There is also the repetition of “Marilyn Monroe”. This shows that Mrs Johnstone is just like a young teenage girl with a role model, in this case Marilyn Monroe, which also relates to her life, as when she was “sexier” and “lovelier than Marilyn Monroe”, she was happy, but once she was “twice the size of Marilyn Monroe” her life had got harder, and there was “no more dancing”. The words of this song should have by now persuaded the audience to think twice about what the narrator said, and to see that Mrs Johnstone has had quite a hard life, but copes with it. She is also easily fooled, so the audience do not blame her for her mistakes, but sympathise for her. After her husband left her she was quite upset because he left “for a girl who looks a bit like Marilyn Monroe”. This emphasises that dancing is her life, because now “they go dancing”, so it is like her life was stripped from her. After an incident with the milkman and her children Mrs Johnstone says the last verse of her song, and the words of this verse show that she lives in a fantasy as she says, “we’ll live like kings, and bright young things like Marilyn Monroe”, showing that she is dreaming of the future, or even the life that she may never get. The last line of this verse is “and we’ll go dancing”. In other words she is saying that when her life gets better, she will go dancing again, and be happy. The actual song is quite upbeat and jolly, but the words she sings makes the audience feel sorry for her.
When Mrs Johnstone goes to work, a new character is introduced, Mrs Lyons. The language that Mrs Lyons uses when addressing Mrs Johnstone influences the audience’s views of her. First of all, she must be either middle or upper class to have a maid. She seems like a very polite person, as she inquires after Mrs Johnstone well being, “How are you”. Once again, this shows that Mrs Lyons treats Mrs Johnstone as a friend instead of just a maid, the reason being that Mrs Lyons is quite a lonely person, seeing that her husband, Richard Lyons, is a very successful businessman and loves work more than her. He is never around, so Mrs Lyons is left at home to act as the typical stereotyped housewife. “Oh, its seems such a long time” is the answer Mrs Lyons gives when Mrs Johnstone mentions Mr Lyons –“When does he come back, Mrs Lyons”. The way Mrs Lyons responds to this question is quite sad as he misses her husband a lot, and finds the house “a pity it’s so big”. Therefore she feels quite forlorn and isolated from the rest of the world, as her house is situated at the top of the hill. The subject of the women’s conversation swiftly changes, as they start talking about children. By this time the audience has some sympathy for Mrs Lyons, seeing that she comes across as quite a lonesome lady. They then discover that Mrs Lyons has “been trying for such a long time now” for children, and she “bought such a large house for- for the children” making the audience sympathise even more with Mrs Lyons situation. The moral of the story here is even if you are middle class with a huge house and a wealthy husband, happiness is still not guaranteed.
The style of Mrs Lyons dialect is also a character portrayal. For example, she pronounces all the letters of the words, unlike Mrs Johnstone; giving you an idea about that she had a good, strict education. The vocabulary each lady uses is also quite diverse. When Mrs Johnstone is replying to Mrs Lyons, she uses slang- “ Ah yeh…yeh” whereas Mrs Lyons replies in a formal manner- “Oh, I see…” which emphasises the social class of Mrs Lyons. By the end of the conversation between Mrs Johnstone and Mrs Lyons, the audience can see that Mrs Lyons is a well brought-up and educated lady with a wealthy husband. However, they can also see that even though she has an affluent lifestyle, she is still not a very happy person because she is desperate for a child to make her life complete. During this conversation the audience also get an idea of how superstitious Mrs Johnstone really is. In the stage directions it says, “…dusting the table upon which the shoes had been placed.” This is because Mrs Lyons had placed a pair of new shoes on the table, which apparently brings bad luck, so therefore Mrs Johnstone wants to brush away any traces of this ‘bad luck’.
When Mrs Johnstone discovers she is pregnant with twins, she tells this news to her employer Mrs Lyons. On hearing this news Mrs Lyons suggests, “Give one to me”. Mrs Johnstone is very reluctant at first, but as Mrs Lyons has more power over Mrs Johnstone because of their social class, Mrs Johnstone is persuaded. Mrs Lyons sings a song offering the child so many material possessions, like “all his own toys and a garden to play in”, and nods when Mrs Johnstone suggests “a bike with both wheels on”. This makes Mrs Johnstone realise that if she gave the child to Mrs Lyons, he would have so much more. Mrs Lyons can offer him everything, as she will “always be there”. By this song the audience can see that Mrs Lyons is quite manipulative, as she knows that Mrs Johnstone cannot offer him all the things she can, and therefore in a way hypnotises Mrs Johnstone. For example, she says, “You said it yourself”, making Mrs Johnstone believe that she was the one who brought up the idea. Mrs Lyons also does not say how much love she would give the child, only that she can offer many things, showing that she is not really thinking of the child at this moment, she is just thinking of a way to persuade Mrs Johnstone. This refers back to the question asked at the end of the play, given in the title. This is because Russell has shown the audience that class does matter, because if Mrs Johnstone were of a higher class she would be able to offer her child all these things, and therefore the death of the twins may never have happened. Also, Mrs Lyons is very dominative over Mrs Johnstone, as she speaks down to her, and Mrs Johnstone is not able to stand up for herself. An example of this is when Mrs Johnstone is trying to tell Mrs Lyons that it isn’t really a good idea- “… Oh, but Mrs…” but then Mrs Lyons interrupts and says, “Quickly, quickly tell me…”. This shows the audience another side of Mrs Lyons, so the sympathy they had for her when they found out she could not have children starts to fade away. The reason being that they can now see that she is quite a rude and eloquent lady, especially towards Mrs Johnstone. It also says in the stage directions “ MRS LYONS stares at MRS JOHNSTONE, willing her to agree”, emphasising the fact that Mrs Lyons is very persuasive. At the beginning of the song Mrs Lyons is also very emotive, because she sings about her strong yearning for a child. She says, “I reach out. But as I do. He fades away”, which makes Mrs Johnstone sympathise greatly for her, as it says “…MRS JOHNSTONE looking at MRS LYONS, feeling for her”. This also makes Mrs Johnstone think greatly about the decision she will have to make about her child, because in the stage directions its says she is “Tentatively and wondering…”
Just after Mrs Johnstone has given birth to the twins, the audience’s sympathy towards her is raised even further. The reason being as she arrives home form the hospital, the catalogue man is around, taking away her possessions. Russell does this on purpose to show the audience Mrs Johnstone's predicament, and she seems to be stripped of everything she has. First it is the furniture, and next it is her child. This makes the audiences hearts throb for her because they can see that Mrs Johnstone is always dominated, and treated wrongly. Hence Willy Russell asks the title question. If Mrs Johnstone were of a higher class, she would be able to keep her possessions, her child, and be treated properly by the people around her. As she is not, spoken to like dirt, like the finance man did- “If y’ know y’ can’t bloody well pay, y’ shouldn’t bloody well sign”. This is just one of the examples of when people have spoken down to Mrs Johnstone. Another case of this is with the policeman. When the policeman catches Mickey and Edward, both of their parents are approached. The policeman treats Mrs Johnstone very rudely as he belittles her. “Well, there’ll be no more bloody warnings from now on”. However, when he approaches Mr Lyons, he has a very different attitude-“All the best now……….goodnight sir”. I think Russell has done this to show the difference between the ways both classes are treated. In a way, it is an example of juxta-positioning. Russell has placed both classes in the same situation, but has blatantly shown the difference in behaviour from the policeman. Once again this relates back to the question Russell puts forward at the end, because it makes the audience believe that class does matter, and class can affect the way people react around each other. Also, when Mrs Johnstone has just given birth she sings a song just after the creditors have left. In this song she is talking to herself, and she mentions, “You never, ever learn, that nothings yours”, showing that Mrs Johnstone is now talking down to herself too. Hence why the audience’s sympathy grows for her, as no one should be treated like this. Therefore this influences the audience’s response to the question asked. Mrs Johnstone is forever put down, and obviously it is because of her social standing. The audience can come to realise that equality is definitely non-existent in this play.
Willy Russell has used the narrator as a highlighter pen in his musical. The narrator is there to ‘highlight’ the most important messages, and he acts as a dramatic function to remind the audience what is happening in the play. In many cases throughout, the narrator makes very important points. Firstly, when Mrs Lyons makes Mrs Johnstone swear on the bible that no one should ever know about their deal, the narrator makes an important point- “ a debt is a debt, and must be paid”, meaning there is no going back, because Mrs Johnstone is so superstitious, and cannot go back on the pact she made, as she swore on the bible, and she feels very uneasy about it. The audience can see this as she asks “why…why did we have to do that?” showing that she did so against her better judgement. This also relates to the question asked, seeing as Mrs Johnstone is so superstitious wherein preventing her from changing her mind at any given time during the deal. A verse spoken by the narrator was repeated several times throughout the play, and it was about how “the devils got your number” and “Y’ know he’s right behind y’”. This verse is extremely significant; as it is another way that Russell influences our views on the question he asks at the end of the play. The motive behind this verse is in effect saying that Mrs Johnstone has committed a dreadful sin, and the devil will soon catch up with her. It also means that there is no hiding the truth; it is always there “creepin’” right behind you. The grounds for repetition in Willy Russell’s musical are for the most part to show the audience that even though superstition is not to blame for the death of the twins, it does play a significant part. The narrator’s speeches are in a poetic rhyming form, and he usually is the bringer of bad news. Russell does this to make many important points. For example, he repeats various superstitions, like when someone breaks the “lookin’ glass”, hopefully forwarding the point that superstition is an important issue in this play.
Not only does the language and dialect give the audience an idea about the characters, so do the costumes. For example, Mrs Lyons would be dressed in a formal manner, with clean matching clothes, all neatly ironed and washed. They would most probably be of bright colours, like pink or sky blue. On the other hand, Mrs Johnstone would be totally different. Her clothes may be quite dirty looking, with a few holes and rips, so she is literally wearing rags. They would most likely be much darker colours, like browns, or mustard yellow. This goes to show that the way one dresses and conducts one self goes a long way on first impressions. Which ties in with the question asked at the end. This is because once the audience saw the costumes of the ladies they could distinguish the difference in class. This would relate to the treatment both ladies got from others around, seeing as they would address Mrs Lyons in a formal manner, but Mrs Johnstone as a commoner. So once again Russell is trying to tell the audience that class does matter.
The purpose of this essay was to explain how Willy Russell has influenced the audience’s response to the question asked at the end of the play. Russell has built in superstition like a crescendo. By this I mean that the role of superstitious beliefs grew. Class has been an issue all through the play. The reason Russell asks “And do we blame superstition for what has come to pass? Or could it be what we, the English, have come to know as class”, is to show people that both superstition and class played a major part in the lead up to the death of the twins, Mickey and Edward. He is also trying to show that everyday life is very similar, and people are treated differently because of their class. Russell uses many various, effective, and interesting ways to influence the audience’s answer. This is what made the musical, “Blood Brothers”, so successful.