leah

• thesis

  in dna, by dennis kelly, leah is portrayed as a moral charecter through her deep sense of guilt, empathy, insecurity and the questioning of the groups lack of morality and compassion. unlike the others she constantly reflects on the consequences of their behavior, showing her discomfort with the groups cruel and manipulative plot. through leah’s charecter kelly highlights the struggle between morality and peer pressure , emphasizing the difficulty of standing up for your moral reasonings in an autocratic environment
• act 1 - “what like i talk too much?”


  • highlights her sense of self-consciousness
  • is aware of her actions and hyper conscious to the opinions of others
  • wants to express herself as a likeable, moral charecter
  • relies on phil’s validation but he gives her nothing to go off and remains in complete silence
• act 1- “chimps are evil.they murder each other. did you know that?”


  • scene 4
  • juxtaposition
  • leah contrasts chimps with bonobos
  • she pains a negative description of the chimps representing how she views the fan and their immoral behaviour
  • the gang are reflected like chimps in society
  • the analogy represents society and how we all act like these thuggish, merciless chimps
  • if we knew about bonobos we’d feel inclined to replicate their behavior and be more respectful of others
• act 1- “such sadness in those intelligent eyes”


  • emotive language
  • evokes a strong emotional response
  • emphasises the suffering caused
  • highlights leahs empathy and moral response
  • the alliteration of ”such sadness” creates soft, sorrowful tone
  • mirrors leah’s regretful and reflective mood
• act 2- “it’s like nuclear waste or global warming”


  • simile
  • both of which are long term, disruptive problems as cause of human actions
  • eventually happiness with rot away as consequence of human behavior
  • human actions have serious, irreversible repercussions and take away the freedom of happiness
  • the hyperbole comparing it to global disasters exaggerates the severity of the gangs actions
  • the rest of the gang have a passive approach
  • reflects her growing frustration for the groups refusal to recognise the gravity of the situation
• act 2- “its life that upsets the natural order. it’s us that’s the anomaly“


  • declarative language
  • humanity is at full fault for suffering
  • we weren’t programmed to be nefarious and it’s the way we’ve been nurtured
  • as a result of global events
  • teflecitve that group is at fault for adam’s death
  • no matter how much the group try to shift the blame of frame innocent men they are still responsible
  • collective pronoun “us” shows collective responsibility and the avoidance of guilt
  • deepens her existential thoughts and moral awareness
  • sees the gang, as unnatural and destructive
• act 3- “i’m going. i’m out of here. i’m gone, i’m, i’m, i’m running away phil”


  • scene 2
  • repetition emphasises urgency and distress
  • struggles to fully articulate her feelings highlighting her emotional instability
  • internal panic as she wrestles with the lasting physiological battle of the gangs actions
  • short, fragmented sentences creates a sense of disjointedness, mimicking leah’s emotional state.
  • indicates she is overwhelmed and unable to process her emotions coherently
  • spiralling and unable to keep up woth the chaos surrounding her
• act 3- “well it’s not all roses, you know, brian’s on medication”


  • idiomatic expression
  • things arent easy and perfect
  • leah is the only one to acknowledge that the situation is far from ideal and is in fact fraught with difficulties
  • emphasises leah’s awareness to the grim morality of
  • contrasts the others facades of positive carefree personas
  • brings attention to brian’s physiological state as a result of the geoups corrupt heirarchy
  • leah points out their are deeper unseen problems within the group
  • indicates her awareness to mental and emotional conflicts
• act 3- “as long as you’ve your waffle, who cares”


  • her ironic dismissive attitude shows how leah is frustrated with the shallow, careless attitides of others, specifically phil
  • she emotionally distances herself from the group realising their true lack of compassion and morality
  • the gang are more concerned about trivial matters than the serious consequences of their behaviour
  • she is the moral compass of the play and singles out the harrowing behaviors of phil and the immorality of his plot