Look Back in Anger Quotes
Quotes
Jimmy Porter – Act I
Explanation: Sarcasm aimed at the lifelessness he feels around him. Shows Jimmy’s frustration with the dullness of middle-class life.“Let’s pretend that we’re human beings, and that we’re actually alive.”
Jimmy Porter – Act III
“We’ll be together in our bear’s cave, or our squirrel’s drey.”
Explanation: Their “Bear and Squirrel” game symbolizes an escape from real-life pain into a private, safe world.
Alison Porter – Act I
Explanation: Alison admits their marriage was rooted partly in class conflict, not just love.“Some people do actually marry for revenge.”
Jimmy says In Act I:
Explanation: This shows his loss of purpose. Both Osborne and Jimmy long for noble causes but feel trapped in a dull, directionless age.“I suppose people like me aren't supposed to be very patriotic.” In Act I
Jimmy Porter – Act I
Explanation: Reveals Jimmy’s trauma and why he feels others can’t understand real suffering.“For twelve months, I watched my father dying—when I was ten years old.”
Jimmy Porter – Act I
Explanation: Jimmy’s most cruel statement to Alison, born from bitterness and his own loss. It foreshadows her later miscarriage.“If you could have a child, and it would die... if only I could watch you face that.”
Jimmy Porter:
Explanation: Jimmy Porter expresses his anger that he doesn’t care if Alison is pregnant or not. After Alison has left Jimmy, Helena Charles informs Jimmy that Alison is going to have a baby. A frustrated Jimmy Porter is angry with everything in this play.“I don’t care if she is going to have a baby.” (Act 2, Scene 2)
Jimmy Porter – Act I
Explanation: This line reflects his frustration with England’s decline. It shows the stark disparity between the rich and the poor.“It’s pretty dreary living in the American Age—unless you’re American of course.”
In the game, Act 2, Scene 1, Alison recalls,
Here, they can express simple, childlike affection that is missing in their daily lives.“We could become little furry creatures with little furry brains. Full of dumb, uncomplicated affection for each other.”
Alison says to Jimmy – Act II, Scene II
Explanation: Here, Alison Porter addresses her father, Colonel Redfern. She explains that Colonel Redfern is hurt because everything has changed, while Jimmy Porter is hurt because the world remains the same.“You’re hurt because everything is changed. Jimmy is hurt because everything is the same.”
Minor quotes Alison says to Cliff: Act-I
CLIFF: “It’ll be all right—you see. Tell him.”ALISON: “You think I should tell him about the baby?”
Helena tells Alison in Act II:
But you can't go on living in this way any longer. (To her.) ALISON: I'm so tired.
Explanation: This shows Alison feels tired and hopeless. She leaves Jimmy under Helena’s influence.
Helen expresses her love to Jimmy in ACT- III:
HEI.ENA: I love you.
JIMMY: I think perhaps you do. Yes, I think perhaps you do.
Helene left the house:
Alison says to Helena:“Very well. I'm going downstairs to pack my things. If I hurry, I shall just catch the 7.15 to London.” ACT- III
ACT- III Scene - 2, Alison cries in misery . She says to Jimmy:You saw me, and I had to tell you what had happened. I lost the child. ACT- III
Alison Porter Act 2, Scene 1:“I want to be a lost cause. I want to be corrupt and futile!”
Explanation: Here, Alison tells her friend Helena about the toy bear and squirrel. The Bear and Squirrel Game is a metaphor for Jimmy and Alison’s relationship. It symbolizes their escape from social and class conflicts. By acting like simple animals, they forget pain and feel a pure, childlike love.“And now, even they are dead, poor little silly animals. They were all love and no brains.”
Alison says to her parents:
Jimmy Porter – Act I“Jimmy went into battle with his axe swinging round his head” (Act II).
Jimmy Porter“Always the same ritual. Reading the papers, drinking tea, ironing…”
Act I, Cliff mocks a church leader and says:“Oh, hell! Now the bloody bells have started.”
In Act 3, Jimmy says to Helena:“…appeal to all Christians to do all they can to assist in the manufacture of the H-Bomb.”
Explanation: Jimmy Porter compares faith to bodybuilding ads. To him, religion is just another show.“Should I go in for this moral weight lifting and get myself some overdeveloped muscle?”