
Revision
Blood
Brothers
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Themes
 Class divide
 Family
 Growing up
 Superstition and Fate
 Hopes and Dreams
 Nature versus Nurture
 Love and Marriage
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Characters


Mrs Johnstone
Mickey
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Other children including Sammy
and Donna-Marie

Linda

Mrs Lyons

Mr Lyons

Edward Lyons
Narrator
Chorus to play minor roles such as
Miss Jones
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Motifs
 Marilyn Monroe
 Guns- toy and real
 The idea of games
 Dancing
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Techniques
 Parallel scenes to bring out class differences
 Use of key episodes to give a flavour of life,
since play covers a long period of time
 Use of songs
 Use of motifs
 Narrator and chorus
 Flashback – starts with final scene
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Language
 The working class characters speak in Liverpool
dialect, which makes them sound natural, warm
and likeable.
 The middle class characters speak in Standard
English, with Received Pronunciation – this is the
cause of humour when the boys first meet.
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Essay Questions
The role of the narrator
 Comments on the action
 Tells the story and involves the audience
 Links episodes together
 Warns of danger by appearing on stage at crucial times
 Points out themes
 Asks audience questions
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What do the songs add to the Play?
 Link scenes and draw parallels
 Remind the audience of Key themes
 Link the two halves of the play by using some of the
same words/ tunes, such as ‘Easy Terms’
 Mood and atmosphere
 Humour and pathos
 Fill in parts of the plot
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The tragic outcome is inevitable from the
very start. Discuss.
 Theme of Superstition and Fate
 Starting with final scene
 Continual warnings from the narrator
 The Marilyn Monroe motif
 The gun motif
 Nurture – Johnstone family are in trouble from the start e.g.
Sammy’s behaviour and Mrs Johnstone’s fears for Mickey
 Class divide
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To what extent do you feel sympathy
for Mrs Johnstone?
 At the start, very little: ‘a stone in place of a heart’, but
gradually as story unfolds we feel much more:
 Husband walks out leaving her with little money
 Mrs Lyons pushes her into it
 She does it ‘for the best’
 She’s a loving mother to all her children
 She stays cheerful and makes the best of things
 But do we also feel she could have controlled her children
better, been harder on them?
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What does this play have to say about
class?
 The class divide is unfair
 Russell shows that two people with identical DNA can
be so different in what they achieve because working
class people were denied the chances to develop
 Russell poses the question: ‘could it be what we, the
English’ have come to know as class?’
 Money can’t buy love but it can buy power.
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Now you try…

What has this play to say about mother/child relationships?
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How is the theme of love presented? You may consider family love,
romantic love and married love.

How far do you think Russell presents the working class characters
in a more favourable light than the middle class characters?
Can you think of any other questions?
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What is it?
 Sometimes an EMPATHY question is set on either
of the Literature texts, Blood Brothers or To Kill a
Mockingbird.
 This means that you have to put yourself in the
position of a character and write in their voice,
while showcasing your knowledge of the text in
your own words. (Walk in their shoes!)
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Usual forms of the question
 Imagine you are _____________. At the end
of the story you think back over what has
happened. Write your thoughts and
feelings. Remember how __________ would
speak when you write your answer.
 Imagine you are __________. Write down
your thoughts and feelings about: the
events that were important to you; your
relationship with _______; how you feel you
have changed.
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Tips
 Write in the first person
 Refer to events they took part in
 Root your answer in the text
 Include some authentic touches where possible
using the character’s way of speaking, such as Mrs
Lyons calls Eddie Edward.
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To quote or not to quote?
 It can be difficult to incorporate quotations,
although it is sometimes appropriate.
 However, you should ‘echo’ the text or closely
refer to quotations.
 You do not use quotation marks unless you are
using direct speech.
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Example: Eddie
Things are going a bit better now Linda and I
are friends again. That’s all we are, friends.
Not that I wouldn’t like it to be more, but
she loves Mickey, and I wouldn’t be disloyal
even though he doesn’t want to know me
anymore. I still think of him as a brother,
but I have had more success in life and he
envies me. I wish I could turn back the
clock to before I went to uni…
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Your practice task:
 Imagine you are Linda Write down your thoughts
and feelings after the deaths of the twins.
 Plan your response, including events, themes and
feelings.
 Write the opening paragraph or more.
 If you wish to, you may finish the essay at home.
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