Blood Brothers by Willy Russell Neither mother is without guilt

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Blood Brothers by Willy Russell

"Neither mother is without guilt"

Blood Brothers is all about twin brothers that were separated at birth, one is given away to the wealthy upper class lady, Mrs Lyons, while the other is kept by the working class lady, Mrs Johnstone. In this essay we are going to discuss this statement whether "Neither mother is without guilt" and how far we would agree with this statement. Also we aim to consider all the dramatic irony techniques of the play and how Willy Russell uses them to help the dramatic effectiveness of the play. In this play the characters act in two stereotypical groups, the working class lady Mrs Johnstones and their family, and the middle class lady Mrs Lyons. It seems ironic that although the Mrs Johnstone family live on the small income that comes in the house they start off cheerful, compared to Mrs Lyons who never seems to be satisfied. This makes the audience see what is wrong in the lives of both families and all the created dramatic tension. In the next few paragraphs we will consider whether Mrs Johnstone is guilty or not guilty of the death of the brothers and similarly if Mrs Lyons is guilty or not guilty.

First of all we shall consider the case against Mrs Johnstone. What evidence is there to suggest that she is guilty? We think Mrs Johnstone is guilty because she swore on the bible that she would give Eddie away and not tell anyone the truth. Mrs Johnstone lied as at the end she tells them that they are brothers:
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"Mrs Lyons shows the bible to Mrs Johnstone, who is reluctant but lays her hand on it."

So Mrs Johnstone is guilty in the first place as she agrees and swears to give one of her sons away. Also she lied to Mickey by saying his brother died:

"He's gone. He's gone to heaven, love."

She is guilty as she lied and hides the truth to her own family, let alone others. Another reason she is guilty is because she was half the reason Mickey killed Eddie:

"You, You! Why didn't you ...

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