Blue Remembered Hills Scene 13 (Hayleigh & Portia)

Scene 13

 

Scene 13 depicts the interactions between Peter and Donald, as Peter enters the barn where Donald is hiding. Peter is upset and angry, having just lost his fight with John, and therefore is looking to reassert his reputation by bullying someone weaker than him. Donald, on the other hand, is very cautious- watching Peter from his hiding place before greeting him- and is eager to avoid a fight. Due to this, and Peter being larger physically, there is a clear imbalance of power in their relationship.

Donald behaves sycophantically at first, but when the story of the jam jars is introduced, his intelligence makes him equal to Peter. Peter’s liking of materialistic things makes him impressed with Donald, so he starts treating him in a more friendly way. However, he still feels the need to prove his superiority so he threatens to blackmail Donald, saying “You’ll go to gaol, won’t you?” and “What’ll you give I (if he doesn’t tell)?”

He goes on to taunt Donald about his father- “Your dad’s missing, ent he? ...Him’s good as dead, then.” Peter fails to realise the impact this has on Donald, demonstrating his immaturity. But when Donald begins to cry, Peter realises how personal this issue is and feels guilty. This could be the development of his superego. He says, “No. I won’t tell…Just wait till we get hold of them Japs.” This shows that Peter still knows his boundaries and is sometimes considerate of his peers’ emotions.

Because Donald is bullied, he goes to extremes to show his worth as a person, usually through arson. One example of this is him setting fire to the coal shed, which he doesn’t seem to regret- “Oy! It was (good)! It was that!” This indicates that actions seen as excessive by other people are more natural to Donald, so his state of mind is slightly different.

Blue Remembered Hills - Scene 11 (Cameron & Leanne)

Scene 11- ‘The Fight’

The most notable aspect of scene 11 in regards to its significance in the play is that it presents to us the first and only physical fight between any of the characters. The fight itself involves Peter and John, two characters who both like to see themselves as the superior person in their group. As to the actual fight itself, it could be seen as the quest for power as well as a tool used to determine and establish who belong where in the hierarchy. Following on from this the sensitivity of how one reacts or empathises is symbolised through Audrey, more specifically in terms of where her loyalties lie and this is influenced by her perception of power: ‘She stops, watching him recede. Her expression changed horribly.’ This shows that her perception of Peter changes as she realises that Peter is the weaker one of the two and hence he becomes in her eyes less ‘powerful’. Maybe one idea that Potter is trying to present through Audrey is power being symbolic of protection. Audrey ‘supports’, gives her loyalty to the one who possess the most power because of her  own insecurities- she doesn’t want to get bullied herself. In this respect you could also see this scene as an allegory of war, in particular the alliances countries make with one another, mainly for their own self-interest in protection.

 

Blue Remembered Hills - your poll

AS Comms - Accents & power

David Crystal is collecting accents from around the country - you can add yourself to his 'this is how I say potato' map by clicking here.

Blue Remembered Hills - Scene 8 Commentary (by Johanna & Margarita)

Scene 8 is significant because it allows us to perceive the characterisation of the girls: “Shall I bash her in for you?” This shows that Audrey wants to be liked by Angela (who plays leader between the two). This is significant because in the scene, there are no male roles, therefore it's seen as Audrey who is taking on the characteristics of a male: showing aggression, “I will smack her in the mouth as well.” The ‘as well’ shows that she craves the importance of being powerful as her looks do not enable her to gain power or control. She also questions herself and Angela “Shall I? , Shall I?” , almost begging for Angela's approval. Scene 8 is also significant because it allows us to perceive the characterisation of Audrey and Angela in comparison to Peter & Willie. Audrey can be seen as the female equivalent of Peter - relying on physical power, rather than the intelligence and wit of Willie.

AS Comms - Language, self-presentation & power

About a year ago, it was reported by the BBC that one of the Harris Academy schools in South London had decided to ban certain words from being used in classrooms and corridors (see above).

Why do you think the school took this decision?

Click here to listen to Lindsay Johns argue a similar point.

Blue Remembered Hills - what the critics say

Remember that one of the key ways we are being assessed for our coursework is how sensitively and confidently we can think about and use other audience readings of the text. We are critics but we are not the only critics. Our interpretation matters (hugely) but so does an awareness of how other people may interpret the text. These articles below are a good start for you - you will probably end up quoting from some of them in your coursework:

Click here to read 'Potterland' - BRH is commented on in Section 2.

Click here to read a review from The Guardian of a stage version of the drama.

Click here to read a review from the BFI of the original drama.

This next one is a challenging read but there are some really interesting points made about BRH:

Click here to read an extract from Paul Ferguson's book on Potter.