Special Sub-Topic: Play Quotations Click Here To Play: Play Quotations

'Karl Marx should be a set book for the Sixth!'

Tommy Judd in 'Another Country'. Judd was the communist schoolboy in 'Another Country' by Julien Mitchell, set in a boys' boarding school in the 1930s. A film adaption was made which had Colin Firth playing Judd.

'What can you do but grab at life with both hands until your fingers are broken?'

Carol Cutrere in 'Orpheus Descending'. 'Orpheus Descending', one of Tennessee Williams' less successful works, was made into a film in 1960 called 'The Fugitive Kind' - the name of the earlier draft of the play.

'O'er the half-world nature grows weary.'

Macbeth in 'Macbeth'. Well, it was guessably Shakespeare. This is part of Macbeth's soliloquy starting with the famous line: 'Is this a dagger which I see before me?'

'Justice is very important here.'

Alfieri in 'A View From The Bridge'. Justice is one of the main themes in Arthur Miller's brilliant play. Alfieri's view of justice is the law and unfortunately some of the other characters disagree, which ultimately results in disaster.

'Living with somebody you love can be lonelier than living entirely alone when the one you love doesn't love you.'

Maggie in 'Cat On A Hot Tin Roof'. This fabulous play by Tennessee Williams was bowdlerised in the 1958 movie because of all the references to Brick's homeosexuality. The film is still very enjoyable though, and those who watch the film before watching/reading the play will notice a big difference.

'They might have left me my toothbrush!'

Garcin in 'Huis Clos'. All the people in the options die, but Garcin is already dead at the start of the play. This complaint is made when he enters Hell. At the end of the play he concludes: 'Hell is other people'. For those confused, the play is known by five different titles: 'Huis Clos', 'In Camera', 'No Exit', 'No Way Out' and 'Dead End'.

'If you can't bear the thought of messing up your nice, tidy soul, you better give up the whole idea of life and become a saint, because you'll never make it as a human being.'

Jimmy in 'Look Back in Anger'. Very good play, written by John Osborne. Jimmy is a misogynistic ranting man who wants to escape his working-class prison.

'How does one drowning man help another drowning man?'

Brick in 'Cat On A Hot Tin Roof'. Poor Brick. His friend, who he loved, died of alcoholism and then Brick becomes an alcoholic too. Tennessee Williams wrote this fabulous play.

'We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other.'

Inspector Goole in 'An Inspector Calls'. Play by J.B Priestly, often studied for GCSE (a school exam taken by 14-15 year olds in England)

'The Devil is precise; the marks of his presence are definite as stone.'

Reverand Hale in 'The Crucible'. "The Crucible" is a play by Arthur Miller, set in Salem in the 1600s. The play is about witchcraft and there is a famous part where Abigail and her friends claim seeing a long list of the town's women at their ritual: 'I saw Goody Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with Devil! I saw Goody Bishop with the Devil!...'