The Importance Of Carol As A Character in Willy Russell's Our Day Out
The play, "Our Day Out" was written by Willy Russell in 1976, set in
Liverpool. Willy Russell was born in 1947 near Liverpool, he has also
written other plays such as, Educating Rita, Shirley Valentine and
Blood Brothers. The play "Our Day Out" was originally written for
television and was televised on BBC 2, 1977. It is a celebration of
the joys and agonies of growing up and being footloose, fourteen and
free from school. But this is more than a romp - it points up the
depressing present and empty future for these comprehensive no-hopers
from the backstreets of Liverpool, for whom a day out is as much as
they can expect. Willy was once a teacher for a while, this is
significant because he knows what he is writing about. He knows a lot
more depth, detail and understanding of the children in the play.
Willy is concerned that the system in schools is failing pupils. This
is what the play is trying to show and prove that point. The play is
about Mrs Kay's "Progress Class", who are children from poor/deprived
backgrounds and who are not very clever, are unleashed for a day's
coach trip to Conway Castle and the Zoo in Wales. The character I will
be focusing on in this play is Carol and how Willy Russell uses her in
this play. The play has meaning today, as there are children living
like this now. Which shows and proves Willy Russell's point, that we
to get something done about this.
Paragraph Two
Carol is the first person we see on stage. In Willy Russell's stage
directions he makes it clear that Carol is going to be a significant
character in the play. He lets e...
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...n that she is not very cleaver, "Is that in
England, Miss?". There are quote from the play such as, "She is eating
half a sandwich and clutching a supermarket carrier bag" this makes
the audience want to help Carol as they can see it's not actually her
fault. Towards the end in the cliff scene specifically we see that
Carol knows what her life is like but they is nothing much she can do
about it, "Sir if you'd been my old feller I would have been aright".
She thinks if someone like Mr Briggs had given her a chance in life
she would have succeeded. The audience realises that Carol has tried
and is trying to make the best of her life, unlike some of the other
pupils with her. Willy Russell has used Carol in the play to influence
the audience. The irony is that Carol won't progress, the sad thing is
that Carol knows this.
In conclusion I think that the stage directions and dramatic irony are significant to the play, and without them there would be no need for a lot of the events that happen in the play.
Linda is a woman in an awkward situation, she is a character driven by desperation and fear. She knows all the problems that are occurring in the house but I feel bad for her because every time she tries to speak she
The main characters in this play are Willy Lowman, his wife Linda Lowman, and his two sons Biff and Happy. Happy is a successful business man who enjoys women and the fast paced life of the city. Biff has recently returned home because he cannot keep a steady job and does not know what he wants to do with his life yet. Growing up, Biff was obviously the favorite due to his good looks and great athletic ability. As time grew on, Biff’s ambitions faded and his father’s fondness grew to disappointment. Willy also feels as if his family does ...
When looking back over her life, so far, she says not a bad life. Then again she’s not done yet and hopes to have another good ten years. I leave you with her life’s message.
In this essay I shall be writing about why I agree that with the play,
The play is based loosely on fact but more importantly it is set in a
There are many examples of psychological action in this play. One of the best examples is the scene between Willy and Howard when Willy loses his job. Being a salesman is all that Willy has ever known. He knew it wasn’t the most respectable job, but it put food on the table. Willy goes in to tell Howard that he does not want to travel anymore. Howard tells him that there are no other positions available for him. Willy offers to take several pay cuts, but Howard will not give him another job. At this point Willy has realized that he just lost everything that his boys respected him for. After this he starts hallucinating about the opportunity that he has to go to Alaska and make money. Because he can no longer make a living and support his children he begins to think about killing himself so that Linda could pay off the house with the money she would get from the life insurance policy. He believes that they need the money more than they need him.
Review of Our Day Out by Willy Russell 'Our day out is an interesting play based on a school trip with a
her life has been ruined due to one mistake and how she has become an
...s killing us!” (p.56). This contrast between the two views enhances the audience’s understanding of the play.
Good acting is essential to any good performance. The actors and actresses have to try to make what the audience is seeing and hearing come alive. The four characters in the play “Proof” are able to do this. The meaning and purpose behind the play is easily understood because the actors and actresses do such a fine job in their performances.
This play shows the importance of the staging, gestures, and props making the atmosphere of a play. Without the development of these things through directions from the author, the whole point of the play will be missed. The dialog in this play only complements the unspoken. Words definitely do not tell the whole story.
...s personal failure and betrayal of his soul and family through the meticulously constructed artifice of his life. He cannot grasp the true personal, emotional, spiritual understanding of himself as a literal “loman” or “low man.” Willy is too driven by his own “willy”-ness or perverse “willfulness” to recognize the slanted reality that his desperate mind has forged. Still, many critics, focusing on Willy’s entrenchment in a quagmire of lies, delusions, and self-deceptions, ignore the significant accomplishment of his partial self-realization. Willy’s failure to recognize the anguished love offered to him by his family is crucial to the climax of his torturous day, and the play presents this incapacity as the real tragedy. Despite this failure, Willy makes the extreme sacrifice in his attempt to leave an inheritance that will allow Biff to fulfill the American Dream.
...but as Willy slowly slips farther into his illusions, the stage directions signal “The Woman’s laugh is heard” (40). Willy is completely immersed in this slight flashback of The Woman, but then is confused and yells at everyone around him. This chaos ensues directly as a result of Willy’s confusion between what is reality and what is his imagination. During the intense argument at the restaurant between Biff and Willy, the stage direction directs “The Woman laughs, off left” (113). Not only does this laugh symbolize turmoil and bad times in Willy’s life, but it also triggers Willy’s fall into another of his many occurring flashbacks. Without this theme of illusion and reality, the atmosphere of these flashbacks would not have such a withstanding effect on the play.
The characters of the play are in no way able to comprehend what may lie