Tally's Blood: Themes (SQA National 5 English): Revision Note

Below are some themes that could be explored in Ann Marie Di Mambro’s play Tally’s Blood. This list is not exhaustive, and themes often overlap, so consider how these themes may cover other ideas too. 

Here you will find sections on:

• War and nationalism

• Love and marriage

• Cultural identity

War and nationalism

Ann Marie Di Mambro’s play portrays the effects of World War II on an Italian immigrant family living in Scotland. The play explores the responses of different generations to the threat of war. Di Mambro illustrates how war creates conflicts and tensions between the Scottish and Italian communities as a result of nationalism.  

Knowledge and evidence:

• Massimo and Rosinella Pedreschi express fear and concern (the implication is that they have lived through a previous war): 

  • Massimo considers returning to Italy and is angry when Franco enlists with the British army

  • When Franco enlists, Rosinella says: “He could get blown to bits”

• The younger generation respond naively:

  • Franco tells the family: “A lot of the young guys that come into the shop. To hear them talk you’d think they cannie wait”

  • He joins the British army in Act 1 Scene 8

  • Later, it is revealed he is killed in action

• Massimo’s wife, Rosinella, believes they will be safe as hard-working Glaswegian residents

• Massimo thinks the police will protect him, but his fears about the impact of war  are proven correct:

  • A Scottish mob attacks the Pedreschi shop shouting anti-fascist slogans

  • The police arrest Massimo as an “enemy alien”

  • His father is killed on a boat deporting Italians to Canada

What is Di Mambro’s intention?

• Set before and during World War II, Di Mambro’s play explores the destructive impact of war on individuals and families

• The play examines British responses to an Italian family living in Scotland

• Di Mambro raises themes of Scottish/British patriotism 

Love and marriage

The denouement presents love as a force for good, but the play also explores the traditional roles of women in marriage, as well as the challenges of navigating young romance against a backdrop of war and cultural tensions.  

Knowledge and evidence:

• The play demonstrates traditional ideals of marriage:

  • Rosinella cannot read, works in the back shop, and looks after the family

  • Massimo marital role is patriarchal: he gives Rosinella spending money

  • Lucia’s father, Luigi, forces her to work in the house and plans to marry her to a wealthy neighbour to improve his social standing

• Rosinella’s cultural values regarding marriage make her manipulative:

  • She prevents Hughie and Lucia’s romance in favour of Lucia marrying an Italian man, Silvio

  • She tells Lucia: “some day I’ll give you a wedding, I’ll give you a wedding like

  • nobody here has ever seen before”

  • Bridget and Franco carry out their relationship in secret because Rosinella disapproves of him being with a “Scotch” girl

• Lucia and Hughie’s romance is presented as pure:

  • They become ‘blood brothers’

  • Their romance is presented with fairy-tale elements: 

    • Hughie rescues Lucia with a ladder leading up to the upper-storey window of her father’s house

• Rosinella and Lucia rebel against arranged marriages: 

  • It is Rosinella’s own elopement and love marriage to Massimo that drives her to rescue Lucia from an impending arranged marriage in Italy 

  • Her love for Massimo changes her attitudes to Lucia and Bridget’s relationships

What is Di Mambro’s intention?

• Di Mambro’s play portrays changing attitudes to marriage and women’s roles in a mid-twentieth century setting

• The play is a romance that advocates for true love outside of cultural conventions

Cultural identity

The play portrays the immigrant experience through the Pedreschi family. Some characters are desperate to integrate in Scotland while others attempt to maintain their Italian identity. Di Mambro portrays characters’ struggle to belong to two countries. 

Knowledge and evidence:

• The family is keen for Lucia to grow up British:

  • Franco, Massimo, and Rosinella insist Lucia speak English at home

  • Rosinella says if she speaks Italian the children at school will laugh at her

• Massimo is proud of his dual culture, though when war begins he feels displaced:

  • He says, “I always thought I was lucky. I had two countries. Now I feel I’ve got nowhere”

• Rosinella makes comments that show pride in her heritage: “Nobody loves their families like the Italians”:

  • Lucia is embarrassed when Rosinella bargains in a shop: Lucia says, “Nobody else does it”

  • Rosinella says it’s “alright” for her to do it because she’s “Italian”

• Franco is proud of his Italian identity, yet he considers himself British:

  • He speaks in Italian and sings Italian songs

  • He tells Massimo: “I was born here. That makes me British”

• Di Mambro raises themes of prejudice through the natives’ use of derogatory language towards the family:

  • When the mob attacks the shop they call the family “Greasy Tallies”

  • While Bridget loves Franco, she expresses discriminatory attitudes towards Rosinella, referring to “eye-ties”

• In Act 2, when Lucia returns to Italy, she struggles to adapt to the rural environment: 

  • Stage directions show her screaming when she sees a “creepy-crawly”

• Hughie’s visit to Italy is presented comically:

  • Stage directions show him “sunburnt” and he cries in pain

  • He says he only wanted to get a “tan”

What is Di Mambro’s intention?

• Di Mambro uses comedy to present cultural differences 

• Di Mambro presents the importance of language in cultural identity

• The play depicts the immigrant experience: 

  • The older generation desires integration while maintaining cultural values

  • The younger generations face conflicting attitudes to dual culture

Sources:

Di Mambro, Ann Marie. “Tally's Blood.” Association for Scottish Literature (opens in a new tab). (Accessed 12 November 2025)