This question is based on John Osborne's Look Back in Anger. Jimmy's feeling about Alison's upper-class status is that of

Analyze the question The question asks about Jimmy Porter's attitude toward Alison's upper-class background in John Osborne's Look Back in Anger (1956).

Explain the concept Jimmy is a working-class, university-educated man who is bitter about the class system. He runs a sweet-stall and feels excluded from privilege. Alison comes from a upper-middle-class family, and her father, Colonel Redfern, served in the Indian Army. Her mother and brother Nigel are also part of the establishment.

Step-by-step solution

1. Jimmy's attitude to Alison's family: He constantly attacks them. He calls her mother a "bad-tempered Mrs. Tanner type" and describes her as an "old bitch". He mocks Nigel as "the straight-backed, chinless wonder" who is typical of the establishment.
2. His treatment of Alison: He taunts her over her "Sloane" manners, her calm and composed nature, and her lack of passion. He wants to shake her out of her comfortable "ladylike" detachment.
3. Underlying cause: His anger comes from the class divide. He feels the upper class is complacent and indifferent and does not feel real pain or enthusiasm. His married life is partly a form of revenge on that class.
4. Eliminate the options: • A. Indifference: wrong. Jimmy is intensely emotional and reacts strongly. • B. Adoration: wrong. He does not worship her status; he attacks it. • D. Admiration: wrong. He despises the establishment's values. • C. Resentment: correct. He is bitter and angry about class privilege.

Answer: C. resentment

Tip: For Jimmy Porter, think "angry young man". Whenever a question asks about his attitude to class, the establishment, or Alison's family, expect words like resentment, bitterness, hostility, contempt, not positive feelings.