So Barbara’s unattractiveness and peculiar behaviour is probably due to the way the author would like us to see the character, or simply just to give a general opinion. From analysing Barbara’s speech, we notice that she shows no affection for Billy, this is once again shown in her body language. The character of Barbara in general reflects that she does not show any sign of youth, she is more like a middle-aged woman who just dreams about her own cottage with roses, this is shown in her speech:
Barbara- Let’s talk about our cottage
Barbara- About the Garden. Tell me about the garden
Barbara- Do you think the pond is safe? What if the kiddies wandered too near and fell in?
In these examples of Barbara’s speech, she is already thinking about after marriage, talking about the cottage and even the children. These are the kind of things middle-aged women talk about. She talks about her dream of a cottage in a very mature manner in addition to ‘going over the top’ in the way that she thinks. The author portrays the character of Barbara by being very ‘flat’ and ‘cold’ in her speech, as shown in the stage directions, also she does not seem to have that extra energy in speech that the other characters do.
The second character I am going to describe is called Rita; she is in direct contrast to Barbara by being ‘small’ and ‘aggressive’, whereas Barbara is ‘big’ and ‘bovine’. We find as the play proceeds her behaviour to Billy and other characters worsens. This is all due to the tone and use of language, which she delivers in the play. It is not surprising that her first stage direction is to move forward menacingly, Rita is one of those ‘small people’ who try to act ‘big’, her behaviour is very childish as she imitates everyone all the time. Only seventeen years old, Rita is the youngest of Billy’s girlfriends but at the same time the most immature. Rita’ conversation mainly consists of clichés and expressions picked up on romantic evenings spent with friendly American airmen. This reflects a great deal toward her personality, due to spending time with American airmen she would have got used to using slang, which she uses whilst speaking towards other characters. Here is an example in the play of her attitude towards Billy:
Rita- Ooh! Look what’s crawled out of the cheese!
Get back in the knife-box, big head.
This is a classic example of the use of language she uses, in a way she insults Billy, she is trying to say that Billy is acting clever, ‘get back in the knife box’. Although she is offending Billy, surprisingly, Billy’s reaction to Rita is not perceived by anyone. Instead he acts soft on her, this is the kind of character Billy is, trying to enjoy his ‘love-life’ by having as many girlfriends and not to lose them by acting harsh. Rita is the kind of character who wants to just express their feelings with anger, especially with confronting Billy. But we see that she also acts like this towards other characters for example:
Rita- Well, you didn’t then-because somebody saw you. Sitting in the Gaumont. With your arm round a lass eating oranges.
Although she does not exactly speaking to Barbara she is referring to her, ‘arms round a lass’ this is an example of her use of slang. The most excessive insult by Rita to Billy comes during Act 2 (page 40):
Rita: To meet your rotten mother!
(Raising her voice) And your rotten father! And your rotten grandmother!
This language used by Rita is outrageous towards Billy, the word ‘rotten’ is so awful to address a person, and especially to someone’s parents, but then again knowing Rita personality she might be used to this. Another think I have noticed is that the tone of her voice rises as she speaks; it says that in the stage directions. Also in an attempt to quieten her Billy kisses her, this is once again an example of a dramatic action whereby Billy’s behaviour changes even though he has been insulted. Rita’s dialogue and actions in the play towards other characters is far much different to the other two girlfriends, partly due to the influence of her lifestyle.
Finally the last girlfriend Liz is probably the one Billy gets on well with the most. Although Liz is the about the same age as Barbara and Rita, she has more maturity and self-possession. From analysing the speech of the character of Liz, we see that she speaks in the same wavelength to Billy and talks about the same sort of things as him. Although she is dressed casually and is in fact wearing the black skirt we have heard about so much, she is not as scruffy as the reader had been made to believe at the start of the play. At the start Arthur described Liz as ‘scruffy Lizzie’. Liz’s tone of speech and use of language is far more elegant compared to Rita and Barbara. There is not a lot of dramatic action between Billy and Liz. But Liz’s behaviour and personality is very nice, this is shown in her use of language, for example:
Liz (with mock obedience)- Yes, sir.
She addresses him with far more respect than any of the other girlfriends. One reaction by Liz that did not occur with the other characters was that Liz was the only one to put her arms round Billy:
Liz puts her arms around Billy and kisses him. He responds. They break away. (Stage direction)
In effect Liz could be classed as being in-between the personality of Barbara and Rita, whereby she is not a lively a Rita but at the same time not as dull as Barbara.
In the play ‘Billy Liar’, the characters show a lot of dramatic action, including changes of attitude, resolutions and in some cases insignificant body movements. These are all partly due to the stage directions and also how the author wants the personalities of the characters to be. The characters dialogue with others has also been significant throughout the play because it gives the reader a clear idea of what is happening in the play. We also see that characters like Rita use slang and dialect to position her in the play with other characters like Billy. There are a lot of strong characters in the play ‘Billy Liar’ for example Rita and Barbara. The purpose of including these types of characters is to create dramatic tension in the play together with making the play more interesting and with more action.
