English Literature / Drama GCSE: Characters: Blood Brothers by Willy Russell

MICKEY:He's got a plate in his head.

MRS LYONS:You're not the same with him.

NARRATOR:'Two families…'

LINDA:He's on the housing committee.

SAMMY:He's a [BLEEP]ing poshie.

NARRATOR:'From two different worlds.'

EDWARD:You say some smashing things, don't you?

NARRATOR:'These are the characters of Blood Brothers.'

MRS JOHNSTONE:The welfare have already been onto me. They say I'm incapable of controlling the kids I've already got.

NARRATOR:'The Blood Brothers characters are strongly influenced by their social environment.'

MRS JOHNSTONE:By the time I was 25 I looked like 42. With seven hungry mouths to feed and one more nearly due. Me husband, he walked out on me.

NARRATOR:'Mrs. Johnstone seems forever rooted in the lower class, not helped by her bad financial decisions.'

MRS JOHNSTONE:When you look in the catalogue and there's six months to pay, it seems years away. You need a few things so, you sign.

NARRATOR:'Trapped by poverty, when pregnant Mrs. Johnstone agrees to give one of her twins away to wealthy Mrs. Lyons, it's an act of love.

MICKEY:You're great, you are, Mum.

NARRATOR:'But her natural mothering instinct causes jealous Mrs. Lyons to dismiss her.'

MRS LYONS:She's cooing and cuddling as-- as if she was his mother. She's always bothering him, Richard. Always!

NARRATOR:'Perhaps it's that maternal tenderness that makes it hard for her to discipline her children. She almost laughs off Sammy's arson.'

MRS JOHNSTONE:I know Sammy almost burnt the school down but it's very easily done!

NARRATOR:'She's superstitious, too. A tendency that Mrs. Lyons exploits.'

MRS JOHNSTONE:You never put new shoes on the table.4MRS LYONS:Oh. You mean you're superstitious?

NARRATOR:'Coldly manipulative, Chandler's Mrs. Lyons uses Mrs. Johnstone's superstition to her own advantage.'

MRS LYONS:They say that if either twin learns that he was once a pair,

MRS LYONS:they shall both immediately die.

NARRATOR:'Wealthy Mrs. Lyons also exploits Mrs. Johnstone's poverty, manipulating her into giving away a child.'

MRS LYONS:Already you're being threatened by the welfare people, Mrs. Johnstone with two more children, how could you possibly avoid some of them being put into care? Surely it's better to give one child to me?

MRS JOHNSTONE:I would still be able to see him everyday. Wouldn't I?

MRS LYONS:Of course.

NARRATOR:'Dishonest, she backs out on her agreement, taking Edward away.'

MRS LYONS:I don't want you mixing with boys like that.

NARRATOR:'Overly protective, she prevents Edward from playing with other kids. Her insecurities mingled with class prejudice.'

MRS LYONS:You learn filth from them, and you behave like this. Like a…

MRS LYONS:Like a horrible little boy. Like them.

NARRATOR:'But she does have a conscience, becoming racked by guilt.'

MRS LYONS:Wherever I go, you will be just behind me. I know that now. Always and forever and ever, like Like a shadow!

NARRATOR:'The two brothers are twins. And, we are led to believe, would be similar in character if it weren't for their economic circumstances.

MICKEY:Why didn't you give me away? I could have been I could have been him!

NARRATOR:'As children, they certainly had a lot in common, quickly becoming best friends.'

MICKEY:See? This means that we're blood brothers. And that we always have to stand by each other. Now, you say after me. I will always defend my brother.

NARRATOR:'Mickey has always lived in the shadow of his elder brother, Sammy.'

MICKEY:If our Sammy gives you a sweet, he's usually weed on it first.

LAUGHS

EDWARD:Oh that sounds like super fun.

MICKEY:It is. If you're our Sammy.

NARRATOR:'Displaying a natural wit, Mickey is clearly intelligent. Although he hasn't had much in the way of an education.'

EDWARD:Don't you know what a dictionary is?

MICKEY:Course I do. It's a… It's a thingy, innit?

NARRATOR:'He also holds a shyness, especially about his emotions.'

MICKEY:I mean, she would be me girlfriend. She even says she loves me all over the place.

MICKEY:But it's dead difficult.

NARRATOR:'It takes him years to ask Linda out on a date, let alone tell her what he feels.'

EDWARD:What?

MICKEY:Like, knowing what to say.

EDWARD:But you must, you must.

NARRATOR:'Edward's knowledge of courtship comes exclusively from literature. He goes to an all-boys boarding school, where…'

EDWARD:In term time, we hardly ever see a girl, let alone dance with one.

NARRATOR:'Edward is constricted by this overprotective, somewhat formal upbringing. Mickey is his antidote, teaching him to shoot air pistols and to swear.'

EDWARD:[BLEEP] off. You say some smashing things, don't you?

NARRATOR:'Edward's sheltered upbringing leaves him detached from reality, incapable of understanding the plight of ordinary people.'

EDWARD:Why-- Why's a job so important? If I couldn't get a job, I'd just say sod it and draw the dole. Live like a bohemian. Tilt my hat to the world and say, "Screw you."

NARRATOR:'He may be insensitive, but he's not selfish, as he puts his own feelings for Linda on hold, while he fixes Mickey and her up.'

EDWARD:Would you talk to Linda!

LINDA:Oh, Eddie!

EDWARD:Go on, go on!

MICKEY:Erm, well. The, the thing is, Linda, that I–

MICKEY:Linda for Christ's sake, will you go out with me?

LINDA:Yeah!

NARRATOR:'Linda's love for Mickey was long-lasting and deep.

NARRATOR:'One of the first times we see her, she stands up to the fearsome Sammy on Mickey's behalf.'

LINDA:Leave him alone.

SAMMY:Why? What do you do about it if we don't?

LINDA:I'll tell me mother why her ciggies always disappear while you're in our house.

NARRATOR:'Then, as teenagers, she's patient with him whilst he's plucking up the courage to ask her out.

LINDA:I hope for his sake he never has to ask me to marry him. He'll be a pensioner before he gets around to it.

NARRATOR:'After they marry, she stays supportive. Even through his prison sentence, and when his personality changes under drugs.'

LINDA:I need you. I love you, but Mickey… Not when you've got them inside you. When you take those things, Mickey, I can't even see you.

NARRATOR:'Her affair with Edward is driven by her desperate desire to help Mickey. She feels Mickey can only be saved with a job and a home, which Edward can supply.'

LINDA:Isn't it great? If he's working and we got our own place… He'd be able to get himself together and stop taking those friggin' things.

MRS JOHNSTONE:But listen, Linda, who–?

LINDA:Just some… Some fella I know.

NARRATOR:'The affair does indeed result in a job and house for Mickey, which is exactly what Mrs. Johnstone sought for his wellbeing.'

SAMMY:What are you looking at?

NARRATOR:'Mickey's elder brother, Sammy, has a plate in his head after a childhood accident. He bullies Mickey, and seems destined to be a career criminal from an early age.

NARRATOR:'Not only does he burn down the school, but he mugs a bus conductor.'

SAMMY:I'm gonna get a real gun soon. I'm gonna get an air gun.

NARRATOR:'He boasts a small arsenal of toy weapons.'

THE NARRATOR:And did you never hear how the Johnstone's died? Never knowing that they shared one name till the day they died.

NARRATOR:'The Narrator of the play acts like a Greek chorus. Detached, he explains the action on stage, asking the audience to judge what they see.'

THE NARRATOR:And did you never hear of the mother so cruel, there's a stone in place of her heart. Then bring her on, and come judge for yourselves how she came to play this part.

NARRATOR:'And finally, Mr. Lyons will explain his character. Oh. Maybe he won't. Once again, he's away on business.'