EXPLAIN HOW THE TWO MOTHERS ARE DIFFERENT AND WHY RUSSELL PRESENTS THEM IN THIS WAY? The musical play Blood Brothers, written by Willy Russell, is the story of twins separated at birth

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EXPLAIN HOW THE TWO MOTHERS ARE DIFFERENT AND WHY RUSSELL PRESENTS THEM IN THIS WAY?

The musical play Blood Brothers, written by Willy Russell, is the story of twins separated at birth. Mrs Johnstone, a working-class Liverpudlian mother of seven children, agrees to give one of the twins she is expecting to her wealthy but barren employer, Mrs Lyons. The infant kept, Mickey Johnstone, grows up in poverty while his twin, Eddie Lyons, enters a privileged life. Bound by fear of discovery, and superstition that should either of the boys learn he has a twin, both will die on that day, so the mothers keep the exchange secret.

Completely unaware that they are brothers, Mickey and Eddie meet as seven-year-old children and form friendship that lasts until the day they die. It is that concluding tragic event in fact, that is the opening scene of the play, which then backtracks to recount their separate and interwoven lives of success and despair.

Willy Russell wrote “Blood Brothers” in the 1960’s. He was born in 1947, in Whiston which is just outside Liverpool, and has based the story here around his own experiences. He grew up in Liverpool in a working class family, singing in clubs to earn a living and at the age of 22 he worked in a warehouse to raise money for college. He was confronted even from an early age with the injustice of the two-class society. Thus there are clear biographical parallels to the character of Mickey. He was also influenced by females during his life thus the strong relations to the mother in this work.

Liverpool in those days was split according to social class. This means people in that time were divided along the lines of being rich and poor, the educated and non-educated etc. Liverpool has been the home to one of the highest levels of unemployment in the developed world, with over 25% of the workforce out of a job, and it is important to consider this when taking account of Russell’s depiction and own views of class and unemployment

The main theme of Russell’s play is based on this social class difference although there are strong elements of fate and destiny, superstition, surrogacy, childhood and adolescence, humour and tragedy.

Blood Brothers is more than a simple morality tale of twin brothers separated as infants, who, after radically different upbringings, reunite (oblivious of their blood bond) as closest friends. It also focuses on two very different mothers, one—the birth mother— unselfishly giving and accepting, while the other’s love is neurotic, stifling and ultimately destructive. These two mothers lived all their lives close or near to each other, but in terms of class they lived miles apart. Mrs. Johnstone a single and working class woman is earning a meagre living as a cleaning lady at the home of the affluent Mrs. Lyons.

We are first introduced to Mrs. Johnstone, who describes her experience of a halfhearted marriage and the arrival of her numerous children. It is with a bittersweet attitude of acceptance that she explains the moment her husband deserts her, the costs of living for which she has little means and the news that she is expecting not one more mouth to feed… but two. Mrs. Lyons does not need to go to work, only shopping. In contrast to this Mrs. Johnstone cannot even pay the milkman, she says, “ I said, I said, look, next week I’ll pay y’….”

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We see the contrast of social classes between Mrs. Johnstones home and the home in which she cleans, the home of Mr. and Mrs. Lyons. Whilst the home of the Johnstones plays host to the constant clamour of childhood

Games and battles, Mrs. Lyons is often alone whilst Mr. Lyons is on business, in an impeccable house that suffers somewhat from a cold and sterile atmosphere. The opening scenes develop this theme.

All through the play we see significant differences between Mrs. Lyons and Mrs. Johnstone. In the beginning the Narrator describes Mrs. Johnstone as “the mother, so ...

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