Mrs Johnstone.

How is the character 'Mrs Johnstone' portrayed in the play 'Blood Brothers'?

In this essay, I am going to explain how the character 'Mrs Johnstone' is portrayed in the play 'Blood Brothers'. At the start of the play the audience are told that she is only twenty-five years old and already has had seven children. This suggests that she is naturally a maternal character, embracing new life and showing her caring personality. William Russell (Russell) may also be hinting at religious rulings against contraception in her life, therefore implying that she is a Catholic.

The character 'Mrs Johnstone' is also portrayed as an extremely poor woman. I know this because at the end of the play she says to Mickey (before shooting Edward) 'I couldn't afford to keep both of you'. This shows the readers that she is trapped by poverty and reinforces the idea that it is difficult for her to take care for her children and is ultimately the reason why she gave Edward away to the middle-class 'Mrs Lyons'. Russell suggests that she is 'old before her time'. This indicates that she had to sacrifice any youthful enjoyment and financial security to care for her children.
I also know she is superstitious from the beginning of the play when she says "new shoes on the table, get them off!" This is used against her later on in the play multiple time. It also leads to the killing of her children. She is very poor and can't even afford to pay the milkman amd gets threatened to have her belongings repossessed. although, the council out