Blood Brothers Flashcards
Name some motifs in Blood Brothers.
- Marilyn Monroe, famous person known for her perfection but in reality killed herself.
- Guns - toy and real
- Idea of Games
- Dancing
What is the start of the play called and why is it done this way?
A prologue, tells audience what will happen - that the twins are dead.
What is the role of the narrator?
- Comments on the action
- Tells the story and involves the audience
- Links play together
- Warns of danger
- Points out themes
Explain the theme of Superstition in the play.
Mrs Johnstone is very superstitious, but at the start Mrs Lyons isn’t. She plays with Mrs J’s superstition to get and keep one of her babies (she makes up an oath, and says if they find out they are brothers they die) which she first believes all to be false. However further on Mrs Lyons starts to believe these superstitions which is confirmed by the narrator as singing the devils number chorus to show she thinks about it. The superstition comes true as shown at the start and the end of the play.
Explain the theme of Fate in the play.
Mrs Lyons tells Mrs J that if her sons meet they die, and because of the prologue the audience understands no matter what happens this will be their fate.
Explain the theme of Class divide in the play.
Both twins are extremely different class wise, as Mickey is a scruffy, naughty working class kid and Eddie is a much more posh, grammar school kid. These differences are emphasised through how the scenes of twins are next to each other contrasting. Despite their class differences they both still have the same fate.
How is sympathy for Mrs Johnstone different throughout the play?
- At the start she is said to have “a stone in the place of her heart”
- Husband walks out on her, Mrs Lyons pushes her to give baby.
- She does it “for the best”
What does Russell show about the two twins to the audience?
Two identical twins can be so different in what they achieve because of the chances different classes have to develop.
Give two quotes for superstition in the play.
“if either twins learn that he was once a pair, they will both immediately die” created by and haunts Mrs Lyons.
“You know the devils got your number”
Give two quotes for class in the play.
“How come you got everything an I’ve got nothing”
“you never put new shoes on the table”
