Russell invites us to sympathise for Shirley in a variety of ways. For example when Shirley talks to the wall “Hello Wall” this shows loneliness because she has no-one to talk to. Shirley then turns to the camera asking “Well what’s wrong with that?” as if what she was doing was perfectly normal.
Another way in which we sympathise for Shirley is when she talks about her relationship with Joe when they were young “He used to laugh, Joe. We both did” showing that their life has become much quieter for both of them and they are bored with each other. After this Shirley has a flashback when she and Joe are newly married in their early twenties. They are painting the kitchen, splatting paint at each other. While they are sitting in the bathtub together Joe says “I love you Shirley Valentine” This shows how much fun they had when they were younger and that they were serious about loving each other.
The third way in which Russell makes the audience feel sympathy for Shirley is in school. It uses the use of flashbacks. We see all kinds of feelings Shirley experiences in school. The headmistress asks the whole school a question “What was mans most important invention?” asks a couple of children deliberately not picking Shirley. As even Marjorie Majors doesn’t know the answer she finally turns to Shirley. Shirley replies “Miss... it was-the wheel” all the other kids start laughing while the head stared at Shirley. The headmistress explodes with rage “somebody must have told you” this shows that in school everyone looked down on her and nobody had any hope in her. The tone in which the head mistress makes Shirley feel unwanted and low. It’s now the end of term and Shirley valentine is receiving her report after Marjorie majors who had an excellent report “You’re report is excellent as usual” and Shirley’s report “You will truly get lost” Shirley then exits the class and rips her report to pieces. This shows Shirley was picked on by teachers as well as students and that she didn’t go far in school because of how she was treated by teachers. It is very easy to sympathise for Shirley here as you can feel how she feels.
Shirley is home making Joe’s tea when Joe comes in wanting his supper. “is it ready then” this quote on its own explains how controlled Shirley’s life is. Joe’s tea must be ready when he comes home from work. This makes us sympathise for Shirley because we can see how he treats and what he expects from Shirley.
Joe’s tea is now ready; Shirley calls him in for tea “It’s ready. Sit down” Joe stares at the plate, anger brewing inside him. “What’s this then? What ...is... this? It’s Thursday. We have steak on Thursday. We always have steak on Thursday.” Showing how controlled Shirley’s life is and how Joe orders Shirley around. This makes Shirley feel very bad about herself and makes Joe feel like ‘yes I’ve got her in a lock’.
When in Greece Shirley goes off with Costas but Jane doesn’t like this “He’s just using you” showing that Jane thinks Shirley doesn’t know right for herself and judges Costas, saying he only wants the sex. When Jane went off earlier with a man she met on the plane she is being a hypocrite and is upset that Shirley is leaving her when she did exactly the same to Shirley.
Shirley did eventually get her message across to Joe. So now he can understand how she feels and Shirley now has freedom. So Shirley can live her life her way instead of just Joe’s way.
