blood brothers (abridged) themes

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  • Created by: loupardoe
  • Created on: 23-10-16 11:50

the themes

  • money and social class
  • fate and superstition
  • childhood and growing up
  • friendship
  • identity
  • gender
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money and social class

  • russell's message is that social class can determine the course of someone's life
  • russell first shows class differences between Mrs Johnston and Mrs Lyons
  • Mrs Johnston is working class- she struggles to care for her children by herself and can only just manage to get by e.g. she can't afford to pay the milkman
  • Mrs Lyons can afford a cleaner, lives in a large hosue and has a husband who is a way on business. these things establish her as a wealthy, middle class woman
  • they are class stereotypes- instantly recognisable and puts the issue of class at the front of the audience's mind
  • when the twins meet, the differences in class and wealth between the two families are reinforced
  • edward has sweets to offer, which mickey finds amazing, since he's not used to people having extra to share around
  • the twin's lives are very different because they are brought up in different social classes
  • eddie has a good education and goes on to be the chairman of the housing committee
  • mickey has a limited education and can't find a job on his own
2 of 14

money and social class 2

  • all of the characters in the play believe that people from different classes behave differently
  • both mothers link a middle-class upbringing with politeness and good manners
  • as soon as they meet, the twins seem to fulfil these expectations- Mickey says he's '****** off' and teaches eddie the f word
  • by contrast, edward is polite and well-spoken
  • this expectation also leads to class prejudice
  • when the boys are caught by the policeman, he treats their parents very differently
  • he threatens and patronises Mrs Johnston
  • he has a drink with mrs lyons, and suggests that eddie shouldn't mix with them
  • this shows how the working class characters are stigmatised
3 of 14

money and social class 3

  • in blood brothers, having money means having the power to control others
  • mrs lyons has power over mrs johnston becuase she pays her wages
  • having money also means having thr power to control your own life
  • mrs lyons uses her wealth to persuade mrs johnston to give her a baby
  • mrs lyons can also use money to solve her problems (even if only temporarily)
  • she can afford to move her family to the countryside to get eddie away from the johnstons
  • twice she tries to bribe mrs johnston to stay out of eddie's life
  • the working class characters are forced into difficult decisions because of their lack of money
  • mrs johnston can't afford to keep both twins
  • money may give characters power, but it doesn't bring them happiness
  • both families' lives are ruined in the end
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fate and superstition

  • the play starts with a prologue where the audience are told Mickey and Eddie will be kept apart
  • throughout the play, the narrator repeats the line 'the devil's got your number' to remind the audience of the twins' destiny
  • through the use of the narrator and motifs, Russell makes sure that Mickey and Eddie's fate is constantly in the audience's mind
  • mickey and eddie keep meeting, despite both mothers' best efforts
  • mrs johnston stops mickey from playing near eddie's house
  • almost immediately afterwards, eddie finds mickey by the johnston's house
  • eddie explains that his mother doesn't let him play down here either
  • both mothers try and fail to keep the boys apart
  • mrs lyons moves her family out of the city to get away from the johnstons
  • they end up in the same place when the johnstons are rehoused
  • factors outside the womens' control keep uniting the twins
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fate and superstition 2

  • mrs lyons senses that eddie is drawn to the johnstons and will always be linked to them
  • she feels that something terrible will happen
  • this doesn't stop her from trying to prevent it
  • she tries to pay mrs johnston off to get her away from eddie
  • she forbids eddie from playing with mickey
  • mrs lyons knows that mrs johnston is superstitious- she uses this as a weapon to keep mrs johnston silent
  • she invents a superstition, telling mrs johnston that twins secretly parted will die if they find out they are related
  • superstitious belief starts to control mrs lyons as well
  • she is driven mad by her obsession with keeping the twins apart
  • this shows that superstitious belief can be very powerful
  • other characters also start to believe in superstition
  • mickey teaches eddie that one magpie means sorrow, so eddie gets upset when he sees one
  • this shows how quickly superstition can spread
  • the narrator mentions many other superstitions associated with bad luck
  • this all adds to a sense of building panic
6 of 14

fate and superstition 3

  • russell never blames any one character for mickey and eddie's deaths
  • instead he prompts the audience to decide for themselves, to get them to think about issues like social class and social responsibility
  • in the final scene the narrator asks if we should 'blame superstition for what came to pass'. the threat of superstition is there throughout the play, hinting at its part in the twins deaths
  • on the other hand, russell is not saying that superstitions are real- he shows that its people's belief in superstition that is powerful and potentially dangerous
  • fate can also be seen as the cuase of the twins' deaths- it seems inevitable that something will happen to the twins
  • there are many points at which this fate could have been changed if a character had acted slightly differently
  • the narrator also asks if 'what we, the english, have come to know as class' is responsible- mickey is disadvantaged by his social class, and has few opportunities in life. in this way, society is to blame for what happens
  • on the other hand, maybe individual characters could have taken more responsibility for helping others
7 of 14

childhood and growing up

  • childhood is mostly presented as a carefree part of life
  • russell uses recurring images of things like sharing sweets and getting up to mischief to create a sense of a never-ending gam
  • childhood games don't have consequences- mickey 'shoots' mrs johnston, but she doesn't die- the gun isnt real
  • sometimes innocence is a source of comedy- eddie swears at mrs lyons using a word he doesn't understand
  • childhood is not completely carefree- the johnston children are often hungry and eddie doesn't want to move away but has no choice
  • childhood problems are far less serious than adult problems
  • mickey becomes self conscious about his appearance as a teenager
  • both brothers find girls difficult- eddie recites a passage of advice to mickey, but seems unsure. they both lie about having a girlfriend
  • mickey is pursued by linda, but when he tries to tell her how he feels, 'the words just disappear'
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childhood and growing up 2

  • when they are children, linda is a friend to both boys, but as they grow up the twins are pushed apart by their feelings for her- it's finding out about linda and eddie's affair that tips mickey over the edge
  • the twins are also divided by their different lifestyles as young adults- mickey says he 'grew up' but eddie 'didn't need to'
  • this shows that growing up is about more than getting older- it is also about taking on adult responsibilites
  • mickey is forced to do this straight away, but uni extends eddie's youth, so he doesn't need to be an adult
  • this difference pushes them apart
9 of 14

friendship

  • mrs lyons doesn't allow eddie much freedom, but mickey gives him the childhood he's been missing out on
  • by calling edward 'eddie', mickey welcomes him into a youthful world for the first time
  • he also claims edward for himself by renaming him
  • mickey usually has to share everything with his many siblings, but his friendship with eddie gives him something of his own
  • he makes eddie swear to 'defend' and 'stand by him' which gives him a sense of security
  • mickey, eddie and linda form a close friendship that is very important to all of them
  • as boys, social class means little to mickey and edward
  • the twins admire the qualities in one another that make them different
  • as children, mickey has the power in the friendship- he has knowledge that eddie wants and behaves in a way that eddie admires
  • when eddie swears at mrs lyons, it is clear that he's already strongly influenced by what mickey says, even when he doesn't know what it means
  • as adults, eddie holds the influence in mickey's life- he gets mickey a house and a job. mickey resents this
  • this contributes to the final confrontation
10 of 14

identity

  • blood brothers raises questions about whether nurture or nature is more important in deciding what a person is like and the course their life follows
  • the twins are genetically identical, so differences between them must be down to their upbringing
  • mickey is quite wild- he jumps and runs around, 'firing' at mrs johnston and claiming he's 'wiped out three thousand indians'. his wildness could be because mrs johnston gives him a lot of freedom.
  • in contrast, eddie is well behaved. this could be because mrs lyons is a strict parent
  • eddie is generous, perhaps because he's always had everything he wants- he gives mickey sweets
  • conversely, mickey is protective of his possessions, because he's had to share everything
  • some characters have naturally different identities- mickey and sammy are raised in the same way, but are still very different
  • eddie starts to become more like mickey very quickly- this may suggest that this is his natural state. mrs lyons seems to pick up on this and feels that eddie is drawn to the johnstons
  • russels seems to suggest that nurture is more important, because the twins' adult lives are so determined by their social class
11 of 14

identity 2

  • several characters express a desire to be, or to be like, someone else
  • mickey has a monologue in which he repeats the line 'i wish i was our sammy'
  • he wants to be sammy's age and misbehave like him
12 of 14

gender

  • mr lyons is never on stage- he is away for 9 months when the play begins, and mrs lyons tells him 'for gods sake' to 'leave the office'. this suggests that he doesn't spend much time with the family
  • however, he still makes the major decisions for his family- he rules out adopting a child, even though mrs lyons wants to adopt. he dismisses his wife's concerns and asks if she should see a doctor
  • mrs johnston's husband has walked out on his family, leaving them in poverty. he is not named, and his children never mention im, suggesting he's completely vanished
  • he has a casual attitude towards having children, telling mrs johnston that they only have to 'shake hands' for her to get pregnant, but he takes no responsibility for his children
  • mrs lyons is desparate for a child- mrs lyons sees herself as a failure as a woman because she's childless
  • mrs johnston has to fulfil the traditionally male role of breadwinner, as well as being a homemaker- she feels she has failed to provide for her children financially. she sees herself as failing in the role of 'father'
13 of 14

gender 2

  • in many ways, linda turns into another mrs johnston, whose freedom has been taken away by family responsibilities
  • linda becomes a housewife- she has 'washed a million dishes and she's always making tea'
  • linda sorted out a house and an income for her and mickey- in this way, like mrs johnston, linda is both a homemaker and breadwinner
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