A taste of Honey quote analysis + themes

Darkness and death

- Jo: Doesn't it go dark early? I like winter

- Helen: Like a coffin only half as comfortable

- 'I'm not afraid of the darkness outside, it's the darkness inside that I don't like'

- Jo: As I was going up pippin hill- spend it on you

Jo : Doesn't it go dark early? I like winter

- Jo is afraid of the dark yet welcomes winter

- Jo never got used to Helen leaving to socialize even during the day when the flat is usually pretty dark

Jo : Doesn't it go dark early? I like winter ( language analysis)

- juxtaposition of not liking the dark but liking winter

- Delaney might've wanted to show that like in winter there is hope in Jo that something good might happen

Helen : Like a coffin only half as comfortable

- Helen isn't afraid of her own mortality

- casual conversations with her daughter

- a reminder that death will come for them at some point

- sarcastic/ dark humour

I'm not afraid of the darkness outside, it's the darkness inside that I don't like

- reference to the darkness inside her mind

- very deep quotation that contrasts with many different things, opening up lines of intepretation

darkness and death

- death is a key motif

- can be reflected by their surroundings

- all characters experience suffering

why did Delaney include such harsh motifs and darkened thoughts in the play?

- create realism about other people's lives

- create awareness

- so that when light shone it would contrast highly to the darkened moments

- relatability

'a taste of honey'

- each character gains their own taste of happiness

- not all the characters suffer after getting their taste of it

- the play's title

Mother and daughter relationship

- Jo : Why are you so interested in it anyway

- Helen : I didn't realise I had such a talented daughter

- Helen : I thought you weren't good at anything

- Helen : Take no notice of her. She thinks she's funny

- Jo: what use can a woman of that age be to anybody?

Jo : Why are you so interested in it anyway

- Jo isn't used to this affection and so immediately rejects it

- she could perceive it as a threat

- Helen is usually ignorant towards her

Helen : I didn't realise I had such a talented daughter

- Helen neglected Jo

- Helen tries to boost her ego by taking some of the credit

- only compliments Jo when she thinks it could boost her own self- esteem

- shows Helen has little self esteem

other notes on Helen and Jo's relationship

- don't usually call by 'mother' or 'daughter' showing lack of respect towards one another

- hit and miss relationship

Jo is torn between

being a child in need of a mother to look after her and being a grown up who realises her mother probably won't ever put her needs first

Helen only beings being affectionate to Jo when she is living with Geoff.

- Helen's relationship with Peter is deteriorating

- Child benefits

- shows how unreliable Helen is

For a time Helen hid the fact that she had a daughter

- give herself an illusionment of youth

Helen : It's alright, love, I'm here and everything's all right. Are you awake now?

- Helen's return to Jo's pregnancy suggests that she has intentions to be a more caring mother

- bear in mind this is also due to the breakdown of her and Peter's marriage

- fails to take into account Jo's feelings when she kicks Geoff out

Theme of mother and daughter in the play : Bickering ( Delaneys techniques)

- Helen and Jo constantly argue

- loving exchanges between mother and daughter seem to be missing

Theme of mother and daughter in the play : The selfishness of Helen

Helen appears as a very neglectful mother, who left her child alone at christmas in a rundown flat to run off with Peter

Theme of mother and daughter in the play: Helen's amends

- Helen returns to the flat when Jo is pregnant to look after her and her baby

Alienation and loneliness

- Jo's loneliness leads to her pregnancy

- Helen had continually neglected her only child

- Geoff is gay - during the time it was unnatural

- Jo dates a black man - during the time it was unnatural

- Helen wishes to be higher class

Helen wants to think of herself as higher class, and therefore 'preys' on younger men with more money and better standards of living.

This could reflect on some of her attitudes to Jo as they were both poor, and Helen could alienate her because of this

what could you say about the way Peter acts towards Jo and other poorer standards she lives in?

it shows that he has a view of classism, like many people during that time

Love and Marriage (peter)

- Do you think you could escape me, dear?

- You know I like this mother and son relationship

- Helen you don't seem to realise what an opportunity I' giving you - I may never ask you again

Love and marriage (Jo)

- Thanks for carrying my books

- I love you

Love and marriage (Boy)

- I'm a man of few words. Will you marry me?

- I wish I wasn't in the navy - we won't have much time together

Peter : I'm offering to marry you, dear

- Peter taking advantage of Helen for being a prostitute

- Knows that she will desert her daughter for him

- twice forces Helen to decide between him or Jo

Jo: I love you, Boy : Will you marry me?

- pure and equal relationship

- Boy gives Jo love and affection unlike Helen which appeals to Jo

what was unusual about Jo and the Boy's relationship?

The boy is a man of colour. There was a lot of racism towards black people at the time, however Jo is apart of a new and more accepting generation. Jo not caring about the boy's race validates him and creates a closer bond between the two.

Peter : His name was Oedipus - scratched out one of mine

- Peter refers to himself as Oedipus, a child who marries his mother ending in tragedy

- foreshadows their relationship ending

what does 'His name was Oedipus' - 'scratched out one of mine' say about Peter?

- he understands that the relationship probably won't work out

- doesn't care about the relationship just wants to take advantage of Helen

Contrast between Helen + Peter and Jo + the Boy's relationship

- juxtaposition and irony in their relationships

- Jo and Boy are distant yet have a much closer bond than Helen and Peter who are almost always together

the relationship between Helen and Peter

- Peter degrades Helen by calling her 'woman' rather than her name and others by number

- They both take advantage of each other

Poverty

- Jo : This place stinks

- Jo : That river, it's the colour of lead. Look at the washing, it's dirty, and look at those filthy children

- Jo : That river, it's the colour of lead. Look at the washing, it's dirty, and look at those filthy children

- keeps readers aware of living conditions

- play protests against poverty/minimal schooling opportunities

A taste of Honey illustrates

the gap between the magic of people's dreams and the grim reality of everyday life

A more personal illustration of A taste of Honey

a study on a girl who is on the threshold of adulthood wanting to grow up but is afraid of the responsibilities

what types of love does Jo find herself in?

- Sexual/Agape/Eros with the Boy

- platonic/sibling with Geoff

- non maternal love from Helen

Outsiders

- The Boy as he is coloured

- Geoff as he is Gay

- Helen as she is a prostitute

Accurate portrayal of the working class and the 1950s

- set in Salford (typical area for working class)

- 1950s old run down state of houses

- homophobic ideas towards Gay men

- realistic everyday conditions of Jo and Helen

Jo : Can I see the other photos ?

Peter : Which photos?

shows Peter hasn't concern for Helen and will probably look for other women during their marriage

' A woman at every port'

During the time it was said that Sailors would have women waiting for them wherever they went

'Woolworths best!'

In Jo and the Boy's relationships they don't seem to care about money, contrasts to Peter and Helen's whose relationship seems to revolve around it

Jo: Hello, Daddy

- aggressive nature shows dislike to Peter

- Jo doesn't want Helen to marry Peter

- sarcasm in that Peter isn't Jo's biological father

- irony

Jo: Hello, Daddy

this implies that Jo will never think of Peter as her father and to be honest Peter won't think Jo his daughter either

Jo: Do I bother you Mister Smith, Or must I wait till we're alone for an answer

- Jo understands that he takes advantage of other women

- she wants attention from Peter to also annoy Helen

Jo: Do I bother you Mister Smith, Or must I wait till we're alone for an answer (techniques)

- innuendo

- by using sexual terms around Peter it causes him to be unnerved, but he also toys at the idea of sex with Jo

Peter: I'm not having her with us

Peter constantly makes it obvious he doesn't want Jo to be around, which could also be a ploy to bring Helen further from her

Jo: Hey! Don't start bossing me about. You're not my father

[suddenly she attacks him half laughing and half crying]

- physical attack that's hysterical

- Jo does this to make Peter wary of marrying Helen as he may have to deal with Jo in the future

Jo's dislike of milk and parental responsibilities

- Helen is a bad mother, and Jo is to be one but rejects the role

- the dislike of milk can symbolise rejection of one's mother

how does Jo's dislike of milk contrast to the nature of the boy and Geoff?

- The boy and Geoff are both caring and have much more affection towards Jo and her baby than Helen, and also herself

- The boy and Geoff also try to get her to drink her milk, suggesting that they think she should be more maternal

Jo : You're nothing to me. I'm everything to myself

Jo isolates because she has always been pushed away. She craves attention, but is denied it, so isolates herself.

Racism in A taste of Honey - 1950s Britain

JO : my baby will be black

HELEN : Oh don't be so silly Jo, you'll be giving yourself nightmares

JO : my baby will be black

HELEN : Oh don't be so silly Jo, you'll be giving yourself nightmares

shows 1950s prejudice and disgust to mixed race relationships and the disgusted towards coloured individuals

Helen : I don't know. Drown it

Helen is revolted at the idea of being a grandmother to a black child, and so suggests to drown it.

Sexism in A Taste of Honey

- Peter : Shut your mouth, bubble belly! Before I shut it for you

- Peter : isn't she a game old bird

- Peter : Ah! Yes, number thirty-eight

Helen : He's gone off with his bit of crumpet.

Helen tells Jo that despite Peter going after her initially, he soon tires of her and goes off with other Women

Peter : Shut your mouth, bubble belly! Before I shut it for you

- degradation towards Jo

Peter : Look at Helen. isn't she a game old bird

- shaming Helen

- Peter has no inclination to how Helen might feel, and thinks women are less than men

Different social classes : ATOH

- juxtaposition of the upper-class thoughts with lower class lives

- Helen has a hostility to being poor, as she longs to be much richer

- Peter has prejudice to the poor, as he wants to leave Helen's house as soon as possible

Peter : Do you expect me to wait in the filthy street?

- upper class would never be seen in rundown Manchester

- interpretations it as an insult as he is much higher than his surroundings

Peter : You don't seem to realise what an opportunity I'm giving you. The world is littered with women I've rejected

- lack of concern towards women

- no attempt to conceal his true nature

Whiskey - symoblism

It is Helen's symbol of her pushing her life's pain down so she doesn't have to deal with it's hardship

Helen leaving - motif

- leaves when Peter invites her away for the weekend

- leaves after her wedding

- leaves 'for a drink' when she finds her grandchild will be black

Frills - symbolism

Her gifts to Jo are symbols of not knowing the hardship her daughter went through to figure out how to have/afford this baby

Cigarette - symbol

A symbol of the level of poverty they are currently living in

Stovetop symbolism and imagery

The parallel between Helen and Jo attempting to light the fire is a symbol that both Jo and her mother have a level of immaturity in them

Filthy Flat - metaphor

A metaphor for Helen about how she feels about herself as she allows men to use her as they please then leave her

Helen and Jo - metaphor

- metaphor for abandonment

- Helen is never truly there for Jo in a meaningfulway

Comfort - metaphor

Metaphor for the loneliness that a parent can create in their child which they seek to fill through other means

Jo's Art - metaphor

The play becomes a metaphor for how her talents weren't nurtured in order to bring them to life

Peter - metaphor

Helen's relationship with Peter is a metaphor for the reality money will never heal deep wounds within us

Marriage - irony

after accepting the boy's proposal, the boy ironically asks her if she really wants to marry

Helen - irony

Helen brought gifts for Jo's baby, but ironically leaves soon after when she finds out it will be black

Truth - irony

Peter followed Helen to her apartment, and ironically finds Helen is far older through the age of Jo

Love - irony

Geof takes much care of Jo, however leaves without a fight when Helen returns

Alone - imagery

The picture presented is that of a child having a child as the adult, her mother, abandons her

Comfort - imagery

When Helen leaves with Peter, Jo is hurt by this and despite the tough exterior Jo is still in need of motherly love

A taste of Honey - Allusions

Allusion to how the choices we make in life to care/not care for those we are meant to love can turn into difficulties

Duty and Responsibility

Helen has a duty to care for her daughter, but assumes no motherly role