Compare and contrast Blue Remembered Hills with Hope And Glory

                The second aspect I am going to compare is the society in which the characters of the two plays live. In Blue Remembered Hills, there are seven characters, all of whom are seven year old children. Each character has a distinct and steriotypical personality. For example, there is the bully, the abused victim, the tom boy and the effeminate girl. Each child comes from a poor background and is living on the poverty line, except for the girly girl Angela who is slightly better well off, which is shown by her owning a doll and pram. In Hope and Glory the majority of the characters are Billy’s family although there is a group of his friends which is a direct connection to Blue Remembered Hills. Billy’s family is of middle class and is considerably better off than any of the children in Blue Remembered Hills. In Hope and Glory there is a much broader variety of characters and there are also more characters including grown-ups such as parents, grand parents and teachers. In Hope and Glory there is also a stereotypical cross-section of children shown in the school, which Billy attends. In Hope and Glory there is also a Bullied child, a very confident and cocky character who is a bit of a bully and an effeminate girl.

                The third aspect I am studying is the culture and area in which the characters live. Blue Remembered Hills is set in the west- country and the majority of the action takes place in the Forest of Dean. It is a very rural and isolated area with very few job prospects. It is a very close-knit community where gossip is rife. The children have a lot of freedom, with beautiful surrounding countryside to play in including wide-open fields and the Forest of Dean. Hope and Glory is set in a much more urban society where children have far less freedom, however the children still have a reasonable amount of freedom in burnt houses. It is set in the suburbs of London with some but only little sense of community. However the children still have a reasonable amount of freedom in burnt houses. The war is portrayed around the family in everyday life through rationing, air raids and houses being bombed and the barrage balloon.

The fourth and final aspect I am going to show is the style of the two plays. Blue Remembered Hills is autobiographical play of Dennis Potter’s childhood as Hope and Glory is of John Boorman childhood. Blue Remembered Hills is mainly naturalistic except for the very important fact that it is supposed to be performed by adults imitating children. Hope and Glory’s style is also naturalistic but much more chronological and begins with a narrators voice.