“All right Mrs Kay we'll trust them to act responsibly”
Russell does this because he wants the audience to think that Briggs is changing, becoming more of a friendly teacher that trusts the kids.
In the next scene at the zoo café Mr Briggs is more relaxed, he has forgotten about the children whereas at first he was always checking up on them. Briggs begins to sound genuinely interested in helping and teaching the kids.
“Perhaps when we’re back at school we could arrange something;
Maybe I could come along and give them a small talk with some of the
Slides I’ve got”
Here Russell wants the audience to like Briggs, because he is portrayed as thoughtful and he wants to help the kids out and get involved in their education. Russell wants us to think he is changing as previously he underestimated their abilities and stereotyped them.
“To tell you the truth I didn’t think the kids who came to you would be
too interested in animals”
Russell skilfully uses juxtaposition switching between the scenes when Mrs Kay and Mr b (happily in the café) and the kids causing chaos in the zoo. This is also dramatic irony, as the audience knows more than the characters. When Briggs finds out he is disappointed and knows he can’t trust them again.
“Don’t expect any more trust from me”
He is used to them always letting him down so he takes it personally.
“This is the way you repay me?”
Russell makes us feel empathy for Briggs because he trusted them and gave them a chance but they have just betrayed him. However Russell also wants us to feel empathy for the children. If Briggs had understood their difficult circumstances from the start and treated them with a little respect then they wouldn’t of let him down. Whereas Mrs Kay defends and respects the children and this is reciprocated.
In the next scene at Conway castle Briggs starts to get very agitated about the kids behaviour.
“It’s a shambles, the whole ill organised affair. Look at what they did
At the zoo. Just look at them here”
He goes to talk to Mrs Kay about the situation and dismisses carol using a stern tone.
“Anywhere girl just move”
Here Briggs is rude, he doesn’t use manners and he uses the word girl, which suggests he doesn’t like building personal relationships with the students. However it’s not just with the students he is like this with. He is very professional with the teachers also.
“Briggs turns and looks at Mrs Kay. She looks at him and smiles warmly.
He tries to respond but doesn’t quite make it.”
Here Russell wants us to think that Briggs doesn’t really want to build a personal relationship with Mrs Kay and the other teachers. He likes to keep his work and private life separate. This is reflected in the final scene when the Mrs Kay and the others are going for a drink and he declines the offer.
“No…I’d better not. Thanks anyway. I’ve, um, lots of marking to do at
Home. Thanks all the same though.”
Briggs is constantly concerned about the reputation of the school.
“God knows what the castle authorities think.”
Russell wants the audience to dislike Briggs because he wants them to think that he’s always worried about stepping out of line and keeping his reputation. Briggs gets annoyed when the children are running around at the castle because he feels he has to keep them below his level. If he fails to achieve this then they will have the same or potentially more power than him and so he has less authority. Briggs just wants to be acknowledged for what he does.
Briggs starts to accuse Mrs Kay.
“You are on their side aren’t you?”
Briggs just sees it as a battle between the teachers and students. Russell uses this battle concept to make us feel empathy for the children. They are inferior to the teachers and have no support at home. Whereas Briggs is superior to them and has to win this battle in order to maintain his authority. On the other hand Mrs Kay is on the children’s side.
“Absolutely Briggs absolutely”
She has become close to them like a ‘mother hen’. She knows there is no point educating them anyway because they won’t let anyone educate them. She wants them to feel valuable for a change, not just ‘factory fodder’, as she knows they are destined for.
Here Russell wants the audience to dislike Briggs because the contrast of him to Mrs Kay shows us what he’s really like: selfish, uncaring, and patronising.
Mr Briggs is very professional with his job maybe too professional. He thinks Mrs Kay doesn’t have the right image as a teacher and that her attitude is too casual.
“Well that’s a fine attitude isn’t it? That’s a fine attitude for a member of
The teaching profession to have.”
Russell portrays Briggs like this to convey to the audience how he doesn’t understand the children. He is idealistic and wants to give them a proper education but there is no point. His obsession with education makes him believe that all the children should be force fed with facts and expand their mind. He is determined that they are going to learn and develop as a result of the excursion. Whereas Mrs. Kay is much more concerned with the children enjoying themselves and having fun. She is Mr Briggs’ opposite and helps to highlight his character. She says to him,
“There's no point pretending that a day out to Wales is going to be of
Some great education benefit.”
Mr Briggs thinks Kay is too soft with the children, but she knows them better than he does. She does tell them off but not like Mr Briggs does because she knows that being strict isn’t going to help.
“Mr Briggs you listen and perhaps you’ll stop fooling yourself.”
Mrs Kay works with the progress class and knows realistically what they can achieve and what they have on offer. She knows they wont do well at school so she thinks they might as well have fun and make the most of it.
Here Russell makes the audience dislike Briggs because he is a threat to the children and doesn’t give them freedom. However Russell skilfully makes us feel empathy for him as well. Genuinely Mr Briggs is concerned for the pupils but he doesn't want anybody to know this and doesn't show it in fear of losing respect from both the pupils and the Headmaster. Really he just wants to educate them but he doesn’t understand them and their situations. This makes us empathise with the children because like Mrs Kay we begin to be realistic and know that they aren’t going to get an education and that they will have ‘limited opportunities’ for most of their life.
Later in the play at the beach Carol goes missing. The teachers go searching for her and Briggs finds her stood on a cliff top. Russell includes this scene to convey to the audience how extreme the children’s situations are. He wants us to empathise with them and understand their difficult circumstances.
Russell starts the scene with Briggs’s stern tone. He is not angry but not particularly sympathetic.
“Carol chandler” “just come here”
Briggs addresses her formally and uses this tone. Russell does this to convey Briggs’s confident, military attitude. Maybe Briggs feels he has to address the kids in this way in order to gain power and become superior to them.
“Turning she dismisses him”
Russell uses this because it is usually Briggs dismissing the students not vice versa. He wants the audience to think that Briggs is starting to feel less powerful when Carol does this and ‘ignores his presence’.
Briggs’s attitude begins to change and he is shocked and taken aback when Carol refuses to listen. He is not used to students disobeying him and being treated how they are.
“Pardon”
Mr Briggs gets frustrated with carols attitude because she is starting to become more superior to him.
“I’ve had just about enough today just about enough”
Briggs is angry he is trying to get his point across and his authority back before Carol gets full power over him.
Here Russell wants to convey to the audience the lack of understanding Briggs holds for the kids. He doesn’t yet realise how serious Carol is.
“Try an’ get me an’ I’ll jump over”
Briggs starts to panic here. He ‘stops, astounded’. He’s too scared to move unsure of whether she will jump or not.
Briggs starts to worry about the situation he has on his hands. He has to stop and consider his actions very carefully. In order to succeed in the circumstances he will have to change his approach, which will truly put his skills as a teacher to the test.
“Just what are you trying to do to me?”
Russell uses this to convey Briggs’s selfish attitude. He makes the audience dislike Briggs because despite the fact carol is going to jump off a cliff he is still caring about himself and his reputation if she does jump.
Carol says how she wants to stay in Wales ‘where its nice’. Russell makes us feel empathy for Carol because he conveys to us just how rough and unstable their area is. Like Mrs Kay said
“We bring them to a crumbling pile of bricks and they think they’re in
The fields of heaven”.
Carol has enjoyed the day out. She has experienced a new environment, which is respected and learnt there is more to life but she will never get it. She knows there is nothing to look forward to back at home.
Briggs starts to get worried and tries to understand Carol. He questions her
“What would you do? Where would you live”?
However Carol is realistic and knows what Briggs is like, she knows he doesn’t care. She knows the only reason for stopping her is because he will ‘get into trouble when he gets back to school’.
“You hate me,” Carol says.
Russell uses Carol’s realistic attitude to make us feel empathy for her and the other children. They know themselves what they are like and how people treat them but they cant and don’t do anything about it because they are so used to it.
Briggs is in denial though
“Don’t be ridiculous”.
“I’ve seen you goin’ home in your car, passin’ us on the street. And the
way y’ look at us. You hate all the kids.”
Briggs’s eyes are opened by Carol expressing her opinions. He realises the kids see him differently to the way he sees himself. He may teach the examination classes, but he is not necessarily the best teacher. The problem is he thinks he is always right. Therefore he has to keep the children below his level to maintain his power.
This is like the bear Briggs says it is kept in a pit because it is a threat and dangerous. Russell uses this to reflect Briggs’s attitude towards the children. Like the bear he sees them as a threat. If they ‘broke free’ from their limited lifestyles, Briggs would loose authority and they would be equal to or potentially better than him. Russell skilfully uses the bear as a metaphor for the kids. (It represents their situation). Russell uses this to get a message across relating to society and how the middle class deliberately keep the working classes down.
Briggs listens to Carol and he starts to see her as a sensitive individual.
“Look…Carol”
He starts to speak to her personally and calls her by her first name. Here Russell wants the audience to start to take a liking to Briggs. The start of a personal relationship with the students is conveyed.
Briggs is idealistic and says to Carol
“What’s to stop you working hard at school from now on, getting a good
job and then moving out of here when you’re old enough?”
However carol is realistic and knows that’s never going to happen.
“Don’t be friggin stupid”.
Briggs is shocked because he’s not used to students swearing at him.
Here Russell makes us feel empathy for Carol because she knows there is nothing to look forward to. Climbing the cliff gets her some attention. She has a low self-esteem and Briggs has to listen to her. Carol threatens to jump because it is a cry for help. She wants to know if anyone will notice and show they care. She has had only a small part up until this point, reflecting how she and others like her feel ignored by society and how people like Briggs drive past her on the way home.
Russell ‘uses’ Carol to get a message across that children like her ‘from the d stream’; pieces of ‘factory fodder’ are so often ignored by society. They are expected to be interested in the ‘real qualities of life’ and follow the course that their life was already set upon. Russell intends to highlight the problems of the 1970 - 80’s when there was little alternative to academic education and unemployment was particularly high leading to depression and a loss of self-worth.
From a young age children like Carol were brought up to think that education wasn’t important. This is reflected in another book Willie Russell wrote called ‘educating Rita’, which shows other examples of him writing about the sort of background Carol came from. It shows from that book that being interested in school is ‘not allowed’. And that your family and friends around you would think you were ‘mental’. This idea puts pressure on children like carol. Rita could be carol in later life trying to ‘break free’.
Later in the play, when they are leaving the beach. Russell wants the audience to think that Briggs has changed, as it is his idea to go to the fair.
“Anyway, you can’t come all the way to the seaside and not pay a visit to
the fair”.
Briggs says this because its something that Mrs Kay would usually say. Russell wants us to think he’s becoming more relaxed like her.
Briggs’s attitude changes in the spirit of it all.
“Play your cards right, I might take even you’ for a ride on the waltzer”
At the fair Briggs has fun with the kids.
“Briggs is snapped eating candy floss, then again on the highest point of
the big wheel with mock fear on his face”.
Russell uses this because he wants the audience to think that Briggs is changing. Usually he would be too concerned about his reputation as a teacher to go to the fair.
Russell then wants the audience to think that Briggs is starting to build personal relationships with the students.
“And Carol next to him her eyes closed in happy terror”
Briggs now sees carol as a sensitive individual and the start of a ‘mother hen’ relationship is conveyed.
“Then he is photographed…. with a cowboy hat on handing a goldfish in
a plastic bag to carol”
Here Russell makes the audience start to like Briggs, because his generous side is conveyed. Briggs has won the fish, but he’s giving it to carol. After the events at the zoo he knows she wanted a pet. He’s now realised she can look after things, and so he is giving her some responsibility, whereas before he never did.
In the next scene back on the coach Briggs is still having fun. Russell uses his clothes to reflect his changed personality.
“Briggs is also on the back seat-cowboy hat on, tie pulled down and
Singing with them.”
Tie pulled down conveys his relaxed attitude. He is no longer worried about maintaining his reputation or at the fact he has stepped out of line. He isn’t concerned anymore about setting a good example for the school.
When the coach approaches ‘familiar surroundings’ Briggs realises that the fun has got to end. He is back to reality. The clothes change.
“He sits up, puts his tie back to normal, goes to straighten his hair and
feels the cowboy hat. He takes it off and puts it on Andrews. He then
takes out a comb and combs his hair, puts on his jacket and walks
down the isle to Mrs Kay”.
This conveys he is reverting back. He is stepping back into line as if stepping back into character- strict Mr Briggs.
When Briggs sees the film he starts to worry. Mrs Kay tells him:
“I’ve got some gems of you here”
He starts to realise what he has done. He has risked his reputation.
“We’ll have one of these up in the staff room when they’re developed”
He starts to worry. He can’t let other teachers know he has stepped out of line or he will loose his reputation.
Briggs ‘tricks’ Mrs Kay into giving him the film.
“Why don’t you give it me to develop…I could do it in the lab”
Here Russell makes the audience suspect something about Briggs, as we are unsure of what he’s going to do with the film. Maybe briggs character is too set in his ways to change.
When Russell gets of the coach he automatically steps back into character and becomes his strict usual self.
“Linda, don’t let me catch you dressing like that in the future though.”
Russell wants the audience to realise that Briggs hasn’t really changed.
Russell wants the audience to think that Briggs has put all the fun he had at the fair to the back of his mind. He doesn’t want to be reminded of it because he knows it’s not his job. However when Reilly reminds him of it Briggs is taken back: ‘pardon’.
“Night, sir. Enjoyed yourself today, didn’t y’, sir?”
Briggs is shocked because he realises he’s done something not right. The way Reilly talks to him Briggs realises he has started to build a personal relationship with the students. He doesn’t allow this and he needs to regain his power.
Once the coach and kids are gone Mrs Kay invites Briggs for a drink. However ‘the school is looming behind him’ reminding him that he has his reputation to think about. He has already stepped out of line today and he can’t afford to do it again.
“No…I’d better not.”
When Briggs gets to his car he waits till Mrs Kay is out of sight and then pulls the roll of film out of his pocket.
“He looks at the film and then up at the school. He pulls open the film
And exposes it to the light, crumples it up and puts it into his pocket”
Briggs screws the film up because he doesn’t want to remind himself of the fun he had, he knows it’s not his job. Here Russell makes Briggs seem selfish, and self-centred. Briggs just thinks about himself and his reputation, he sees today as a one off and just wants to forget about it. Russell does this to make the audience feel empathy for the children. They have enjoyed the trip and it was a release for them to experience a different environment and break free from their ‘limited lifestyles’. They have had a chance to bond with Mr Briggs and some of them now look up to him. But he just wants to forget about it. Screwing the film up shows Briggs doesn’t care.
The play ends with Briggs passing carol in the car.
“Carol, walking along the street with the goldfish in her grasp, looks up
at the disappearing car.”
When he drives past he does exactly what she says- ‘ignores her’. Russell puts this in to make us feel empathy for Carol. He is also emphasising that she is realistic and clever enough to know that he isn’t going to stop. He never will. Showing this scene and ending on it reminds us of the plays beginning. Nothing has changed. Briggs is the same character; the play is just a cycle.
Russell’s idea of the play is to make us think, he wants to open the audiences eyes to the fact that there was no hope for children like carol in 1980’s Liverpool. There was little alternative to academic education and unemployment was particularly high. Russell wants us to empathise with the children, as they are so often referred to as ‘factory fodder’ and ignored from their own society. This reflects in the way Briggs treats them. Russell tricks us into thinking that Briggs has changed. However after all that Briggs hasn’t really changed. He still and always will have the school ‘looming behind him’; He exposes the film because he doesn’t want evidence of what he has done. He straightens himself up back to perfection and drives off leaving carol on her own again. Showing this scene and ending on it reminds us of the plays beginning. Nothing has changed. Briggs is the same character; the play is just a cycle.