Character Analysis — Supporting Characters

While Mickey and Eddie are the central figures, the supporting characters in Blood Brothers are essential to understanding Russell's themes. Each one reveals something about class, power, superstition, or the forces that shape the twins' fates.

---

Mrs Johnstone

Overview

Aspect	Detail
Class	Working class
Role	Biological mother of both Mickey and Eddie
Key traits	Warm, loving, superstitious, self-sacrificing, powerless
Arc	Hopeful young woman → overburdened mother → grief-stricken

Character Analysis

Mrs Johnstone is the emotional heart of the play. She is warm, generous, and loves all her children deeply — but she is trapped by poverty.

"We went dancing... he said I was sexier than Marilyn Monroe"

The Marilyn Monroe motif establishes Mrs Johnstone as a dreamer whose hopes have been crushed by circumstance. Like Marilyn, she is a woman whose glamour and vitality are destroyed by the harsh realities of her world.

Her powerlessness

Mrs Johnstone's defining characteristic is her lack of power. She cannot resist Mrs Lyons because: