Genre
Musical
Setting and Context
The play is set in Liverpool, England in the period between the 1960s and 1980s.
Narrator and Point of View
The play is written from a third-person point of view. The narrator appears as a character in the story, singing songs and sometimes adopting the role of figures like the milkman.
Tone and Mood
The tone of the play is tragic. The mood of the play is ominous and unsettling.
Protagonist and Antagonist
The protagonists of the play are Mickey and Eddie. The antagonist is Mrs. Lyons.
Major Conflict
The main conflict of the narrative is the traumatic aftermath of Mickey and Eddie being separated at birth.
Climax
The climax occurs when Mickey rushes to the town hall to kill Mickey.
Foreshadowing
Eddie gives Mickey a toy gun, foreshadowing the two acts of gun violence that end their lives.
Understatement
N/A
Allusions
The play alludes to the movie star Marilyn Monroe, the films Bridge Over River Kwai and Doctor Zhivago, and various English superstitions.
Imagery
N/A
Paradox
N/A
Parallelism
There is clear parallelism between Eddie and Mickey as they are identical twins but have radically different lives as a result of their class backgrounds. There is also parallelism between Mrs. Lyons and Mrs. Johnstone. Mrs. Lyons gets to raise Eddie but feels separated from him by blood, while Mrs. Johnstone is physically separated from him but shares a blood relation with him.
Metonymy and Synecdoche
N/A
Personification
The lines referring to the devil personify the cruelty of fate and destiny.
