Blood Brothers: Main Themes

Alternative transcript:

is shown to be inevitable from the opening scene, making the superstition Mrs Lyons tells Mrs Johnstone about the twins come true. SUPERSTITION AND FATE However, while superstition and fate are very important themes in Blood Brothers, Russell questions whether they really exist or whether social class is more important in determining Mickey and Edward's futures. HARRY WEST WORTH © 2023 He'd have all his own toys and a garden to play in. These things are taken for granted by Mrs Lyons, but are out of the reach of the Johnstone family. This emphasises the differences between them. This shows the difference in social class and inequality. I could have been him! Russell draws the audience's attention to how Mickey and Edward's lives have been affected by the opportunities they have had SOCIAL CLASS & INEQUALITY (as a result of their social class) rather than their personalities. If Mickey had access to the same education and contacts that Edward had, would the tragic ending have been avoided? The dictionary. Don't you know what a dictionary is? (E) Course I do... It's a, it's a thingy, innit? (M) The way that the boys speak is very different, which reflects their backgrounds. Russell indicates to the audience that social class can have a significant impact on the levels of education of children, giving them different starting points in life. Mickey waves at Edward with his gun hand. The gun explodes and blows Edward apart. Mickey taking the gun and going to find Edward reflects how he has resorted to violence to fight his own lack of control, like Mrs Lyons. However, Mickey shooting Edward is accidental. This demonstrates how violence can take over the characters' lives. The repetition of the word explodes reflects the devastating impact that violence has on the play and characters. BB: THEME QUOTES But you know that if you cross your fingers / And if you count from one to ten/ You can get up off the ground again / It doesn't matter / The whole thing's just a game. Y' know the devil's got your number / Y'know he's gonna find y' This song is repeated at several points, so the narrator continually reminds the audience that Mickey and Edward cannot escape their fate. At this point, the violence is only pretend and after being 'killed', the children can join the game again. However, the games foreshadow the later violence at the end of the play, and remind the audience of how present this is in the characters' lives. VIOLENCE CREATED BY HARRY You never put new shoes on the table. Superstition is immediately linked to the working class, because Mrs Johnstone is superstitious whereas Mrs Lyons isn't. This gives Mrs Lyons power over her employee when she wants to make sure that Mrs Johnstone doesn't tell anyone about the twins being split up. SUPERSTITION AND FATE They... they say that if either twin learns that he once was a pair, they shall both immediately die. This becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The audience is already aware that the twins will die because of the opening of the play, so everything that happens is linked to this. Although Mrs Lyons has invented the superstition, her behaviour actually leads to the tragedy of Mickey's death because she is the one to point out to him that Edward and Linda have betrayed him. Look at y', Mickey. What have y' got? Nothin', like me mam. Sammy is able to persuade Mickey to get involved with this violent act because he has such little power over his life after losing his job. is this event which leads to him going to prison and becoming depressed and then growing apart from Linda, which causes her to find comfort with Edward. Sammy involving Mickey in his plan is the catalyst for the tragic ending. WEST WORTH Ⓒ 2023 There was very high unemployment during this time, particularly in industrial working-class areas in northern England, such as Liverpool - where Russell is from and where the play is set. SOCIAL CLASS & INEQUALITY Mickey and his family represent the working classes, who were badly affected by the economic downturn, whereas Edward and the Lyons family embody the middle classes, who thrived in the 1980s. Violence has a presence in the working class characters' lives from a young age. When we first meet Mickey as a seven year old, he has a toy gun and he plays games involving imaginary guns with his friends and neighbours. Russell explores social class through: CREATED BY Mrs Lyons' manipulation of Mrs Johnstone. The differences between the twins' childhoods. Mickey's difficult adult life in contrast to Edward's privileged existence. BB: CHARACTERS The violence escalates as the play progresses, culminating in the tragic death of Mickey and Edward. VIOLENCE Sammy, Mickey's older brother, is a key character linked to this theme and he is connected in some way to most of the violent acts in the play. The narrator is a key character for this theme, as he reminds the audience of the twins' fate at several different points of the play. Violence reflects a lack of control; when characters start to lose power in some way, they become more violent. Mrs Johnstone's superstition is revealed early on in Blood Brothers and is one of the things that gives Mrs Lyons power over her. This is linked to fate and destiny, because Mickey and Edward's death is shown to be inevitable from the opening scene, making the superstition Mrs Lyons tells Mrs Johnstone about the twins come true. SUPERSTITION AND FATE However, while superstition and fate are very important themes in Blood Brothers, Russell questions whether they really exist or whether social class is more important in determining Mickey and Edward's futures. HARRY WEST WORTH © 2023 He'd have all his own toys and a garden to play in. These things are taken for granted by Mrs Lyons, but are out of the reach of the Johnstone family. This emphasises the differences between them. This shows the difference in social class and inequality. I could have been him! Russell draws the audience's attention to how Mickey and Edward's lives have been affected by the opportunities they have had SOCIAL CLASS & INEQUALITY (as a result of their social class) rather than their personalities. If Mickey had access to the same education and contacts that Edward had, would the tragic ending have been avoided? The dictionary. Don't you know what a dictionary is? (E) Course I do... It's a, it's a thingy, innit? (M) The way that the boys speak is very different, which reflects their backgrounds. Russell indicates to the audience that social class can have a significant impact on the levels of education of children, giving them different starting points in life. Mickey waves at Edward with his gun hand. The gun explodes and blows Edward apart. Mickey taking the gun and going to find Edward reflects how he has resorted to violence to fight his own lack of control, like Mrs Lyons. However, Mickey shooting Edward is accidental. This demonstrates how violence can take over the characters' lives. The repetition of the word explodes reflects the devastating impact that violence has on the play and characters. BB: CHARACTER QUOTES Y' know the devil's got your number / Y' know he's gonna find y' This song is repeated at several points, so the narrator continually reminds the audience that Mickey and Edward cannot escape their fate. But you know that if you cross your fingers / And if you count from one to ten/ You can get up off the ground again / It doesn't matter / The whole thing's just a game. At this point, the violence is only pretend and after being 'killed', the children can join the game again. However, the games foreshadow the later violence at the end of the play, and remind the audience of how present this is in the characters' lives. VIOLENCE CREATED BY HARRY You never put new shoes on the table. Superstition is immediately linked to the working class, because Mrs Johnstone is superstitious whereas Mrs Lyons isn't. This gives Mrs Lyons power over her employee when she wants to make sure that Mrs Johnstone doesn't tell anyone about the twins being split up. SUPERSTITION AND FATE They... they say that if either twin learns that he once was a pair, they shall both immediately die. This becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. The audience is already aware that the twins will die because of the opening of the play, so everything that happens is linked to this. Although Mrs Lyons has invented the superstition, her behaviour actually leads to the tragedy of Mickey's death because she is the one to point out to him that Edward and Linda have betrayed him. Look at y', Mickey. What have y' got? Nothin', like me mam. Sammy is able to persuade Mickey to get involved with this violent act because he has such little power over his life after losing his job. is this event which leads to him going to prison and becoming depressed and then growing apart from Linda, which causes her to find comfort with Edward. Sammy involving Mickey in his plan is the catalyst for the tragic ending. WEST WORTH Ⓒ 2023