Nature vs nurture

• “you learn filth from them and behave like this, like a, like a horrible little boy, like them“ Mrs Lyon’s Act 1

  context:

  Referring to Edward playing with Mickey and the working class children. they will negatively influence him

  Analysis:

  Russell suggests nature is a factor in our identities and suggests the inevitable connection of family, despite Mrs Lyons attempt to keep the twins apart, she is unable to defy nature. He suggests Edwards upbringing is sheltered. Mrs Lyons use of the pronoun ‘them‘ divides the classes showing Edwards upbringing as isolated.
• “you learn filth from them and behave like this, like a, like a horrible little boy, like them” Mrs Lyon’s Act 1

  Analysis part 2:

  The words ‘filth‘ and ‘horrible’ suggests Mrs Lyon’s strong negative judgment on the working class. Russell shows Mrs Lyons attitude to nurture: that she believes in the influence and impact of upbringing when she tells Edward he will learn from the children.
• ”I wish I could still believe in all that blood brother stuff. But I can’t, because while no one was looking, I grew up” Mickey Act 2

  context:

  The relationship of the twins becomes strained in act 2 when Edward returns from university, confident and secure, Mickey has just lost his job at the factory. Mickey refers back to the moment they became blood brother. Mickey tells Edward that his different upbringing made him grow up faster, facing more challenges than edward had to face
• “I wish I could still believe in all that blood brother stuff. But I can’t, because while no one was looking I grew up“ Mickey Act 2

  analysis:

  mickeys desperate tone highlights his isolation: he feels unsupported and hopeless. His language “I wish” and “but” suggest the difference between his dreams and reality. Mickeys dismissive tone about “blood brother stuff” suggests a bitterness towards Edward stemming from their different upbringings. Russell suggests that mickeys harder upbringing is less sheltered than that of Edward’s middle class upbringing creating barriers
• “As like each other as two new pin/Of one womb born, on the self same day” Narrator Act 1

  context:

  The narrator uses an idiom to compare shiny and identical new pins with the two baby boysAnalysis:This line delivered in the prologue ensures audience knows the depth of connection between the twins due to nature and genetics and allows them to watch this connection tested as the play unfolds. the idiomatic expression ‘like two new pins’ emphasises the boys innocence and similarities: he implies they are unspoilt, foreshadowing the influence of nurture