Blood Brothers Character Quotations edexcel 2-Post-1914-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