Paper 1 - BLOOD BROTHERS Flashcards
What time period is Blood Brothers set in?
And where?
1960s to 1980s
Liverpool and Skelmersdale
Blood Brothers - What are key quotes for social class and money?
“Never learn… nothing’s yours, on easy terms”
“No one gets off without the price bein’ paid”
“Sign of the times”
“Look at y’, Mickey. What have y’ got? Nothin’, like me mam” - Sammy
Blood Brothers - What are key quotes for nature vs nurture?
“Story of the Johnstone twins… as two new pins”
“I don’t want you mixing with boys like that… you are not like them” - Mrs Lyons
“Can’t you see how he’s drawn to them?” - Mrs Johnstone
“I could have been him!” - Mickey
“A little bit like that guy”
Blood Brothers - What are key quotes for superstition and fate?
“You never put new shoes on the table” - Mrs Johnstone
“Both immediately die” - Mrs Lyons
“Devil’s got your number” - Narrator
“Bogeyman”
Blood Brothers - What are key quotes for coming of age?
“A little but like that guy”
“The lambs in spring” (Mickey and Eddie are innocent lambs about to be slaughtered - foreshadowing)
“While no one was looking I grew up” (working class grow up too quick)
Blood Brothers - What are key quotes for violence?
“Cross your fingers”
“I wish I were our Sammy”
Sammy “(produces a knife)”
What is the significance of the narrator in Blood brothers?
He is the conscience of the characters personified (always on stage = permanence of fate)
Foreshadows (creates tension)
Supernatural entity - like a God / Devil
Plays minor characters, changing between classes (irony) - milkman, doctor, bus conductor
What does the cyclical structure of blood brothers suggest?
• opens and closes with the death of the twins
• This structure may indicate the tragedy could happen
again
• It may suggest that society is doomed to repeat the same mistakes
This structure suggests the inevitability of the tragedy
• The play ends without resolution, suggesting the repetitive nature of the themes
