Flashbacks are a key element to help us understand Shirley’s and Joe’s marriage and how it deteriorated into a routine lifeless marriage. Before we even are introduced to Shirley’s husband Joe we are told by Shirley that he is boring and moody. “He used to laugh” and “when he walked in one night with a smile on his face an’ we didn’t even recognise him.” This also implies he doesn’t like change or to surprise people a lot. This creates a negative impression of Joe and this impression is continued throughout the play. This again creates compassion for Shirley and builds up to her decision to change and break free.
The first flashback we see of Shirley and Joe is when they are newly married and they are painting the house. Willy Russell portrays Shirley and Joe as a happy couple who are very much in love with each other. They are joking about with each other and having fun. Willy Russell has chosen to show Shirley first as a bored middle aged housewife then show her past and how happy she was to make us feel more sympathetic towards Shirley and highlighting how much she has changed. When Shirley mentions “he used to love me because I was a nutcase now he thinks I am a nutcase.” This reveals to us what has become of Shirley’s marriage to Joe and what Joe’s attitude to Shirley is and how he treats her like a slave. Joe sees Shirley as a wife and a mother not as a person. He has set expectations of what Shirley should do. The scene when Shirley and Joe are at the table eating is shown after the flashback of them when they were just married. This shows how ignorant he is and us how Joe has changed. It also highlights the unbelievable inactivity in their relationship which eventually makes Shirley decision so much harder. When Joe chucks the plate of food towards Shirley, it displays his frustration and that he doesn’t understand his wife. Joe likes keeping a routine in his life and doesn’t like change. Joe tries to enforce this on everything which surrounds him. “I always have me tea at six o clock” empathises this point. Willy Russell has cleverly used this device and organised the screenplay to show how static their relationship is and how the slightest change assumes that it is important and triggers a huge fuss. This tells us that their relationship is unstable and could collapse at any moment.
Shirley as a young girl is a huge significance to show us the changes Shirley has gone through. The flashbacks are used and organised in a clever way to show how Shirley changes. Shirley as a young girl is placed after Shirley trying to figure out weather or not to go to Greece as it helps us to understand why she doesn’t have any confidence in herself. She doesn’t have the confidence to tell her husband that she is going to Greece. “Listen Jane how am I going to tell Joe that I’m off to Greece for a fortnight?” this portrays that she is worried about telling her husband that she’s going on holiday with a friend. This isn’t a very big matter but she is still worried about telling Joe. This scene also reveals to us that Joe is reliant on Shirley even though he doesn’t think that she is and again reinforces us that Joe doesn’t like change.
The flashbacks of Shirley as a young girl are to show how she became less confident and how people influenced this lack of confidence Shirley has. Shirley is represented as a bit of a rebel in her youth because of her smoking and her being a bully. Other people were always putting her down and because they lacked confidence in her and thought she was a failure I think gradually she believed this and that’s why her confidence in herself has deteriorated. The headmistress is one of those people who kept patronising her. For instance when the headmistress says to Shirley “oh Shirley, do put your hand down. You couldn’t possibly know the answer.” The headmistress doesn’t even give Shirley a chance to tell her answer and assumes that Shirley’s answer is wrong. Even though Shirley had the right answer to the question the headmistress thought someone else told her.
Marjorie Majors is the complete opposite of what Shirley was and is a reflection of what Shirley wanted to be like. When Shirley was young she was expected to be a failure and struggle in life. In some ways Shirley did come out to be a failure but she didn’t struggle. Although she didn’t become successful and have a great career. Marjorie was expected to become hugely successful and make something of her life. In someway she did make something of her life but not in the way in which we expected. We later discover that she is a ‘hooker.’ This comes as a big surprise and shows that expectations that people have don’t always come true. Shirley hated herself when she was young and this is why she turned into a rebel. The use of voiceovers helps us understand what she thought and gave us an understanding of her views of people and gave an insight into other characters. This all makes her decision to go to Greece assumes a much greater relevance then it is.
Shirley is weary about her decision to go to Greece. The people around her and their expectations of her bring on this weariness. Shirley’s daughter Millandra is a very good example. She walks in on Shirley and dumps herself on Shirley expecting Shirley to except it and be a mother. This makes Shirley think that she has responsibilities and that people depend on her to be there. She feels that if she leaves something terrible will happen. Millandra is a reflection of Joe in the way that they both think of Shirley as a wife and mother and that they both have set expectations of her. Joe seems to be an obstacle that is preventing Shirley from fulfilling her dreams and going to Greece. He has a routine and expects Shirley to follow that routine. Shirley’s decision was made when Joe chucked his plate of food at Shirley. This is when Shirley realised how badly she was being treated and that she had to do something to change it. She also realised that she needed to do something for herself.
Shirley’s friend Jane is a feminist and is the makes Shirley reflect on her life. Jane was the person who persuades Shirley to go to Greece. She also gave Shirley the confidence to stand up to Joe and she was the one who made Shirley more independent. Shirley thought going of to Greece was as a sin and thought she would be severely punished for going. “God look I know I’m bein’ cruel and I’ll have to pay when I get back.” Shirley knows that people will frown upon her going to Greece. People will think that she was going for the sex and men. Despite this Shirley still wants to go.
When Shirley tells Millandra that she is going to Greece Millandra starts to shout at Shirley and thinks it is disgusting for a woman of Shirley’s age going to Greece. Shirley’s humour and confidence was starts to come back at this point. We are shown this when she says to Millandra “sex for breakfast, sex for lunch, sex for dinner and sex for supper.” And also when she says, “haven’t you never heard of it? It’s called the F plan!” Shirley stands up to her and doesn’t care what she thinks. Gillian is the only person who didn’t make her feel as though she was doing the wrong thing. She gave Shirley more courage because she told Shirley that she admired her and gave her a confident boost. “I wish…I wish I’d had your bravery.” Gillian is an upper class character and always boasts about her luxurious lifestyle. For Shirley to be admired by someone like that made her feel better about herself. This links in with what people expected from her and shows how she broke free from people expectations of her.
Greece is the place where ‘Shirley Valentine’ is found. Willy Russell makes this obvious by presenting Shirley as being happier and looking more comfortable with herself. Shirley’s choice of clothes is more revealing and more elegant than her previous baggy jumpers and trousers. Shirley feels more comfortable in Greece and begins to learn the language. She feels as though she is ‘Shirley Valentine’ again and people take notice of her. Shirley’s affair with Costas shows her courage and confidence. It also shows her mischievousness. This affair was partly brought on by Jane. When Jane was on the plane she meets a man and goes of with him for a weekend and when she came back she was telling Shirley off for going on a boat trip with a man. She was being a hypocrite and Shirley frowns upon it. The affair also shows that she couldn’t be herself with Joe and she doesn’t care as much for Joe as she thought she did. The setting highlights these changes. Manchester was dull, grey and boring places whereas Greece is a happy, sunny and friendlier place. Shirley has changed from a bored middle-aged housewife to a happy and bright person who feels more comfortable with herself.
Kitchen sink drama is the term applied to plays, which portray working class or lower middle class life. Kitchen sink drama emphasises on domestic realism. Kitchen sink drama was applied in the late 1950’s to plays, which were written by Wesker. S. Delaney and J.Osbourne. “Shirley Valentine” is an example of kitchen sink drama. Shirley is a working class woman. She has ambitions, which haven’t been fulfilled, and has no meaning in life. She is also trapped in her marriage. “Shirley Valentine” does follow a lot of the traditions of kitchen sink drama but was adapted for a modern audience because in the plot Shirley finds fulfilment in her life at the end. “Look back in anger” was written by J.Osbourne and is an example of kitchen sink drama. This was one of the first dramas, which used kitchen sink drama technique. It was about a man named Jimmy and his wife Alison. It showed the domestic conflicts of a married couple. This is also shown in “Shirley Valentine” because of her marriage problems with Joe. “A taste of honey” is also another example of kitchen sink drama. It was similar to “Shirley Valentine” because they both dealt with social issues like prostitution.
The play concludes in an unusual way. We see that Shirley has really changed because she seems to have more control of her life and has more confidence. We see Shirley fulfilling her dreams and ambitions. In the final scene Shirley is sitting by the sea and Joe walks straight pass her and not recognising her. This shows how much she has changed because even her own husband doesn’t recognise her. Shirley relationship with Joe has also changed and this is evident in the last scene. We see that Shirley is the one in the driving seat and the one with more control. She is more assertive. “Hello. I used to be the mother. I used to be the wife. But now I’m Shirley Valentine again.” This show how assertive she is and how she feels as though she has found herself again. She tells Joe straight what she is and that she isn’t going to be pushed around anymore. At the beginning of the screenplay Shirley was a bored middle-aged housewife who was lonely and hated herself. Now she is a happy and more confident person who knows who she is.
This play shows the changes and contrasts of Shirley through different stages throughout her life. The play is organised cleverly by Willy Russell to make it evident that these changes are occurring. Also the se of cinematic devices help reinforce these changes and to develop the character. “Shirley Valentine” is a story of a person who goes through changes to find herself and to over come obstacles to do so. To find Shirley Valentine again.
