
Contents
10 Alan Bennett’s The Old Country (1977) and An Englishman Abroad (1983)
Get access-
Published:April 2021
Cite
Abstract
Theatre critic Michael Billington has spoken of Alan Bennett’s ‘peculiar radical nostalgia’ and described him as ‘a writer who believes in progress but who is irrevocably attached to his country’s cultural inheritance; and it’s specifically England, rather than Britain, that stirs his deepest sympathy’. This chapter analyses the radical nostalgia of two of Bennett’s dramatic characters, both traitors in exile: the Audenesque Hilary in The Old Country, who many people assumed was based on Kim Philby, and Guy Burgess in An Englishman Abroad. It probes the seeming paradox at the core of both plays, that these Soviet defectors continue imaginatively to inhabit, and long for, the country they betrayed. The chapter ends by quoting George Orwell’s essay The Lion and the Unicorn: Socialism and the English Genius, in which he explains the nagging resilience of Englishness—something that leaves an indelible mark on the traveller and the traitor alike, the way Ithaca left its mark on Odysseus.
Sign in
Personal account
- Sign in with email/username & password
- Get email alerts
- Save searches
- Purchase content
- Activate your purchase/trial code
- Add your ORCID iD
Purchase
Our books are available by subscription or purchase to libraries and institutions.
Purchasing informationMonth: | Total Views: |
---|---|
October 2022 | 1 |
October 2023 | 2 |
February 2024 | 4 |
May 2024 | 2 |
December 2024 | 1 |
Get help with access
Institutional access
Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:
IP based access
Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.
Sign in through your institution
Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution’s website and Oxford Academic.
If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution’s website, please contact your librarian or administrator.
Sign in with a library card
Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.
Society Members
Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:
Sign in through society site
Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see ‘Sign in through society site’ in the sign in pane within a journal:
If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.
Sign in using a personal account
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.
Personal account
A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.
Viewing your signed in accounts
Click the account icon in the top right to:
Signed in but can't access content
Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.
Institutional account management
For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.