Journeys End act & scene summaries

Question 1

Act 1

Answer 1

• Hardy and Osborne discuss the trench handover and Stanhope’s drinking.
• Osborne defends Stanhope as a skilled commander despite his personal issues.
• Raleigh arrives and reveals he knows Stanhope and requested to be placed in his company and has a message for Stanhope from his sister, with whom he is romantically involved.
• Mason, the cook, worries about a mistake with the food, and Stanhope reacts coldly to Raleigh’s arrival, suspicious of how he ended up in the company.
• Stanhope confides in Osborne about his worries regarding Raleigh’s potential letters to his sister and plans to censor them.
• The scene ends with Stanhope drunk, and Osborne helping him to bed.

Question 2

Act 2 Scene 1

Answer 2

• Trotter comments on breakfast and Mason’s washing of the pots, while he and Osborne bond over their shared love of gardening.
• Osborne tells Raleigh about his past as a teacher and his brief rugby career for England.
• Osborne also shares a story about a German officer allowing a rescue, only for the soldiers to later destroy each other’s trenches.
• Raleigh asks Osborne how to send a letter home, and when he goes on duty, Stanhope insists on censoring his letter.
• Raleigh refuses to let Stanhope read his letter, but eventually hands it over after a brief confrontation.
• Stanhope can’t bring himself to read it, so Osborne does. The letter is full of praise for Stanhope, revealing Raleigh’s admiration for him.

Question 3

Act 2 Scene 2

Answer 3

• Stanhope orders his company to hold their position during the upcoming attack, even if the Germans break through.
• The colonel arrives and, despite Stanhope’s offer to go, decides to send Osborne and Raleigh on the raid instead.
• Stanhope confronts Hibbert, who wants to see the doctor to escape the front.
• Stanhope threatens him but later admits to Hibbert that he too feels the urge to escape.
• Raleigh and Osborne learn about the raid, and Raleigh excitedly describes it as “frightfully exciting,” reflecting his youthful enthusiasm and lack of experience.

Question 4

Act 3 Scene 1

Answer 4

• Stanhope questions the raid’s necessity, as the shelling only created one hole in the enemy line, alerting the Germans.
• Before the raid, Osborne gives Stanhope personal belongings in case he doesn’t return, and talks with Raleigh about life before the war.
• After the raid, the men return with a German prisoner, but Osborne is dead.
• Raleigh, shaken, accidentally sits on Osborne’s bed, which angers Stanhope.

Question 5

Act 3 Scene 2

Answer 5

• Stanhope and the officers are drinking and joking while Raleigh is absent, as Raleigh prefers being with the soldiers.
• Trotter brings up the raid, which makes Stanhope angrily shout at him. Stanhope tells Hibbert to go to bed, but Hibbert snaps back, angering Stanhope further.
• When Trotter goes on duty, Raleigh comes down and explains he ate with the soldiers.
• Stanhope is upset that Raleigh refuses to eat with the officers. Raleigh says he can’t eat because he’s distressed over Osborne’s death, which offends Stanhope.
• Stanhope reveals, in private, that he too misses Osborne deeply.

Question 6

Act 3 Scene 3

Answer 6

• The scene begins at 5:30 am, with Stanhope waking up.
• Trotter is singing, while Raleigh and Hibbert get dressed.
• Stanhope orders the sergeant major to give the soldiers rum in their tea.
• As shelling intensifies, Raleigh and Trotter go on duty, while Hibbert hesitates.
• Stanhope orders Hibbert to take Mason up.
• The fighting worsens, and Stanhope learns that Corporal Ross has been hit.
• Raleigh is fatally wounded, and Stanhope comforts him without revealing the seriousness of his injuries.
• A soldier delivers a message from Trotter asking Stanhope to come up top.
• Stanhope agrees, but just as he prepares to go, the trench is hit and collapses.