'Journeys End ' by R.C. Sherriff reflects the futility and brutality of war through the realism, which in turn reflects the horrific nature of the war. The play, set 10 years after the war, depicts the lead up to the Battle of the St Quentin. This differs from 'Blackadder Goes Forth ' by Ben Elton and Richard Curtis, which instead uses satire to emphasis the analogy of 'Lions led by donkeys '. This further highlights the bad political decisions made during the war and links to the opposing leadership skills portrayed by both Stanhope and Blackadder. The drama was written in the 1980 's, however was made in the form of a television sitcom which makes the use of satire more effective as it is used to entertain the reader, whilst ridiculing the war. Stanhope is a more serious leader who cares about the wellbeing of his men, whereas Blackadder is more preoccupied by finding ways to escape the war and in doing so is abusive to his men. The sacrifices Stanhope makes for his men result in the breakdowns that occur, but this reveals his caring nature. In order to determine which piece of drama is more effective, this refers to the leadership skills, coping mechanisms and how they interact with the other men.
The progression of characterization is apparent in both plays. Due to the confined timescale of 4 days in Journey’s End, the changes in character is quite apparent to the audience. This is mainly shown through the dutifulness of Stanhope in Act 1, where we discover that he