Well how come you got everything…and I got nothing”. This quote by Mickey highlights the relationship between class and opportunity which is what this essay is going to be focusing on. Willy Russell is a modern playwright but throughout history these themes have appeared in literature, for example world war one often revels the fact that men of a more lower class were sent to the front line whereas men from a wealthy class made all the decisions. The playwright uses a number of techniques to make the message accessible to the audience. Some of these include dramatic devices, language and the overall content of the play. The relationship between class and opportunity is that the opportunities you receive is based upon the class you are represented by.
Blood Brothers is a powerful illustration of how divisions in social class can affect the opportunity an individual has in life. It is a tragic musical written by the fantastic writer Willy Russell. Mrs Johnstone, a lonely woman whose husband has abandoned her and a houseful of mouths to feed, learns she is expecting AGAIN, however what she doesn’t learn till later on is that she is having twins which adds to the life problems that her life comes to struggle with.
She works for Mrs Lyons who is desperate for kid s but isn’t able to have any her self, when she finds out about Mrs Johnstone’s pregnancy she uses it to her advantage, to her delight she begs for one of Mrs Johnstone’s twins at birth. Mickey and Eddie growing up streets apart not being any of the wiser about each other, end up meeting and becoming Blood Brothers. However their friendship turns to a tragedy. They are torn apart by class, opportunity and the events that take place.
“The police officer confronts Mrs Johnstone”. “Policeman confronts Mr Lyons. The policeman has removed his helmet and holds a glass of scotch. Eddie is there”. Straight away the stage directions show us how different the experiences are with the upper and lower classes. It goes without saying that if people are treated differently according to their class or status then each opportunity will be different from each class group, society will automatically open some doors for some groups and close them for others. If many were to share the policeman’s attitude then its safe
