Experience – John Osborne reflects on this when Jimmy asks Helena if she has watched somebody dying. Jimmy proves he had that experience when his father was dying when he was just ten years old.
He expresses how he stayed hour upon hour with him in the room. He claims he learned to be angry at a very tender age. He relates how he went to visit his friend’s mother who was seriously sick and watched her passing on.
Jimmy believes he is the most experienced of the three. He accuses his wife that she doesn’t have any experience in life that will wake her to learn her lessons. That’s where he says she could have a child and could die.
Class – Class plays a significant role in this play as England of the period is divided along the classes in the society. Jimmy and his friend, Cliff belong to the lower class of workers, and Alison and Helena are from the upper class.
They all have the opportunity to be educated but not of the same standard. Osborne uses Jimmy in the play to illustrate how the people of the lower class feel about those of the upper class.
That is why Jimmy always condemns Alison and her family, despising them for their attempt to stop him from marrying Alison.
He refers to Alison as “Lady Pusillanimous,” (a coward). He also refers to Helena, Alison’s friend as “Lady Bracknell,” just to slander her because of her class.
Anger – Jimmy Porter is the angry man in the play. He is angry because the society he belongs to denies him opportunities and the people in charge do not care for others.
He vexes his anger on those close to him because they don’t have strong feelings toward the society as he feels.
Alienation – The people of the lower class of that era were alienated. Jimmy represents the people of the lower class in the play. The university he attends is not of the same standard as that of the upper class.
He also feels alienated by his wife because of her passive nature. He vexes his anger on her to stop her from “sitting on the fence,” for her to have a vital life. That is why he refers to her as “Lady Pusillanimous” because he sees her as too cowardly to commit to anything.
The people around him do not have the same zeal of hatred he has against the upper class, he is like a lone ranger among them that is alienated hence, he is angry.
Identity Crisis – Jimmy cannot find his place in the society as he doesn’t seem to fit in anywhere. He is a university graduate but operates a sweet stall. Colonel Redfem in his comments about Jimmy sees it as an odd occupation for an educated young man.
Jimmy also believes that the road to true identity is rough; to earn one’s identity, one must suffer. That is what he prophesies for Alison to gear her up and she does suffer the loss of her child and then comes back to Jimmy.
Colonel Redfern also is not relevant to the current society he is. The England he left as a young army officer no longer exists.
That is why Jimmy calls him “just one of those sturdy old plants left over from the Edwardian Wilderness that can’t understand why the sun isn’t shining anymore.” Jimmy says this to condemn the man and the Colonel also agrees.