 Earlier criticism was characterised by a negative response, often dismissing the novel on grounds of amateurishness of execution in both its style and use of thematic tools such as its use of Freudian psychoanalysis.The more recent critics have focused on the complexity of the novel, its expressing multiple themes, including feminist issues, the role of women in patriarchal society, war and trauma, and masculinity and war.In 1928 it was adapted by the writer John Van Druten into a play of the same title which ran for 46 performances at the Playhouse Theatre in London's West End.