by Alex Pitsillos

Created on: December 05, 2008

Blood Brothers was written by in 1983 by Willy Russell. It was written around the time that Margaret Thatcher came into power. During this time the rate of unemployment had increased due to Thatcher's privatisation of many businesses. This caused the space between the classes to become more apparent; the rich seemed to be getting richer and the poor, poorer. The message that Willy Russell was trying to convey is that class and upbringing can seriously influence a person's life for the better or worse.

Blood Brothers is about Eddie and Mickey, 2 twins that were separated at birth. Mickey was brought up into a working class family, they did not have enough money to ensure him an education and he therefore ended up with a dead end job with no money. On the other hand Eddie was bought up into a middle class family who had the money to allow him a proper education and a place in university, this lead to a high-powered job and opportunities.

The difference in class is evident as soon as the first scene starts and the two mothers meet for the first time. Mrs Lyons has just been shopping showing she is a lady of leisure whereas Mrs Johnstone works for Mrs Lyons doing a poorly paid unskilled job, showing that she is working class. Social hierarchy is established here as Mrs Lyons, the middle class woman is Mrs Johnstone's boss. The fact that Mrs Lyons is middle class plays a big part in this scene as, because of her good education she is able to manipulate Mrs Johnstone and trick her into giving away her baby.

The way that the two houses have stayed is key to conveying the difference between them. Mrs Lyons' house is light and airy and shows that they can afford to live in a nice house and therefore have a good quality of life. They have a bookcase, which shows their intelligence revealing that they can probably afford a good education and therefore display their wealth. There is also a table and chairs showing that they sit at the table for dinner and live in a civilized manor. Mrs Johnstone's house in contrast is dirty and damaged on the outside, we never see inside the house; this is probably because the house is of such a poor quality that we wouldn't want to see it. There is also graffiti on the wall outside the house showing that the neighbourhood the Johnstone's live in is not a good one, especially compared with the good neighbourhood that Mrs Lyons lives in.

When Eddie and Mickey first meet there is an obvious difference in class between the two boys. This is initially

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