Billy Liar

Billy Liar

The play 'Billy Liar' was first produced in London on 13th September

1960. Originally a novel, it was adapted by Willis Hall and Keith

Waterhouse for performance.

Billy the main character in the performance lives in a lower middle

class family and is subconsciously trapped by their social class.

Billy is an imaginative youth who indulges in daydreams and escapism,

but cannot fulfil his fantasies due to the restriction of his social

culture.

In modern society Billy would have been more likely to fulfil his

dreams as generally family and social restrictions have changed since

the 1960s and movement away from the family unit is more accepted.

In the play Billy has the possibility of moving to London and

fulfilling his dream to become a scriptwriter. The first person Billy

confronts with this idea is his family in Act 1. The family: his

mother (Alice), his father (Geoffrey) and his Grandmother (Florence)

express disbelief. The way the family interacts and influences Billy

can be seen as barriers and doorways. Barriers are a verbal or

physical influence stopping Billy from moving to London, but the

doorways are ideas that push Billy to fulfil his dreams.

In Act 1 Billy is late for breakfast and complains it is cold.

Florence retorts 'When we had eggs. We were lucky to get them.'

Indicating that Florence and Billy hold different values. The quote

refers to Florence's past and also she refers to 'When I was a girl.'

This shows the generation gap and the different values held between

her and Billy. The family find it difficult to understand that life

changes thus preventing Billy from fulfilling his fantasies in thi...

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... that Tom

Courtney's interpretation fits with Albert Finney's idea of Billy. In

the film there are clips that show Billy's dreams. The film confirms

that Billy was committed to carry out his dreams when he agreed to go

to London with Liz. However the death of Florence and the heart to

heart talk with his mother made him realise his value in the family

unit.

Overall the play shows us that at this point in Billy's life he is not

yet able to break through the barriers holding him in Stradhoughton

and restricting him. Billy has been subject to social conditioning and

to him Stradhoughton and his family is his entire life (even thought

he does not like it). He knows he cannot ignore his life in

Stradhoughton even though he wants to and in time he may regret his

decision. He is not yet capable of fulfilling his dreams.