Objections to Sex and Violence was … something of a morality play without a moral. Its characters, that is to say, are all firmly representative of some class or attitude of mind, rather too much so for the good of the play, yet deployed with a short-term intelligence which makes them interesting moment-by-moment without leaving behind any clear impression of what Miss Churchill is saying, or indirectly expressing by their interplay. The scene is a rocky beach…. It is for some a place of escape, for others a familiar alternative to everyday life or a possible means to recapture lost happiness. (p. 44)

In the background of the play Arthur and Madge, a solid couple in lower-middle-class late-middle-age, brighten their dim routines by expressing disapproval of almost everything, she leading their chorus of disapproval, he echoing, and consoling himself with glum sexual fantasy which suddenly takes an active form when...