Benjamin Britten may be regarded as one of the twentieth century's most popular modern composers. Born in East Anglia on the eastern coast of England in 1913, Britten rapidly rose to prominence during the 1930's. Peter Grimes marked his second operatic endeavour, after the failure of his first, Paul Bunyan written in the United States in 1941. Britten's short stay in North America during the first half of the Second World War was neither a success or a failure. The sojourn provided him not only the opportunity to develop his compositional style away from the pressure of the English press and musical establishment, but also served as the spark for his lifelong companionship with the baritone Peter Pears. Britten, nevertheless, was under a great deal of financial pressure in the United States where his music was received poorly. He also missed his native England terribly and had a considerable amount of guilt about his abandonment during the siege of London. It was during this period, in Southern California that Pears and Britten first discovered the works of the english poet, George Crabbe. Britten was particularly attracted to the character Peter Grimes, a villainous, violent fisherman who through his efforts at financial and personal success loses three successive apprentices at sea. There has been considerable debate about Britten's attraction to the Grimes character, but in many ways they are opposites, for Britten's relationship with the male children he befriended can only be regarded as loving and caring, certainly never malicious. Nevertheless, Britten and Pear's early attempts at a synopsis for a libretto prepared exhibits more similarities between Britten and Grimes than in the original verse. They wrote:

Britten's psychological addition to an essentially evil character is what makes the play so interesting. In Crabbe's original, Grimes is not easily pitied, but in the Britten version, the character becomes almost heroic a victim of an extraordinary bad series of events. Britten, nevertheless does not erase some of the evil characteristics of the Grimes character. He beats his apprentices and at one of the darkest points of the opera, strikes his devoted friend and romantic interest, Ellen Orford, the only character who until the bitter end supports him. Britten's Peter Grimes may also represent his feeling of alienation with post-war Britain. The small fishing village is completely incapable of supporting Grimes and Britten's own sojourn during the war and his status as a consciences objector during