With particular reference to Act 1, show how Brighouse presents
a comic but honest view of family life, set in late 19th century
Salford.
Hobson’s choice is an interesting and enjoyable play, which
uses a fair amount of comedy to keep the audience engaged. The
audience can really connect with the characters, as they are very
realistic and are placed in real-life situations. The comic element
comes in regularly, in the form of just one-off, funny lines, or
even complete comic situations and themes.
Although the play is set in late 19th century, the themes are
still relevant today, which shows that although some things may
evolve over time, people and their opinions are still the same, and
so the audience can relate to the play, which is another reason why
Hobson’s Choice is so enjoyable.
“Hobson’s Choice” is proverbial, stemming from the 17th century;
to have “Hobson’s choice” is to have no choice at all. I think that
understanding this is a key element in understanding the play, as
all of the themes of the play arise from one of the main five
characters having “Hobson’s choice”.
The play is set in late 19th century Salford, which although
it does not tell you in the play, the audience can guess
immediately, just from the setting. The play begins in Hobson’s
Boot Shop, which is a clue straight away, as boot shops are not
very common today, and have been replaced by shoe shops and trainer
shops. Another clue are “the cane chairs” in front of the counter,
where “the ordinary people sit for fitting”, because today benches
would be placed randomly around the store for everyone to sit on.
There is a separate room “for very important customers”, but today
they would use the benches, the same as everyone else, or go to a
different store. Another clue would be the door leading to the
house, implying that the Hobsons live there, which is not so
commonly practiced today.
If these were not enough clues, the objects inside the shop
all suggest late 19th century; for example, “the gas brackets in
the windows and walls”, and “the clogs on exhibit in the windows”.
Alice and Vickey’s actions and dress also suggest a late 19th
century setting, as Alice, only 23, is knitting – not an activity
which is commonly pursued by the modern young woman – and the pair
are wearing aprons for working in a shoe shop.
Although Hobson’s Choice consists of four Acts, each of these
is comprised of several little scenes. Although these are not
official, Brighouse has made it obvious that they are there, and
they are often marked by the entrance and exit of a character.
Brighouse teaches the audience a lot about his characters in
the first Act, and he sets up their personalities and roles to make
it easier to digest when their true functions are revealed, and
right from the beginning of the play, Brighouse gives the audience
an idea as to what the characters of Hobson and his three daughters
– Maggie, Alice and Vickey – are like. Maggie is a bossy, moody
character, and Brighouse uses the first scene to introduce this to
the audience in a conversation between her and Alice; the audience
can grasp these characteristics in Maggie from her sharp, snappy
response to Alice. For example;
“Alice: I hoped it was father going out.
‘”Maggie: It isn’t”.
Maggie is very blunt and matter-of-fact when she is talking
to her sisters, as she proves again when she says “He got up late”,
in response to another statement from Alice about their father.
Brighouse has chosen subtle, yet effective, methods in broadening
the audience’s knowledge of the characters in Hobson’s Choice early
in the play, and the characters of Maggie, Alice and Vickey are no
exception to this. From the fact that Maggie is reading an account
book, whilst Alice and Vickey are knitting and reading, the
audience know instantly that Maggie is the one bothered about the
business out of the three of them, and that Alice and Vickey would
probably rather be out doing other things.
Maggie is blunt in every aspect of her life, and it is traits
like this found in all of the characters in Hobson’s Choice that
adds to the play’s honesty – none of the characters are perfect,
but they do try their best to use their flaws and traits to their
advantage. Brighouse uses a metaphor to show Maggie’s bluntness in
a conversation between Maggie and her two sisters. Maggie says “See
that slipper with a fancy buckle on it to make it look pretty?
Courting’s like that my lass. All glitter and no use to nobody”,
and this sums up what Maggie thinks about marriage, love and life.
In terms of marriage and love, Brighouse is telling the audience
that Maggie doesn’t want to date somebody first, she just wants to
marry them.
Also, she is not interested in a fancy man, with expensive
clothes, lots of money and good looks as it is “only glitter”; she
would rather find somebody genuine, marry him, and then get to know
him. Already, Brighouse is building reason for why Maggie would
want to marry a man such as this, so the audience can look back on
this, and it will help them to understand why Maggie and Willie, at
first glance such an unlikely couple, are together. Again, the fact
that Maggie is very honest in how she speaks helps to convey the
way that Brighouse has created such an honest view of family life.
As the audience have already learnt, Maggie is very bossy,
and so Brighouse has used the next scene to confirm this. It also
introduces Albert, so that the audience know that he likes Alice,
and to introduce the shop, and show the audience that Vickey and
Alice are not interested in it.
The scene shows Maggie confronting Alice’s boyfriend, Albert
Prosser. They all know why Albert has gone come into the shoe shop
– to visit his ‘girlfriend’, Alice – but they all put on a front,
and act like he is a normal customer coming in to buy some boots;
it becomes clear that Albert really does not want to purchase
anything. Maggie, however, keeping up the pretence that Albert has
come in to actually shop, starts forcing Albert to buy something,
so he pretends that he has come in for some shoe laces. To his
surprise, Maggie asks Albert, “What size do you take in boots?”, to
which he innocently answers, “Does that matter to the laces?”.
Albert does not realise what Maggie is getting at, until Maggie
replies, “It matters to the boots”, and before he knows it, Albert
is being pushed down into one of the seats and having his boots
taken off and replaced with new ones.
Brighouse also impresses early that Alice and Vickey are very
fashionable, which Hobson is not very keen on; he wants his
daughters to look nice but smart and ladylike. For example, Vickey
and Alice “had new dresses on last week”, which shows that they
want to look good, but Hobson says “I like to see my daughters look
nice. That’s why I pay Mr Tudsbury, the draper, �10 a year a head
to dress you proper. It pleases the eye and it’s good for the
trade”. Clearly he doesn’t like his daughters parading around
making fools of themselves and him, which is exactly what he thinks
they are doing by dressing like that. Brighouse shows this again,
when Hobson euphemises “You were going down Chapel Street with a
hump added to nature behind you”, which shows that he is
uncomfortable with the situation and the way his daughters are
dressing, as he is playing around with what he wants to say,
because he does not know quite how to say it.
Later in this conversation between Hobson and his two
youngest daughters, Alice says “it is not immodest, father. It’s
the fashion to wear bustles”, which shows that Alice and Vickey are
fashionable, but their father is not concerned by this, only that
they are dressing in this manner, which he describes as
“uppishness” “the occupation of fools and such as have no brains”.
This conversation also shows the age gap between Hobson and his
daughters, and the fact that Alice and Vickey are still being
controlled by their father, despite the fact that they are 23 and
21, links with one of the themes of the play – the role of women in
society. With reference to the title, this is a great example of
the typical, honest situations that Brighouse has used throughout
Hobson’s Choice, which is why it is such an honest, realistic play.
It is because the characters and the situations that they find
themselves in are so realistic that the play comes across as so
honest.
Straight away, Brighouse also lets the audience know that
Hobson likes a drink, which is something that features throughout
the play. Brighouse does this by introducing Hobson through his
daughters, where they discuss that he has a hangover from a Mason’s
Meeting the previous evening. Again, this is another honest
situation, and one which makes Hobson’s Choice that bit easier for
the audience to relate with and to connect to. If the play was not
honest, the audience would not be able to relate with the
characters or their situations.
The audience can also tell that the girls are scared of their
father, as they don’t seem to be able to do anything until he is
gone, for fear that he will tell them off, despite the fact that
they are 21, 23 and 30. One example of this is that Alice says she
is expecting someone, which is clear to the audience is a man she
is courting, but she does not want her father to know that she is
courting.
One reason why the play is so honest and easy to believe is
the way Brighouse has delicately crafted and evolved his
characters, allowing the audience to feel a strong relationship
between themselves and the characters. An excellent example of this
is the character of Willie. At the start of Act One, Willie seems a
very timid character – he knows he’s neither clever nor important,
and this comes across in both his attitude and his behaviour. For
example, when talking to Mrs Hepworth, she says, “Take that”, to
which Willie “bends down rather expecting ‘that’ to be a blow”, so
rather than stand up to her when he is expecting to be hit, Willie
cowers out of the way, but he “finds she is holding out a visiting
card”.
Willie is very quick to do as he is told, and Brighouse
demonstrates this to the audience on the first occasion that we
meet this character. In this scene, Mrs Hepworth wants to see
Willie; Tubby just had to call Willie’s name down the trap door and
he appeared instantly. It is clear to the audience that Willie is a
talented boot maker, as Mrs Hepworth is so pleased with her boots
that she asks specifically to see Willie, so that she can “praise
him to his face”. However, it seems at this point in the play that
boot making may be his only talent, as when Mrs Hepworth instructs
Willie to read the card she has given him, it is revealed that he
can’t even read properly. Willie is dominated by everyone,
including not just Mrs Hepworth, but also Maggie, Hobson, Ada,
Alice and Vickey.
Brighouse uses the dominant character of Maggie to help
Willie come out of his shell, and helps him both socially and
intellectually, and Brighouse turns Willie into a much stronger and
more dominant character, not unlike Maggie herself. The
transformation of Willie includes him becoming able to stand up for
himself, speak his mind and Maggie even teaches him to read; he
stands straighter, taller, holds his head high, looks people in the
eye, speaks with a stronger, more confident voice, learns to speak
his mind, is much more confident in his abilities and even dresses
smarter. An example of him becoming a stronger character and
standing up for himself is when he tells Hobson “Don’t let us be
too long about this.
You’ve kept me waiting now a good while and my time’s
valuable. I’m busy at my shop”. This sounds like something Maggie
would say, and without pausing for breath Willie manages to put
Hobson in his place, and let him know that Willie means business.
Another example is where Willie tells Hobson “You’ve no right to
expect I care whether you sink or swim”, which actually makes
Willie out to be quite a nasty character, but Maggie points out
that he is going a bit too far. This “abuse of power” shows that
Willie is new to being able to tell people what to do, and he is
playing around trying to find his boundaries.
Another reason why Hobson’s Choice is so honest and easy to
believe is because Brighouse has made the focus of the play the
characters rather than any individual action or event, which means
that the audience can really relate to and sympathise with the
characters. It is for this reason that all of the characters in
Hobson’s Choice have a function; they are all there for a reason to
support the roles of the central five – Hobson, Maggie, Willie,
Alice and Vickey. Jim Heeler is there for Hobson to confide in, so
the audience all know what he is really thinking and what he is
going to do next. Mrs Hepworth – the only real customer in the play
– is used to introduce the character of Willie, and also later
finances Willie and Maggie’s business.
Ada Figgins’s brief appearance shows the contrast the Maggie
represents to Willie. Tubby is used later on to show the
deterioration of Hobson’s business. Albert Prosser and Fred
Beenstock are used to help Maggie in plotting against her father.
Finally, Dr MacFarlane effectively sets up the final confrontation
between Maggie, Willie and Hobson by prescribing Hobson with the
necessary cure for his diagnosed weaknesses.
Brighouse has cleverly disguised these character’s functions
by giving them a more direct reason to appear when they do. Heeler
appears as Hobson’s friend, whilst Mrs Hepworth is first introduced
as a customer. Ada, obviously, comes into the shop to bring Willie
his lunch, and is then somewhat dumped by Willie in the process!
Tubby is the other worker at Hobson’s boot shop, and Albert and
Fred are Alice and Vickey’s boyfriends. Finally, Dr MacFarlane
appears simply to diagnose Hobson. This multi-functioning allows
Brighouse to create a realistic play, as the characters seem to be
innocent at first glance, yet the play soon subtly reveals their
true functions.
Not only is Hobson’s Choice such an honest and realistic
play, but it also has a lot of comic elements. The play is often
referred to as a “Lancashire comedy”, as the language and dialect
plays a big part in the play’s comical elements and the tone of the
play. The dialect is informal, and characters often speak using
slang words and phrases, such as “our Maggie”, ’em”, “aye” and
“eh?” The character’s credibility stems from the realistic,
naturalistic manner in which they speak. An example of this is
Willie’s final, defiant speech at the end of Act One. The sharpness
of the dialogue itself would be a source of humour, but it forms a
constituent part of the greater comedy arising from the interaction
between Willie, Hobson and Maggie. This scene between these three
characters is just an example of the humour that Brighouse has
included within Hobson’s Choice.
Another particularly entertaining element of Hobson’s Choice
is a conversation between Maggie and Willie. Maggie asks Willie,
“When are you going to leave Hobson’s?” to which Willie replies,
“Leave Hobson’s? I – I thought I gave satisfaction”. This is
comical as Willie is shocked because he thinks that Maggie is
wanting rid of him. The comical element continues when Maggie, in
the same conversation, tells Willie that she is going to marry him.
The audience would find this entertaining for several reasons;
first Maggie is not asking Willie to marry her, she is telling him
that he is going to, and the fact that a woman is telling a man
what to do, especially something as serious as this, is comic.
Also, for Maggie, the daughter of Hobson, the shop owner, to want
Willie, a mere worker at her father’s shop, to marry her is comical
in itself. It is also funny because Maggie is insulting Willie and
acting like she thinks that she is better than him, yet she is
demanding to marry him!
Another way memorable comic event is when Maggie tells Ada
that she is going to marry Willie. This allows Brighouse to
entertain the audience by overturning the convention in drama of
two men fighting over a woman by showing Maggie and Ada battling
for Willie. This event is also comic as neither Willie nor Ada have
any say or control over the situation, despite the fact that 10
minutes previous, Maggie had nothing to do with Willie’s social
life at all!
Another comic situation presented in Hobson’s Choice is later
on in the play, where Hobson’s daughters – previously scared of
Hobson – are dictating to him what he is going to do, and they,
together with Maggie and their partners manage to trick Hobson into
handing them over �500 for Alice and Albert’s wedding! What makes
this even more comical is that Maggie manages to convince Hobson
that it is he who has won, because he only had to give the couple
�500 and not �1000!
Overall, I think that Brighouse has created a very honest
view of family life, and the audience will really appreciate this.
He has created a naturalistic setting, which requires no
interaction or imagination from the audience to enhance the play,
so the audience are a fourth wall audience, which is the
contemporary equivalent of a modern audience watching a television
soap. Brighouse has enhanced the play with regular comic moments to
keep the audience engaged and entertained. The comic episodes are
more amusing to a contemporary audience as a lot of them are based
around contemporary views and beliefs, such as a woman of 30 being
too old to marry, therefore it would be harder for a modern
audience to appreciate all of the comedy as well as a contemporary
audience, but it is these contemporary views that are conveyed in
the play that makes it so honest and realistic.