Humour and Conflict in the scene in which Rita and Barbara Clash from Billy Liar :: Billy Liar Keith Waterhouse Plays Essays

Humour and Conflict in the scene in which Rita and Barbara Clash from Billy Liar Task: ‘Explain how both humour and conflict are created in the scene in which Rita and Barbara clash’ Billy liar is set in 1959, at the time of the teenage rebellion and the start of the swinging sixties. This is reflected in the play because there are still some ‘old Fashioned’ People around i.e. Barbara, which tells me that the ‘new age’ hasn’t affected some people yet. And there are also people like Liz who are really taking to the new style of living. Where the play is set and where the family live tells me that they are quite a ordinary, boring family, if they lived in the middle of the country I would perceive them as being quite adventurous, Billy wants to move out of this normal place because he is not normal, with his strange imagination and random unneeded lies. The furniture in the house is of dreadful taste and the rooms are very over done which tells me that Billy’s parents are not very imaginative which is a contrast of Billy. Billy likes to tell stories that sometimes he wishes were true like when he tells his dad Geoffrey that he had been offered a job in London, I think that this story is bringing up the part of his personality that makes him unable to face reality. He also makes up stories just for the sake of it. For example when he tells Barbara that he had a sister but she died but then covered it up by saying that his parents never talk about it. I think that Billy is a desperate teenager who just engaged to Barbara and Rita so that he could have sex with them and when he found out that Barbara wouldn’t have sex till they were married he tried to make her split up with him by telling her that he had been lying to her. He starts this conversation when he says â€Å"Barbara, I’m glad you asked me that question. About my sister.† I think that when Billy is with Liz he acts more truthfully and doesn’t seem to make stories when he’s with her or when he does she can make him come out with the truth. I know this because Liz says â€Å"(changing the subject) How’s everything with you? How’s the script-writing? How’s the book coming along?† then Billy replies â€Å"(enthusiastically.) Oh, I’ve finished it. It’s going to be published next Christmas. (She gives him a long, steady look.) I haven’t published it yet. The build up to the scene where Rita and Barbara clash starts ever