Other Characters (Scottish Highers English): Revision Notes

Other Characters

Alec and Isa

Alec's weakness

Alec functions as a foil to John Morrison, highlighting John's strengths by embodying his weaknesses. The play presents Alec and Isa as a dysfunctional contrast to John and Maggie's relationship. Where John struggles to maintain his dignity despite unemployment, Alec lacks any such resilience. He is fundamentally lazy and feeble, unable to take responsibility for himself or his marriage. His response to marital problems mirrors John's violent reaction to Jenny, as Alec lashes out (sometimes violently) when provoked by his recalcitrant wife. However, while John's violence stems from frustrated pride, Alec's aggression comes from weakness and dependency.

Maggie describes Alec as "delicate," a word that suggests both physical frailty and emotional fragility. His entire identity depends on Isa, and he cannot cope with the possibility of her abandoning him. This extreme dependency has made him emotionally immature and manipulative.

Isa's independence

Isa presents a complicated picture of female independence within the play's social context. Although she possesses a strong spirit and refuses to be controlled by Alec, Stewart portrays her as an almost grotesque character. This description suggests something disturbing or unnatural about her assertiveness, reflecting the play's complex attitude toward women who reject traditional roles.

The household dynamics reveal Isa's dominant position in her marriage. She is constantly admonishing Alec, reversing the expected gender hierarchy. However, Stewart complicates our response to Isa by making her disliked by most and showing her being constantly rude to Maggie. This behaviour alienates audience sympathy, suggesting that while Isa has escaped her husband's control, she has not gained genuine respect or happiness.

Crucially, Isa's version of independence proves shallow and limited. She does not seek genuine equality or self-sufficiency. Instead, she is "prepared merely to leave one marriage to find another man who can provide for her financially." This reveals that Isa has not rejected patriarchal structures but simply wants to trade one male provider for another. Her declaration "she likes a man tae be a man. Staun up for hissel" exposes her traditional values. She desires conventional masculinity and male authority, but finds Alec lacking these qualities. The phrase "Staun up for hissel" emphasises her desire for a man who can assert dominance and financial control. Her criticism of her feeble husband confirms that she wants a stronger version of patriarchal protection, not liberation from it.

Granny

Burden and mistreatment

Granny's character represents "the plight of the elderly" within impoverished working-class families. The play demonstrates how economic hardship creates impossible situations where even beloved family members become burdens. Granny is shunted between Maggie and Lizzie's house, suggesting she has no stable home of her own. The verb "shunted" implies she is moved around like an object, without agency or consideration for her preferences. Neither daughter can adequately care for her, and neither truly wants the responsibility.

Granny's awareness of her situation creates pathos. She recognises her lack of purpose within the family, and the audience often sees her whining and rocking, physical movements suggesting distress and lack of control. Her repeated wish "Oh, it's time I wisna here!" expresses her desire for death as an escape from her burdensome existence. This line reveals the psychological impact of feeling unwanted and useless.

Revealing other characters

Granny functions as a device to expose the moral qualities of those around her. How characters treat someone vulnerable and powerless reveals their true nature. Isa treats her with disrespect, confirming our negative impression of Isa's character. Similarly, Lizzie shows herself to be mercenary and self-interested, being only interested in her money. These are both characters that do not engender sympathy from the audience, and their treatment of Granny reinforces our judgment of them.

Comic relief and insight

Despite her pathetic situation, Granny offers moments of comic relief that provide emotional respite from the play's tension. When Maggie feels hurt by Lily's reaction to her new hat, Granny creates a distraction by dropping her biscuit into her tea. This physical comedy lightens the atmosphere at a crucial moment.

The neighbours

Greek chorus function

Mrs Wilson, Mrs Bone and Mrs Harris serve as a Greek chorus in the play. This classical theatrical reference indicates their structural function within the drama. Like a Greek chorus, they stand outside the main action while commenting on events. They are not part of the Morrison household and yet they flit in and out of it. This physical movement between inside and outside positions them as observers who can provide perspective on the family's situation.

The neighbours perform multiple functions simultaneously. They help practically with tasks like helping with Granny, demonstrating the mutual support networks within tenement communities. They also provide commentaries on the events, interpreting and judging what happens to the Morrison family. Additionally, they bring the outside world into the setting, connecting the domestic space to the broader community. When they deliver news such as the collapse of Alec's flat, they introduce external events that impact the family's circumstances.

Community dynamics

The neighbours embody the contradictions of tenement life. They represent the community of the tenements and how folk would lend a hand one minute and gossip about you the next. This duality captures the reality of close-knit communities where proximity creates both solidarity and conflict. People depend on their neighbours for practical help and emotional support, yet the same closeness enables judgment and the spreading of private information.

Questioning moral authority

The play subtly questions whether the neighbours have moral authority to judge the Morrisons. All three women are married to men who exist off stage, and it is implied that they too have difficult lives to which they return. This suggests their own domestic situations may be troubled, undermining their position as critics of the Morrison family.

Mrs Harris's husband provides a telling example. In Act III, he appears only as an aggressive voice, thudding on the door and shouting through it "Is ma wumman there? Well, tell her tae get the Hell oot o it. I'm wantin some atten-shun." The violent pounding and demanding tone reveal controlling, possibly abusive behaviour. To a modern audience, this appears as almost comic, Neanderthal behaviour, so primitive and excessive that it becomes absurd. The misspelt "atten-shun" emphasises his lack of sophistication while also suggesting the aggressive tone in which he shouts.

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