In the story of 'Blood Brothers', I am going to introduce the situation between two boys, which are twins, but are separated at birth and both of the boys grow up in different environments.
Introduction It is a widely held belief that we are born innocent and our environment largely governs our path through life. The environment may be described as physical location, cultural influence and the society around you. However, there are those who would argue that genetics plays an equally, if not more important role. Essay In the story of 'Blood Brothers', I am going to introduce the situation between two boys, which are twins, but are separated at birth and both of the boys grow up in different environments. Mickey lives with his biological mother, Mrs Johnstone, and his seven siblings. His father had walked out and left his wife and children, while his wife was pregnant with Edward and Mickey. We know this when Mrs Johnstone tells the reader at the beginning of the story, she says: "Me husband, he'd walked out on me A month or two ago For a girl they say who looks a bit like Marilyn Monroe." Mrs Johnstone's husband found her attractive, since she looked like Marilyn Monroe, knowing this when Mrs Johnstone says: "He told me I was sexier than Marilyn Monroe" Mickey came from a poor background, his mother was always in debt, and she needed money for the children's meals, toys and clothes. Mickey's idol is Sammy, his older brother. Sammy influences Mickey, for example when Mickey explains to the reader how he wants to be just like Sammy: "I wish I was out
Blood Brothers: the issues of a class system and the theory of nature versus nurture
Blood Brothers Willy Russell's play, 'Blood Brothers' is set in Liverpool in the early eighties and follows the life of two main characters, Eddie Lyons, and Mickey Johnston. Throughout the course of the play we are shown the issues of a class system and the theory of nature versus nurture. Russell encourages the audience to question everything they see, as the characters seem realistic, but we are reminded constantly that what we are watching is a construction. He achieves this by using many dramatic devices, which prove to be very effective throughout the course of the play. This includes the use of the traditional narrator, to also using other characters as tools in the play to help reveal further information to us, which we may not have otherwise seen. In 'Blood Brothers' the characters fall into two very stereotypical groups, the working class Johnston's, and their friends and family, and the middle class Lyons. The main characters, Eddie and Mickey are people that we can relate to, as we feel sorry for them, when they face the trials and tribulations of life. Russell uses this to involve the audience so they feel pity when Mickey loses his job, fear at the end of the play when the shooting scene takes place, and experience childhood joy when Eddie and Mickey share jokes. Humour, in its various forms, plays a large part in the play. By the end of the play, our
With particular references to two main characters, show how the way they change and develop during the course of the play demonstrates Russell's attitudes to power and opportunity in society - Blood Brothers.
Thomas Hudson With particular references to two main characters, show how the way they change and develop during the course of the play demonstrates Russell's attitudes to power and opportunity in society "Blood Brothers" is set in Liverpool in the early eighties. The play follows the life of two main characters: Eddie Lyons and Mickey Johnston. and has proved extremely popular with audiences of all ages. Willy Russell is very successful in sustaining the audiences attention and involving them with his characters due to the effectiveness of his writing. The plotlines are simple yet captivating, and the characterisation is vivid and imaginative. It is easy to empathise with the emotions experienced by his characters which makes us care about what happens to them. Russell is also highly successful in building dramatic tension and the conclusion of the play is both shocking and thought provoking. In Blood Brothers the characters fall into two stereotypical groups: the working class Johnstones and their associates, and the middle class Lyons. It seems ironic that although the Johnston family live on the breadline they start off cheerfully, compared with the Lyons who never seem content. This makes the audience aware of what is wrong with the lives of both families and creates dramatic tension. The main characters, Eddie and Mickey are people we can relate to: we feel pathos
In the short story “The Half Brothers” how does Elizabeth Gaskell manipulate the reader’s feelings?
In the short story "The Half Brothers" how does Elizabeth Gaskell manipulate the reader's feelings? The Half Brothers is a Victorian short story written by Elizabeth Gaskell. Elizabeth Gaskell has written many short stories but this is one of her best. In "The Half Brothers" Gaskell manages to evoke various feelings from her readers such as admiration, pity and disapproval for different characters. Apart from these reactions she evokes from the readers, she manages to build up and hold suspense for long periods of time during the short story. In her later work such as in The Half Brothers she shows sympathy for the problems of the poor Victorian factory workers and those suffering from poor housing. Gaskell's strong background of Christian religion has a direct influence on her writing. She is very definite about what is good and what is evil and has a strong moral sense. A contemporary writer of Gaskell's time, Charles Dickens, commented on her fondness for deathbed scenes and certainly these are a feature of "The Half Brothers" Gaskell makes us feel sympathy and admiration towards the two main characters. She evokes these feelings from us for Helen and Helen's son Gregory. She manages to make us feel sympathy for Helen because of her circumstances, poverty, isolation and being widowed so young. Gaskell shows us the extent of her problems and how they are all
Analyse in detail scene 6 from the play "Kicking Out".
Analyse in detail scene 6 from the play "Kicking Out" In my essay I will analyse in detail scene 6 from a play called "Kicking Out". This play was written by Clifford Oliver in 1994 and was first performed on the 6th of November 1994. The play was commissioned by the football in the community scheme at Leyton Orient. The play was written for young people to remove racism in football and in society in general. The Kicking out play is about five young adults building a team for a five a side football competition. The trouble is they need a team of mixed race. During the play Eddie the coach of the team, lies about playing for West Ham and through out the play he make racist comments. The team are not sure if they can have Eddie as the coach of the team. Scene six is set on the terrace, as in scene one. In this scene there are three characters Tanya, Kelvin on one side and Eddie on the other. They are watching a football match. Kelvin and Tanya are going out. Tanya is fifteen and white, she has an attitude problem with Eddie. Kelvin is fifteen too and is black; he has not mentioned any thing to his parents about his relationship with Tanya. Eddie is in his early forties. The writer shows the action takes place at a football match by his use of stage directions. This tells the stage director and actors what to do and where to stand. The first stage direction is found at
Blood brothers synopsis
"Blood Brothers" by Willy Russell . In no more than 250 words write a description of the plot of "Blood Brothers" Set in the early 1980's, Merseyside, 'Blood Brothers' is a naturalistic play telling the story of twin brothers Mickey and Eddie who are born into a large working class family. Their mother struggles to cope with her job and the difficulties of being a single mother of nine children. When her financial situation fails to improve, Mrs Johnston, the mother of the twins agrees to let her Employer adopt one of the children. Mrs Lyons is unable to have children herself but would love a family, she manages to persuade Mrs Johnston that she will benefit from giving one child away and reluctantly, Mrs Johnston gives up one of the twins when they are born. The two mothers vow not to let the boys meet and to keep the whole thing a secret. The boys grow up apart and are brought up completely differently. Mrs Johnston named the twin that stayed with her Mickey and Mrs Lyons named her child Edward. By chance, the boys meet and they play together. They become friends - 'blood brothers'. Mrs Johnston sees the two boys together, and, realising who Edward is, she frightfully warns Mickey not to go near the area the boys met in the hope that this will keep them apart. Later that day however, Mickey appears at Eddie's house, and when Mrs Lyons discovers who he is, she sends
Discuss the influences on the lives of Mickey and Eddie in Blood Brothers.
Blood brothers Discuss the influences on the lives of Mickey and Eddie in Blood Brothers. Eddie and Mickey were born from the same mother Mrs. Johnston, but they have extremely different lives. They were identical twins; they look exactly the same. But Mrs. Lyons separated them and made them have a different life. From then on, one of them, Mickey stayed with Mrs. Johnston lives in a big, poor family and the other one who was taken by Mrs. Lyons became very rich and got everything. They have been in a different world because of many factors surrounding them to rich or poor from the moment they have been born. I think the most influential factors are the family they have got and the family classes different. The different kind and level of education they have got did also influence them much. Also, the religion of the family is one of the factors that affect the life of the child as well. Different thing has different amount of influence to Mickey and Eddie's life. I am going to discuss the factors one by one. The social context is messy at the time between late 70s and early 80s that the play was set. It is called recession. Margaret Thatcher is the Prime Minister; she encouraged people to make lots of money. As a result, the rich people in middle or upper class can earn much money but the poor people in working class lost their jobs. Life is very hard for working class, as
Compare the structure and setting Of the two short stories 'The Half Brothers' By Elizabeth Gaskall and 'The Darkness Out There' by Penelope Lively.
Compare the structure and setting Of the two short stories 'The Half Brothers' By Elizabeth Gaskall and 'The Darkness Out There' by Penelope Lively. In each story the narrative tension Builds to a distressingly inevitable climax. Discuss how this is achieved and its effect Upon the reader. "The Darkness Out There" is a short story set around three main characters. It begins with a girl called Sandra who is on her way to go and help the old Mrs Rutter with her housework. On her way, she comes across Kerry, a young lad who also, is on his way to visit the old woman to help out around the garden. They are both in a club known as the Good Neighbours, which is run to help elderly people in the community with their household work. The two ask her whether she knows about the local wood, which looked ghostly, and was well known by all the locals to be haunted. The friendly atmosphere soon changes towards the end when Mrs Rutter tells the Kerry and Sandra what she experienced in the war. The tale shocked the two into getting up and leaving a little quicker than they would have done normally. "Half-Brothers" is the second story we looked at. It starts by someone telling a tale of his mother. It is told how her husband and first daughter died and tells of the grief she suffered, but it does this in a very detached way and the reader is unable to feel any real pity
How Does Willy Russell Maintain The Audiences Interest Throughout Blood Brothers When We Are Told The Ending In The Prologue?
How Does Willy Russell Maintain The Audiences Interest Throughout Blood Brothers When We Are Told The Ending In The Prologue? "Blood Brothers" is set in Liverpool in the early eighties. The play follows the life of two main characters: Eddie Lyons and Mickey Johnstone. In this play the two main characters are biological twin brothers, who are separated at birth due to the fact that their mother, Mrs Johnstone, cannot afford to bring them both up since she already has seven children and can barely support her family. So Mrs Lyons offers that she adopt one to her because she is too infertile to have her own, and she desperately wants a child. Reluctantly Mrs Johnstone agrees and when they are born one is passed over to Mrs Lyons, bearing in mind that her husband is away for nine months and does not know she is adopting. He disagrees with this approach because he feels the child is not his own. So Mrs Lyons pretends to be pregnant and when he returns says that it is theirs. The boys grow up, one in a working class family the other in a middle class, Eddie is considerably more well off than Mickey. Though the boys have very different upbringings and personalities they both yearn to be like one another, this is shown in the song "My Friend." There is a bond between the boys yet they are unaware of it. Their lives are quite parallel, the same events are happening at relatively the
Blood Brothers by Willy Russell - Analysis of a Performance
Blood Brothers by Willy Russell Cast Mrs Johnstone Gillian Kirkpatrick Narrator Philip Sterwart Mickey Darren Morfitt Eddie Andrew Langtree Mrs Lyons Amanda Minihan Linda Ruth Gibson Sammy Daniel Taylor Mr Lyons Stephen Pallister Police/Teacher Jason Griffiths Donna Marie/Miss Jones Nikki Davis-Jones Perkins David Bingham Neighbour Sean Jones Brenda Linda Nolan Bus Conductor Mark Lawson Setting the Scene This Musical is set in Liverpool. It is about a working class mum (Mrs Johnstone) who gives away one of her new born twins to her employer so that she can lead a better life. The employer Mrs Lyons takes on one of the babies at birth and brings the baby up as one of her own with her husband. Mrs Johnstone is always behind on her bills and is always in debt with the tax man, But Mrs Lyons is rich and can bring up the son with everything he needs. The boys grow up and as they get older they are still none the wiser. When they were about 7 they meet in the street and find out that they were born on the same day and year. They then make a pack to be blood brothers. The two boys Mickey and Eddie soon find out that they will soon be split up and may never see each other again. When Mrs Lyons moves she takes Eddie with her, they go to live in the countryside. Not knowing were the Lyons have gone Mrs Johnstone is evicted out of her house so