Blood Brothers: Character Quotations (AQA GCSE English Literature)

Key word or phrase to memorise: “Marilyn Monroe” and “we went dancing”

What the quotation means: Mrs Johnstone introduces herself in a  song that remembers a happier time in her life when she was young, and when her husband found her attractive and took her dancing

Theme: Superstition and Fate

• Russell introduces Mrs Johnstone as happy-go-lucky, but downtrodden:

  • She enters singing a song about a husband who grew bored of her 

  • The past tense “went dancing” conveys her sense of lost youth

  • She is portrayed as a working-class single mother with many challenges

• Russell uses the Marilyn Monroe motif to present Mrs Johnstone as doomed: 

  • He foreshadows her tragedy through the symbolic reference

  • Monroe, an icon of glamour, was a victim of a tragic and early death

Key word or phrase to memorise: “no reputation following me”

What the quotation means: When Mrs Johnstone is offered a chance to move to the suburbs, she feels hopeful and sings about how she will have an opportunity to be anonymous and start again 

Theme: Social Class

• Russell portrays Mrs Johnstone sympathetically: 

  • She is hopeful for a fresh start, conveyed in anaphora, “a new”

  • Her singing conveys her optimism

• The reference to “no reputation” suggests that anonymity equates to freedom from judgement:

  • This relates to criticism directed towards her poor parenting

  • Russell depicts how she is judged as a working-class single mother while offered little help

  • In this way he conveys ideas about unjust class and gender imbalances

Key word or phrase to memorise: “much of a life with me”

What the quotation means: Mrs Johnstone blames herself for Mickey’s difficult circumstances, and believes that, as a working-class single mother, she has not given him many opportunities

Theme: Nature versus Nurture

• Russell presents Mrs Johnstone as Mrs Lyons’ foil to depict class divisions:

  • Mrs Johnstone’s working class status is shown via colloquial language

  • Phrases like “have y’” portray her as friendly and easy-going

  • Her language contrasts Mrs Lyons’ articulated, upper-class accent

• That Mickey has not had “much” of a life examines the nature versus nurture debate:

  • While Edward’s life with Mrs Lyons is successful, Mickey’s life is challenging

  • But Mrs Johnstone, contrasted with Mrs Lyons, is shown as humble and kind

Key word or phrase to memorise: “Without making him cry”

What the quotation means: Mrs Lyons sings about having a child, and says that she will attend to its every need and protect the child from pain

Theme: Superstition and Fate 

• Russell depicts the tension between Mrs Lyons and Mrs Johnstone in song: 

  • Their shared song highlights their desperation, and their doomed bond

  • It stresses their key differences 

• Russell depicts Mrs Lyons, a conservative and over-protective mother, as idealistic: 

  • This line foreshadows the lack of control she has over Edward later

  • Russell, ironically, depicts Mrs Lyons hurting Edward irrevocably

Key word or phrase to memorise: “These people” and “mixing with”

What the quotation means: Mrs Lyons tells her husband that she is not happy that Edward is friendly with Mickey as he is from a lower class

Theme: Social Class

• Russell presents Mrs Lyons’ fear that Edward may find out the secret:

  • She becomes paranoid about Edward’s friendship with Mickey

• Russell portrays Mrs Lyons as a snob who discriminates according to class:

  • Calling the Johnstones “these people” homogenises the working-class into one group

  • The phrase “mixing with” implies Edward’s sophistication may be diluted by Mickey’s friendship

Key word or phrase to memorise: “just behind me” and “like a shadow”

What the quotation means: Mrs Lyons confronts Mrs Johnstone who she believes followed her to the countryside, and adds that Mrs Johnstone is like her shadow as she will always be with her

Theme: Superstition and Fate

• Russell depicts the dramatic decline of Mrs Lyons’ state of mind:

  • This is portrayed as her destined punishment

  • The narrator warns the mothers that the “devil” is “right behind ya”

• By Act 2, Mrs Lyons acknowledges that she cannot escape the deal, and it will haunt her:

  • The emphasis of “always and forever” implies her fate is sealed

  • The simile, connoting to darkness, implies she is forever linked to Mrs Johnstone, like a “shadow”

Key word or phrase to memorise: “Eddie”

What the quotation means: When Mickey meets Edward, he immediately asks if people shorten his name and wants to address him in a friendlier way

Theme: Nature versus Nurture 

• Russell creates contrasting characters, Mickey and Edward, to raise questions about nature versus nurture:

  • Mickey’s friendly and relaxed nature appeals to the rigid and shy Edward

  • Mickey’s less sophisticated manner is illustrated by the abbreviated name

  • The line implies a growing closeness between Mickey and his brother 

• Mrs Lyons, however, calls her son Edward:

  • Russell does this to present more distant relationships within the upper class

Key word or phrase to memorise: “all the right words” 

What the quotation means: Mickey begins to envy Edward; he implies that Edward is better at communicating as he has a better vocabulary 

Theme: Social Class

• One of the main differences between Mickey and Edward is their vocabulary:

  • Edward tells Mickey about dictionaries, for instance

• Russell foreshadows how their jealousy (over their different lives) leads to tragedy:

  • Edward’s advanced vocabulary and education builds his confidence

  • Simultaneously, Mickey grows more unsure of himself

Key word or phrase to memorise:  “I can’t do things” and “leave me alone”

What the quotation means: Mickey’s self-esteem decreases after his time in prison, and the pills he takes for depression isolates him further

Theme: Nature versus Nurture 

• Russell illustrates the connection between Mickey’s economic circumstances and his mental and physical decline:

  • After his criminal activity and prison-time, Mickey is disillusioned

  • His lack of self-esteem is implied by the phrase “I can’t do things”

• His instruction to Linda highlights his depression and desire to isolate himself:

  • Russell portrays Mickey’s shame as a result of his inability to provide

Key word or phrase to memorise:  “I wish that I could be like” and “Run around with dirty knees”

What the quotation means: Edward expresses his feelings about Mickey and implies he is jealous of Mickey’s recklessness and his physical abilities

Theme: Nature versus Nurture

• Russell illustrates how Edward’s stricter, more academically-driven upbringing makes him envious of Mickey:

  • The song, delivered by Mickey and Edward, highlights their differences

  • While Mickey envies Edward’s intelligence, Edward wishes he was sporty, and could get “dirty knees”

• Russell portrays the brother’s relationship as conflicted and full of misunderstandings:

  • This foreshadows the final confrontation between them

Key word or phrase to memorise: “plenty of it”

What the quotation means: Edward unintentionally flaunts his wealth and annoys Mickey by reminding him of their very different financial circumstances

Theme: Social Class

• Russell presents Edward as naive and sheltered due to his upper-class upbringing:

  • In this scene, Edward tells Mickey that he has “plenty” of money

  • Despite the fact Edward sees this as an opportunity to help Mickey, he shows insensitivity to his brother

• Edward’s lack of awareness of the challenges of life frustrates Mickey:

  • Russell illustrates how this destroys their relationship by the resolution

Key word or phrase to memorise: “I don’t know what she told you” and “just friends”

What the quotation means: When Mickey confronts Edward at the council offices, Edward immediately assumes his mother was involved, and tries to reassure Mickey that he and Linda are not having an affair

Theme:  Superstition and Fate 

• Russell presents a fateful ending as Mickey and Edward validate the ‘curse’:

  • Mickey and Edward die as they learn that they are brothers

• Edward’s assumption about his mother illustrates her influence in his life

• Dramatic irony creates tension as the audience know that Edward is lying:

  • This, perhaps, implies that he perpetuates Mrs Lyons’ dishonesty

  • He demeans Mickey with his lie about being “just friends” with Linda

  • This enrages Mickey, who accuses him of stealing his child and wife