How does Sherriff make the relationship between Stanhope and Raleigh such a memorable feature of the play? Support your ideas with details from the play.

Mark scheme

Marking points from the official mark scheme (May/June 2011). The mark or mark type is shown in brackets.

1. Candidates should discuss how Sherriff makes the relationship between Stanhope and Raleigh a memorable feature of the play, using details from across the text.
2. Focus on Raleigh’s hero-worship of Stanhope from school days, and Stanhope’s desperate desire to preserve that image.
3. Stanhope’s fear that Raleigh will write home about his drinking, leading to the censorship of letters.
4. The tension and conflict between them due to Stanhope’s perceived decline and Raleigh’s innocence.
5. The shift in Stanhope’s protective feelings towards Raleigh, culminating in his grief at Raleigh’s death.
6. The portrayal of innocence confronting the brutal realities of war, embodied in Raleigh.
7. The tragic loss of friendship and potential that the war destroys.