Blue Remembered Hills
Blue Remembered Hills – coursework essay.How Does Dennis Potter Represent Childhood In His Play – Blue Remembered Hills? The title of the play – Blue Remembered Hills comes from a line in A.E. Houseman’s poem that is quoted at the very end of the play. This poem is used because its ironic, it talks about childhood being “The Happy Highways” when most part of the play has been virtually the opposite. The play was about death, war and destruction. It was set during world war two and the opening line is a young boy imitating gunfire from an aeroplane which is the shot down and crashes. He (Willie) then say’s “Then be all dead. Dead, dead, burnt to nothing”. A lot of the play is also about hoe the children are in competition with each other – (Peter)- “Shut thee chops, Willie. I’m number two a’ter Wallace and don’t you forget it.” The poem gives a very nostalgic view, longing to be a child again – “This shows irony as it is spoken almost immediately after the death of a child (Donald burnt to death in the barn) which was partly the fault of the other children who would not let him escape from the barn as it burnt down. Donald’s childhood, unlike the poem, would not have been one which an adu . . .
Willie – Nobody never had, I’ll bet. Interestingly, Donald never leaves the barn during the whole of the play, even when he wants to at the end of the play (because the other children wont let him), this could be because it is a place where he can hide from everything and everyone and somewhere where he feels secure and safe. The play doesn’t give a nostalgic view, but a “realistic” view of childhood behaviour, such as the forming and breaking of alliances amongst a group of children. Donald also acts intimidated and scared, especially when he is with Peter and tries to agree with everything he says and to say things himself which he thinks Peter wants to hear, so he can get on the good side of him. Willie is a very innocent and naïve character and is fairly happy for the most part. Peter is quite an aggressive person and a bit of a bully to Willie at the beginning. -“Peter pins Willie to the ground, planting his knees hard on Willie’s chest. lt would have longed for as his mother in the play would beat him. “(Angela)- (talking about Donald) Yes an’ he hit’s me. Raymond is shown as caring and kind – “scene 4 ( the boys, except Donald , are trying to catch and ultimately kill a squirrel) Raymond – W-Why don’t we l-l-leave it al-lul-lone-? Peter- Hark at him! John and Willie (singing together) – When the mum-moonshines over the cuc-cowshed…” This shows as he isn’t keen to kill the squirrel he is a merciful boy, it also shows, Raymond as a bit of an outsider, someone who the others pick on because of his stutter. Donald is a very unhappy child and is clearly distressed, even disturbed.
Common topics in this essay:
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Acceptance Essays
