's friend, sharing her upper-middle-class background. She initially disapproves of Jimmy's treatment of Alison and persuades her to leave him, yet ironically goes on to begin an affair with Jimmy herself. When Alison returns, Helena is overcome with shame and immediately resolves to leave.
CR
Colonel Redfern
Minor
Old-fashioned
Dignified
Confused
Displaced
Colonel Redfern is Alison's father, a retired British army officer who represents the older generation and the era of imperial Britain. Although he disapproves of Jimmy, he is not portrayed as cruel or villainous. Instead, he is a figure bewildered and displaced by modern social change, unable to fully understand the new England around him.
HT
Hugh Tanner
Minor
Working-class
Absent
Influential
Rooted in class identity
Hugh Tanner is Jimmy's close friend from a working-class background who never appears on stage. His presence is nonetheless felt throughout the play via conversations, serving as a reminder of Jimmy's ties to his own class roots. He is connected to the sweet stall business that Jimmy runs.
MT
Mrs. Tanner
Symbolic
Warm
Strong
Working-class
Admired
Mrs. Tanner is Hugh's mother, a working-class woman whom Jimmy deeply admires for her warmth and strength. She never appears on stage but plays a symbolic role in the play, representing the working-class values Jimmy holds dear. Her serious illness becomes a flashpoint for Jimmy's anger toward Alison, whom he accuses of lacking sympathy.