How does the writer, Willy Russell encourage us to sympathise with Shirley?
How does the writer, Willy Russell encourage us to sympathise with Shirley? In Willy Russell's 1989 screenplay, 'Shirley Valentine' we examine the life of a middle-aged liverpudlian housewife and her she struggles with her monotonous life. From the start of Secondary School till now, her life was in a fiasco. No one listened to her and she grew up in what she became, a lonely, and disconsolate, low class person that no one seemed to care about. This sympathisation with Shirley and the audience is revealed in many ways, through the use of a variety of dramatic techniques; flashbacks for example, reveal her past, on how she had the most mundane and dull life, this encourages us to sympathise with her. She then finds herself to have tickets to Greece with her friend, still trying to find out who she really is. After an affair and few happy moments she had finally fulfilled her life. She has found her inner self; she is in love with the idea of living. The central message that is being examined through the character of Shirley is that to find out who she really is, to find that inner person stuck inside her; the Shirley Valentine years when she was a teenager and a rebel. This whole story is linked to Russell's past. Russell was born in Whiston; Liverpool in 1947.The story is also based in Liverpool where Shirley lives. His family were working class just like Shirley was. He
Shirley Valentine - Transformation Throughout Play
Willy Russell's screenplay, 'Shirley Valentine,' follows the transformation of the monotonous lifestyle lived by a mundane, down-to-earth woman. In the end, we see that she is 'reborn' and becomes an intrepid, optimistic woman who fulfils her life-long ambitions of living a serene yet bountiful life. This changed is relayed to us using an assortment of dramatic techniques like voiceovers and dramatic monologues. This essay will discuss how efficient these techniques are to showing us how Shirley has altered her characteristics during this play. The opening sequence of the play including the credits reveals masses about the platitude of Shirley's day to day routine. We see an array of picture slides of Shirley doing household chores. They are all in a monochrome, washed out, blue colour. This blue portrays her washed out feeling towards life in general. We also see her looking wistfully at a picture of her former self, which shows that she is regretting how she has lived her life effectively. This also shows longing to be how she used to be. The transition between slides is very sluggish and this also shows us about her life that it is slow and pointless. We see a picture of her street dissolve to the actual street and enter her household. The first time we see Shirley is when she walks into shot wearing a dull grey Mac and wearing very restrained and plain clothing. This
How Does Willy Russell Invite us to Fell Sympathy towards Shirley Valentine
How Does Willy Russell Invite us to Fell Sympathy towards Shirley Valentine A 1983 hit screenplay 'Shirley Valentine' by Willy Russell who was raised in a house full of woman, his father worked at 4 jobs to support his family so that Russell did get an education in English. This meant at home he could only talk to woman which he found fascinating, learning about their lives and dreams', being brought up in a working class family it was not surprising he'd be in working class when he grew older. He became a hair dresser for a while before realising that he should take what he learnt and write books. Once he learned their apathy and how antonym their views were on class, politics, education, language, society and stereotypes, he wrote kitchen sink drama screenplays, like 'Shirley Valentine' and 'Educating Rita' . He uses dramatic devices, character and language to help us feel moved towards Shirley Valentine. Shirley Valentine is about a woman who was once a complete anarchist who turned into a tedious middle aged housewife and mother. She then after being used and taken for granted by her family and friends goes to Greece and falls in love with something she had lost but it isn't too soon until she is used and taken for granted even on holiday. Russell invites us to feel sympathy for Shirley by making us her confidantes seeing through the eyes of the camera and being
Character study of Shirley Valentine.
Character study of Shirley Valentine At the opening of the play we see Shirley Bradshaw, a typical middle aged housewife being taken for granted. She is treated as a domestic slave rather than a person. People assume that that she will do whatever they want her to do whenever and all they have to do is click their fingers. As a person Shirley feels isolated and alone, she has no one that she feels she can talk to properly. She has got all these feelings locked up inside that she can not let out because no one will listen. To show how desperate she is, she ends up talking to a wall in her kitchen: (E.g. I like a glass of wine when I'm doin' the cookin; - Don't I wall? Don't I like a glass of wine when I'm preparing the evening meal?) Shirley thinks she is worth nothing. When she looks in the mirror she sees the boring middle-aged Shirley Bradshaw. She has no self-confidence. She longs to be the old Shirley Valentine. The woman everyone wanted to be the girl at school that broke basically every rule, the person that went out and had fun with her friends. During the course of the play, we see in a series of flashbacks the various problems and feelings Shirley experiences. The first few flashbacks we see confirm what Shirley is feeling and how people take advantage of her. They show that her life is not her own, but it seems as though everyone else controls her. Her life is
How does Willy Russell invite the audience to sympathise with Shirley?
Shirley Valentine (Course Work), Ehssan Al-Thamir How does Willy Russell invite the audience to sympathise with Shirley? Willy Russell presents the screen play Shirley Valentine as a drama to express family relationships and emotional feelings among different family members. Willy Russell chose the characters and dramatic devices in a way to show those expressive moods. Willy Russell utilized flashbacks as remarkable techniques for the audience to understand Shirley Valentine's preceding life. Willy Russell was born in Liverpool and left school at the age of sixteen similar to Shirley. He went into hairdressing but always dreamed of being a writer. The story is based on the term 'kitchen-sink drama which usually ends unhappily and has a more realistic representation of a social life. First scenes of the film show different water-colour, mainly blue, drawings of Shirley at different times, which may perhaps represent hopelessness and grief. Most of the sketches show Shirley doing housework, very bored and lonely housewife. Willy Russell employed many dramatic devices to present Shirley Valentine as a very ordinary, working class middle aged housewife. Dramatic devices such as the deliberate choice of the Liverpool accent and the monologue when Shirley talks to the wall were selected intentionally to highlight her utter loneliness and maybe even lack of confidence and
Shirley Valentine - review
The screenplay Shirley Valentine was written as a monologue by Willy Russell. The play set in Liverpool, which is Willy Russell's home, tells the story of a lonely and bored housewife who is sick of the way she is treated by her narrow minded and inconsiderate husband. Using devices such as flashback the screenplay shows how Shirley becomes a confident and positive woman after traveling to Greece and fulfilling her ambitions. In this essay I will be examining how Shirley has changed during the course of the play, and how the play has been organised to show the importance of these changes. Willy Russell has organised the use of devices so we can see how Shirley has changed over the years and how she has been effected by certain events in her life. As the opening credits are shown a song is being played. The lyrics of this song suggest this is a film about change, a change that enables Shirley to be herself. During the credits pictures are being shown the, these are pictures of Shirley doing household jobs such as washing dishes. Cleaning the house and cooking. This makes us think that the movie will be about a housewife changing to show her true self. This is a very clever use of sound and images, as it is trying to tell us about the story before it has even begun. As the film begins the setting alone is enough to show the mood Shirley is in and set the ton for the beginning
To what extent do Thelma and Louise and Shirley Valentine tell stories from a women's point of view about women's real life problems.'
Women in Film: 'To what extent do Thelma and Louise and Shirley Valentine tell stories from a women's point of view about women's real life problems.' Throughout the history of film actresses have always received the worst roles in which to portray women. Women are often featured as lovers or prostitutes, backstage roles that support the power and domination of men. Hollywood has always been dominated and 'run' by the influence of male actors and directors. Statistics have shown that 71% of male actors are given major roles compared to women who receive only 29% of centre stage roles. Thelma and Louise and Shirley are two films, which change that. They portray woman in a positive role, showing them in a positive light against male oppression. Although Shirley Valentine is a British film and Thelma and Louise is American, both films still show women facing the prejudice of society in the 20th century. In this way women viewers can relate to the films believing them to show the difficulties women face in life, the loss of women's individuality due to the domination of their husbands and their experiences of sexism and prejudice in modern day society. There are many similarities as well as differences in both films and the storylines are varied, yet both films still feature woman who overcome the typical stereotype that they are nothing but sexual objects for men to
A Beautiful Thing coursework The character of Sandra has many good characteristics. One of these is her generosity. For example
A Beautiful Thing coursework The character of Sandra has many good characteristics. One of these is her generosity. For example she gives Ste five pounds to buy a present for Nolene. A quote that shows this would be "Ere buy Nolene a present wi' that". Whilst to use a fiver may not seem like much the chances are that to Sandra a single mum who works in a pub and lives in a flat in Thamesmeed (a poor area) a fiver would probably be quite a lot. Another of Sandra's good qualities would be her ambitions. For example she wants a job running a pub in Rotherhide. A quote that shows this characteristic would be "I'll be glad to get outta this bloody place". Her ambition is rare in that area very few people talk about moving up this is the slum were the people who are badly educated and poor live yet Sandra is different. Sandra also comes across as a very hard working character both at home and at work. For example she won barmaid of the year awards despite being a single parent and having to raise a child on her own. A quote that shows that Sandra is hardworking would be "This is my living and I'm bloody good at it". This again shows Sandra determination to do better she works hard and is very proud of what she achieves. Another of Sandra's good qualities would be the fact that she is very accepting. The main example of this would be when she accepts Jaime when he tells her that
"Comedy is the best way for us to learn the truth aboutourselves" according to Willy Russell - What have you learnt during the course of the play and how is it a learning experience for the characters within it?
1th march 2003 "Comedy is the best way for us to learn the truth about ourselves" according to Willy Russell. What have you learnt during the course of the play and how is it a learning experience for the characters within it? Comedy covers many different types of humour such as comedians making old jokes and we laugh at him not with him or a comic TV programme which has us in hysterics. Our own concepts of humour are all different and in the play Shirley valentine there are many comic parts which the playwrite Willy Russell is trying to portray a moral "comedy is the best way for us to learn" so if you make a moral funny rather than serious we will learn from it quicker such as representing it in a joke or a funny comment then our minds will remember the funny part of it and use the moral in our own lives. In the play Shirley valentine there are many different concepts of showing humour and Willy Russell uses many of them to get across the moral that life is too short and you should snap up any opportunity you have to make something of your life "I've lived such a little life and even that will be over soon" There are many different techniques used to convey humour in the play and Willy Russell uses all of them very well. Ranges of one line comments are used to express how Shirley is feeling these techniques are know as verbal and visual humour sometimes Shirley would
shirley valentine
Modern Drama Assignment 'Shirley Valentine' by Willy Russell Focusing on the 3 extracts from Shirley Valentine, but referring to the play as a whole. Show how Willy Russell presents Shirley's life. The play of Shirley Valentine is about a middle aged women who was a rebel in her younger days, she goes on holiday to find a better life, she goes to find 'Shirley valentine' because she was bored and depressed just stuck in her house all the time. She feels that she is taken for granted and thinks there is a better lifestyle waiting for her. By the end of the play we see that Shirley and Joe are reunited just like they were when they were young. Willy Russell takes us into flashbacks through the whole story; this is one of many dramatic techniques used in the play to show Shirley's past. Russell showed the couple as a loving young couple but they end up as an older couple feeling young again. In the first extract we are shown Shirley and Joe as a young happily married couple painting their kitchen. They are playful and loving. Willy sets the atmosphere as a happy one. Shirley has a high self a steam and she is enjoying herself with Joe. The language used in the first extract is in a rude manor but it's playful as they are young and happy. He uses words like 'you little bugger' and 'you're a bloody head case'. Some people may find this offensive but I think it sets a joyful