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The “Winslow Boy” of the play’s title, fourteen-year-old Ronnie is the first character on stage, visibly frightened of the repercussions of being expelled from Osborne Naval College. He is alleged to have stolen a postal order worth a small sum of money and is terrified of his father, Arthur’s, reaction (even as he is thought by his siblings to be the favorite child). Ronnie professes his innocence from start to finish, with both Arthur and barrister Sir Robert Morton believing he is telling the truth. Even though Ronnie is the play’s titular character, he doesn’t play a huge role—realizing he is not in trouble with his father, Ronnie quickly settles into a new school and loses interest in his own case. In many ways, he’s just a typical boy, interested in how tall he is growing and wanting to tell his father about the cool things he has seen. He still does what is required of him, but doesn’t share the same passion for victory as his father, his sister Catherine, and Sir Robert. In one scene, for example, he desperately tries to stay awake as Arthur reads about the case’s proceedings from the newspaper. Ultimately, Ronnie is found not guilty—though like the rest of the family he isn’t in court at the time of the announcement. The audience, though, never knows for sure.
Ronnie Winslow Quotes in The Winslow Boy
The The Winslow Boy quotes below are all either spoken by Ronnie Winslow or refer to Ronnie Winslow. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Act 1
Quotes
Ronnie’s the good little boy, I’m the bad little boy. You’ve just stuck a couple of labels on us that nothing on earth is ever going to change.
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DICKIE: Who’s going to break the news to him eventually? I mean, someone’ll have to.
CATHERINE: Don’t let’s worry about that now.
DICKIE: Well, you can count me out. In fact, I don’t want to be within a thousand miles of that explosion.
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ARTHUR: Why didn’t you come to me now? Why did you have to go and hide in the garden?
RONNIE: I don’t know, Father.
ARTHUR: Are you so frightened of me?
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Act 2
Quotes
My gosh, I could just about murder that little brother of mine. What’s he have to go about pinching postal orders for? And why the hell does he have to get himself nabbed doing it?
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Act 3
Quotes
ARTHUR: I know exactly what I’m doing, Grace. I’m going to publish my son’s innocence before the world, and for that end I am not prepared to weigh the cost.
GRACE: But the cost may be out of all proportion –
ARTHUR: It may be. That doesn’t concern me. I hate heroics, Grace. An injustice has been done. I am going to set it right, and there is no sacrifice in the world I am not prepared to make in order to do so.
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Act 4
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ARTHUR: It would appear, then, that we’ve won.
CATHERINE: Yes, Father, it would appear that we’ve won.
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Get the entire The Winslow Boy LitChart as a printable PDF.
Ronnie Winslow Quotes in The Winslow Boy
The The Winslow Boy quotes below are all either spoken by Ronnie Winslow or refer to Ronnie Winslow. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Act 1
Quotes
Ronnie’s the good little boy, I’m the bad little boy. You’ve just stuck a couple of labels on us that nothing on earth is ever going to change.
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DICKIE: Who’s going to break the news to him eventually? I mean, someone’ll have to.
CATHERINE: Don’t let’s worry about that now.
DICKIE: Well, you can count me out. In fact, I don’t want to be within a thousand miles of that explosion.
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ARTHUR: Why didn’t you come to me now? Why did you have to go and hide in the garden?
RONNIE: I don’t know, Father.
ARTHUR: Are you so frightened of me?
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Act 2
Quotes
My gosh, I could just about murder that little brother of mine. What’s he have to go about pinching postal orders for? And why the hell does he have to get himself nabbed doing it?
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Act 3
Quotes
ARTHUR: I know exactly what I’m doing, Grace. I’m going to publish my son’s innocence before the world, and for that end I am not prepared to weigh the cost.
GRACE: But the cost may be out of all proportion –
ARTHUR: It may be. That doesn’t concern me. I hate heroics, Grace. An injustice has been done. I am going to set it right, and there is no sacrifice in the world I am not prepared to make in order to do so.
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Act 4
Quotes
ARTHUR: It would appear, then, that we’ve won.
CATHERINE: Yes, Father, it would appear that we’ve won.
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