Language & Imagery

Dennis Kelly's language in DNA is very different from the elaborate verse of Shakespeare. It is naturalistic, fragmented, and often banal — characters speak in broken sentences, interruptions, and repetitions. This is a deliberate choice, and understanding it is essential for AO2 (analysis of language, form, and structure).

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Naturalistic Dialogue

Features of Kelly's Dialogue

Feature	Example / Description
Sentence fragments	Characters rarely speak in complete sentences
Overlapping speech	Mark and Jan finish each other's sentences
Repetition	Characters repeat words and phrases under stress
Interruptions	Characters talk over and cut across each other
Colloquial register	Everyday, informal language — slang, contractions
Pauses and silence	Phil's silence; deliberate pauses in group scenes
Lack of stage directions	Kelly provides minimal instructions for actors

Why Naturalistic Dialogue Matters

Kelly's dialogue mimics real teenage speech. This has several effects:

1. Realism — the characters sound authentic, making the moral dilemmas more immediate.
2. Accessibility — the language is easy to understand, removing any barrier between audience and theme.
3. Contrast — the mundane, everyday register contrasts shockingly with the horrifying subject matter.
4. Characterisation — each character's speech patterns reveal their psychology.

Examiner's tip: When analysing language in DNA, focus on what is not said as much as what is. Pauses, silences, and incomplete sentences are as meaningful as spoken words.

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Silence and Speech

The contrast between silence (Phil) and speech (Leah) is the play's central linguistic opposition:

Silence (Phil)	Speech (Leah)
Powerful — others project meaning onto it	Powerless — her words change nothing
Minimal — only speaks to give instructions	Excessive — she talks compulsively
Controlled	Uncontrolled, streams of consciousness
Hides inner life	Reveals inner life completely
Associated with action (plans)	Associated with ideas (philosophy)

Examiner's tip: This opposition is fundamental. Write: "Kelly subverts the expectation that speech equals power. In DNA, Phil's silence is more powerful than Leah's torrent of words — suggesting that in a morally bankrupt environment, those who speak truth are ignored while those who say nothing are obeyed."

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Leah's Monologues

Leah's extended speeches are the play's most linguistically rich passages. They serve as thematic commentary disguised as rambling:

Bonobo Speech (Section 1)

Leah tells Phil about bonobos — apes that are genetically close to humans but resolve conflict peacefully.

Surface level	Thematic significance
Leah is making conversation	She is asking whether violence is inherent in human nature
She is showing off her knowledge	She is desperately seeking Phil's engagement
It seems like a tangent	It is the play's central philosophical question

Happiness Speech

Leah asks Phil whether he is happy and discusses what happiness means.

Surface level	Thematic significance
Casual conversation topic	Can anyone in the group ever be happy after what they have done?
Leah seeking connection	Happiness requires authentic human relationships — which Phil refuses

Self-Harm Threat (Section 3)

Leah threatens to set fire to herself.

Surface level	Thematic significance
A desperate bid for attention	Language has failed — only physical destruction might provoke a response
Escalation of Leah's distress	When words cannot communicate, the body becomes the last resort

Examiner's tip: Always analyse Leah's monologues at both levels. Write: "Leah's seemingly random monologue about bonobos is, in fact, the play's most direct engagement with its central theme. By discussing whether our closest genetic relatives are capable of peace, Leah implicitly asks whether the group's violence is a choice or an inevitability."

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Euphemism and Evasion

One of the most important linguistic features in DNA is the characters' use of euphemism — saying something indirectly to avoid confronting its reality.

What they say	What they mean
"it"	Adam's death / the cover-up
"the thing"	The crime they committed
"deal with"	Dispose of / silence
"finish this"	Kill Adam
John Tate bans the word "dead"	If we do not name it, it is not real

Why Euphemism Matters

Euphemistic language is a moral avoidance strategy:

• If you do not say "murder," you do not have to think of yourself as a murderer.
• If you say "finish this" instead of "kill him," the act seems more like completing a task than taking a life.
• Language shapes thought — by controlling language, the group controls its own moral awareness.

Examiner's tip: Euphemism is one of the most important AO2 features in DNA. Write: "Kelly shows how language can be used to evade moral reality. Phil's phrase 'we need to finish this' transforms the act of murder into a bureaucratic task — the euphemism enables the group to contemplate the unthinkable by refusing to name it."

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Repetition

Characters frequently repeat words and phrases, especially under stress:

Type of repetition	Effect
Words repeated within a speech	Shows panic, inability to process, loss of control
Phrases repeated across scenes	Creates patterns and echoes — structural cohesion
Leah repeating "What are you thinking?"	Shows her obsession with Phil's inner life
Characters echoing each other	Suggests groupthink — individuality being erased

Examiner's tip: Repetition is easy to identify and analyse. Always connect it to character psychology: "The repetition of [word/phrase] reveals [character]'s [emotional state], suggesting that..."

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Mark and Jan's Shared Dialogue

Mark and Jan speak in a distinctive pattern — alternating fragments that together form complete thoughts:

MARK: So we went —
JAN: Up to the —
MARK: Yeah, and —
JAN: He was —
MARK: Just sitting there.

This shared speech pattern has several effects:

1. Loss of individual identity — their voices merge into one.
2. Choral function — they resemble a Greek chorus, reporting rather than acting.
3. Fragmentation of truth — no single person has the complete story.
4. Naturalism — this is how friends often speak, finishing each other's thoughts.

Examiner's tip: Mark and Jan's shared dialogue is an excellent AO2 point. Write: "Kelly's use of shared, fragmented dialogue between Mark and Jan dramatises the erosion of individual identity within the group. Their voices are indistinguishable — they have become a single reporting mechanism rather than two distinct people."

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Imagery and Symbolism

Although DNA lacks the elaborate imagery of Shakespeare, Kelly uses several recurring symbols:

Food

Symbol	Character	Significance
Ice cream	Phil	Mundane normality contrasted with crisis
Waffles	Phil	Consistent self-consumption while others suffer
Crisps	Phil	Eating as emotional absence / refusal to engage

The Woods

Symbol	Significance
The woods	Where Adam fell — the site of the original crime
	Where the cover-up is planned and executed
	Where Adam is hidden — the place of concealment and darkness
	A traditional literary symbol for moral confusion (cf. Dante)

The Grille / Shaft

Symbol	Significance
The grille	The boundary between safety and danger — Adam crossed it
	A barrier that failed — the group's moral boundaries also fail
	Physical depth reflecting moral descent

DNA Itself

Symbol	Significance
DNA	Forensic evidence (literal) — used to frame the innocent man
	Human nature (metaphorical) — is violence in our DNA?
	Identity (scientific) — DNA defines who we are

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Tone and Register

Kelly maintains a consistently colloquial register throughout the play. There is no elevated or poetic language — even the most horrifying moments are described in everyday terms.

Effect of colloquial register	Example
Makes the horror more immediate	Murder is discussed in the same tone as homework
Prevents emotional distance	The audience cannot retreat into poetic language
Reflects the characters' youth	These are teenagers — they speak like teenagers
Creates dark comedy	The gap between tone and content is often grimly funny