Critical quotes and analyse

• 4 key quotes from the preface of TWT?

  1) "No one is interested in the First World War"

  2) "It satirised the press, poked fun at the High Command and saluted fallen comrades."

  3) "History had a very different view of the war from that of the editors of The Wipers Times"

  4) "gave a clear voice to the troops"
• Quote 1 preface significance?

  Hislop and Newman faced the same societal backlash that Owen did whilst writing his poetry
• Quote 2 preface significance?

  While Owen takes a different tone, both texts intend to satirize the High Command
• Quote 3 preface significance?

  Dominant narratives of how the war would bring a test of heroism, bravery and masculinity impacted both texts
• Quote 4 preface significance?

  Both texts seek to highlight the voice of ordinary troops
• Other contextual similarities between TWT and Owen?

  Both Owen and the editors of TWT were unrecognised until after their deaths. Hislop and Newman write the text as a partial commemoration of Roberts/Pearson
• Structure of TWT?

  Frame narrative
• Significance of the frame narrative?

  Highlights the lack of legacy of the newspaper, despite its importance to Roberts/Pearson
• Act 1 scene 1?

  Roberts attempts to get a job, only to be met with a dismissive editor who does not value Roberts' sacrifice in the war.
• "I'm ----- ---- ---- ------"


  familiar with merry hell
• "I'm familiar with merry hell" significance?

  - Oxymoronic - acknowledges the joy in war (TWT, cameraderie) as well as the horrors of war

  - Uses the editor's words against him - Roberts' version of "merry hell" is vastly different to the non-combatant editor. Early on, we are reminded of the differences between soldiers and non-combatants
• "I'm familiar with merry hell" link to Owen


  Links to Owens' biblical allusions of war bringing "Hell on earth", but Roberts takes a more comedic tone aligning w/ the play's genre + his sarcastic character
• "You missed quite a -----"


  show
• "You missed quite a show" significance?


  - Roberts' comparison of war to a 'show' is mocking war literature like 'Who's For The Game', highlighting that contemporaries believed that war was something to be observed for entertainment, even when it is incompatible with Roberts' lived experiences
• "You missed quite a show" link to Owen?


  Owen has a poem called "The Show"
• "We had ----- --- -----, but - well, --- ---- ----- ----- ---- -----"

  some bad times, we had some good times too
• "We had some bad times, but - well we had some good times too!" significance?


  Describing the horrors of war as "some bad times" downplays the impacts of his own trauma - Roberts says this line in the 1930s when men were still not entirely open about their war experiences so downplays the war's impacts
• "We had some bad times, but - well we had some good times too!" link to Owen?


  While Roberts does not articulate his war experience fully, Owen on the front-lines is removed from expectations of masculinity and criticizes the war and its traumas eloquently
• "Until ---- ----- ----- ----- ---- ---------- ------"


  friend Fritz kicked off the firework party
• "Until friend Fritz kicked off the firework party" significance?


  - The "firework party" links to Roberts' ongoing mockery of those who view the war trivially, as he presents it as a spectacle

  - "Friend Fritz" presents the enemy as non-threatening and human
• "Until friend Fritz kicked off the firework party" link to Owen?


  The humanisation of the enemy is explored in "Strange Meeting" also. In both texts, the enemy are those who sent Owen/Roberts to war - not the Germans
• "Deputy Editor ---- -- ---- -----....(------------) The Wipers Times?"


  looks a bit bored (disdainfully)
• "Deputy Editor looks a bit bored (disdainfully) The Wipers Times?" significance?

  - STAGE DIRECTION

  - The Editor's lack of respect for the Wipers Times highlights its fleeting legacy
• "Deputy Editor looks a bit bored (disdainfully) The Wipers Times?" link to Owen?

  Negative/dismissive portrayal of non-combatants, as well as linking to Owen's initial lack of legacy after his death
• Act 1 Scene 2?

  The men find the printing press and decide to start TWT
• Oh to be in --------! Now that ----- is here'


  Flanders, spring
• Oh to be in Flanders! Now that spring is here!' significance?

  - Introduces Pearson

  - Mockery of Robert Browning's Romantic poem "Home Thoughts From Abroad" where Pearson re-works Browning's sentimental references to natural beauty, and applies them to the dismal conditions of Flanders
• Oh to be in Flanders! Now that spring is here!' link to Owen?


  - Owen's poetry is often a satirisation of classic literature (eg. Exposure begins with an adapted line from "Ode to a Nightingale")

  - They cannot tell the seasons - links to the danger of nature explored in "Exposure"
• "Unless you're a red hat in HQ with a cushy job, and then --- ----- ---- --- --------- --------- ---- ---- ---------- -------- --- ----"


  the paper stops you getting anywhere near the shooting gallery at all
• "Unless you're a red hat in HQ with a cushy job, and then the paper stops you getting anywhere near the shooting gallery at all!" significance?


  Mocks how the administrative duties of non-combatants prevent them from fighting in the war
• "Unless you're a red hat in HQ with a cushy job, and then the paper stops you getting anywhere near the shooting gallery at all!" link to Owen?

  Disdain for non-combatants
• "I was thinking of something ------- ---- -------"


  rather more accurate
• "I was thinking of something rather more accurate" significance?

  Roberts wants his own newspaper to contain more truth than the Daily Mail
• "I was thinking of something rather more accurate" link to Owen?

  Like Roberts, Owen wishes to use his poetry to document the truth of war as well - "all poets must be truthful"
• Act 1 Scene 3?


  Roberts and Pearson invent the sketches for the 1st issue of TWT
• "Are you -------- ---- -------?"


  suffering from optimism?
• "Are you suffering from optimism?" significance?

  Compares the disseminated belief that the War would be over by Xmas to a sickness, needing to be cured.
• "Do you consider our leaders are ---------- ------- --- ------- ---- ----- -- -- --------- --------?"


  competent enough to conduct the war to a successful issue
• "Do you consider our leaders are competent enough to conduct the war to a successful issue?" significance AND link to Owen?


  Continues with the mockery of believing authority, when in fact, they are incompetent. The incompetency of authority is explored extensively in Owen's poetry
• "How can you accuse me of going too far - when -- --- -- -------- --- ----- ---------- ---- ----- --- -- ---- ---- --------?"

  the entire 24th division has gone precisely 10 yards in the last 6 months