How Female Characters In ‘The Accrington Pals’ Are Affected By The War

Discuss how female characters in The Accrington Pals are affected by the fight. Also comment on what sort of message Peter Whelan is reservation through these characters. You should discuss at least 2 characters in your essay. The Accrington Pals is a play that follows the lives of those effected by the state of war both and family unit and all overseas. The power that the women played at home has often been underplayed within World struggle Literature so the play gives an alternative view of the womens role.The female characters in the play are stuck in limbo not stark from war but at the same time not at one time involved. Looking at the effect on these characters can show the shock absorber that the War had on the country as a whole and gets across the message that the playwright, Peter Whelan, is hoping to portray. The war has affected women in many unlike ways and forces them to take on roles that otherwise would never have been do by women. Whelan makes it obvious that most of the women are not used to bread and butter a life without the men present.The majority of the conversations between Eva and Sarah are associated with the men. thithers a bit about the pals at camp. They are inefficient to have a conversation without the men being involved this exaggerates their dependency on them. Before the men went extraneous to war they were the main source of income and power in the womens lives With the men away at war they are lost and they seek authority from the next best social occasion May. May, the owner of the stall has taken charge in general.The other women way up to her and respect her, as they would a man. She has almost taken over the mens stance as the authoritative figure. Oh May I was just going to make the tea as soon as May enters the scene the other women, Eva and Sarah, stop frolicking and get back to doing something productive, which is just now what May expects them to do. Later, the women discuss the fact that Jack Pr oudlove dies his sensory hair. This massively shows what effect the war has had on those at home.Eva has now become more useful than her antique Proudlove and in an attempt to stay relevant he has resorted to dying his hair so the bosses wont notice. The men at home are starting to feel threatened by women as their arousal is a necessity on the home front the gender power structure is starting to break down. The female characters in The Accrington Pals make conscious efforts to trim down the actual war. Theres a bit about the Pals at camp There always is. Read me the funny poem.Sarah diverts the conversation she appears to regard to stay blind to the events of the actual war. This may be as a way to help her deal with the heartache she is look whilst her husband Arthur is away at war. They use the humour in the poem as a distraction. Whelan portrays the women as growing figures in The Accrington Pals it is obvious how they are affected by the war but they dont let it hinder th em. Whelan makes a point of the men at home, one example being Proudlove, feeling threatened by the womens growing place in society.