“I’ll choose a pair of husbands for you, my girls” Hobson’s shows his authority over his two younger daughters here as he is going to get them married without them agreeing on it. However Maggie, characteristically, is not set to suffer the same fate as Hobson is not prepared to lose all three of his daughters, especially the most valuable one. This incident therefore is linked to Maggie’s proposal to Willie Mossop. The reason being that Maggie feels that it is unjust for her younger sisters to be able to get married and she is unable to do so.
Willie Mossop is first introduced in the play in the middle of Act One when Mrs Hepworth, an upper-class lady, comes to Hobson’s shop and asks about the person who makes her shoes:
“Willie Mossop comes up trap. He is a lanky fellow, about thirty, not mentally stupid but stunted mentally by a brutalized childhood.” The author’s description of Willie is not a pleasant one and clearly shows that Willie is uneducated. Willie might be uneducated, however, his determination enables him to produce excellent shoes:
“These are the best-made pair of boots I’ve ever had. Now, you’ll make my boots in future” This line shows an upper-class lady, Mrs Hepworth praising a lower-class man, Willie on the boots which he makes for her.
The encounter above between Willie and Mrs Hepworth is later illustrated to the reader how it proved to be an important scene of the play:
“Mossop, you won’t dare leave here to go to another shop without letting me know where you are”. This scene is important in the play as Willie and Maggie then go on to borrow money from Mrs Hepworth, which leads on to the success of Willie and Maggie and the downfall of Hobson.
Maggie’s determination is clearly shown towards the end of Act One when she starts to arrange a marriage between herself and Willie:
“You’re going to wed me, Will… when I make arrangements my lad, they’re not for upsetting” Maggie is shown here proposing to Willie. However, Willie rejects the offer but Maggie uses her willpower to force Willie to marry her.
In the latter stages of Act One, Maggie tells Hobson that she has plans of marrying Willie, though Hobson clearly shows his disapproval:
“I’d be the laughing-stock of the place if I allowed it. I won’t have it, Maggie”. After Hobson states his disapproval, Maggie shows her determination and strength in character once again:
“I’m thirty and I’m marrying Willie Mossop. And now I’ll tell you my terms”. Maggie is shown to be extremely courageous here as she is prepared to argue with Hobson and even demands to him complying with certain terms.
After Hobson finishes arguing with Maggie, he decides that he’ll get revenge on her by giving physical punishment to her husband-to-be, Willie:
“I feel bound to put you right. (Shows strap)”. After Hobson’s threatens to hit Willie, a totally different side to Willie’s character is shown:
“Maggie, I’ve none kissed you yet. I shirked before. But, by gum, I’ll kiss you now … and take you and hold you. And if Mr Hobson raises up the strap again, I’ll do more”. Willie is shown to be completely different here, from being a weak and ‘stunted mentally’ fellow, he is now portrayed like a strong and determined man.
Act One is like an introduction to the play where the reader can see the different characteristics of the various characters; Maggie is a good business woman; determined and bossy yet she is thought of as an ‘old-maid’ by Hobson, Willie is ‘stunned mentally’ but shows that he has potential by the end of Act One.
Act Two shows the beginning of the rise of Maggie and Willie. In the start of Act Two, the reader is reminded how determined and bossy Maggie really is:
“Then, will you go fetch him, Mr Beenstock? Tell him to bring the paper with him”. Maggie is shown here ordering people about as she is making Mr Beenstock do some duties for her.
In Act Two, Maggie clearly shows that she is the oldest of Hobson’s daughters as she forces her two young sisters to accept Willie as part of their family:
“You can both of you kiss him for your brother-in-law to be”. Maggie is shown to be determined as she insists that Vicky and Alice should kiss her husband-to-be Willie, even though they are completely against the idea. Thus showing acceptance towards him.
In Act Two the beginning of Willie’s education is shown:
“That’s his business card: William Mossop, Practical Boot and Shoe Maker, 39a, Oldfield Road, Salford. William Mossop, Master boot-maker”. Willie’s education is shown here initially as he starts to be educated by Maggie, which in turn is shown as he has his own personal business card produced.
Act Two is mainly on the subject of how successful Willie and Maggie are becoming and how they are becoming more like a married-to-be couple, should be like:
“I’m resigned. You’re growing on me, lass. I’ll toe the line with you”. Willie was given the chance by Maggie to get out of the relationship but Willie’s reply (above) illustrates that he has feelings for Maggie and is not marrying her because he is being forced into it.
Act Three illustrates that Willie’s education has improved radically from when his standard of education was initially talked about in the play in Act Two:
“It’s a very great pleasure to us to see you here tonight”. Here we see an extract from the speech, which Willie performed at his wedding. Willie’s education is improving from Maggie’s determination to get Willie educated. Other guests at the wedding service also notice the improvement in Willie:
“Who taught you, Will?” Vicky clearly notices that that Willie was not able to perform that speech without the assistance from someone else.
In Act three, Maggie gets Albert and Freddie doing some chores at her house after the wedding:
“You and Fred can just lend him a hand with the washing up, Albert”. In this scene of the play we see that the upper-class gentlemen get treated the same way as the lower-class gentlemen by Maggie as she forces Albert and Freddie to help Willie washing up the pots. However, Albert and Freddie feel that washing up is a chore in which upper class people should not have to do:
“Aren’t you surprised to find us doing this?” however, Maggie reply’s saying:
“Surprised? I told you to do it”. This reply sums up Maggie’s character; she is determined and bossy which helps her to become successful.
Act three shows how confident and successful Maggie is, as she obtains ‘marriage portions’ for her younger sisters and she also gets the better off her father, Hobson. Willie also begins to become successful as his shop takes the high-class trade away from Hobson’s shop.
Towards the end of Act three, Hobson storms off vowing to get men to run his shop. Willie continues his educational lessons with Maggie but shows that his shyness within his character has still remained:
“He looks shyly at bedroom door, sits and takes his boots off. He rises, boots in hand moves towards door, hesitates”. As Willie is too shy to go in to the bedroom, Maggie comes to collect him:
“Maggie opens the bedroom door… she come to Will… takes him by the ear, and returns with him to the bedroom” Another example of her assertiveness is when Maggie is shown here as she comes out of the bedroom especially to collect Willie as he is not courageous enough to go in by himself.
At the end of Act three, Maggie is seen at her managing best and the beginning of Willie’s introduction to book learning is shown:
“Your writing’s improving, Will. I’ll set you a short copy for tonight”. At this stage, it can be seen that Willie’s education has improved again and is now being taught how to write by Maggie.
Act four takes place a year later and is a close to the play. In this, it can be seen how much Maggie and Willie have risen since the beginning of the play and subsequently the downfall of Hobson.
The action of the play demonstrates that determination and education are the key factors, which help to overcome disadvantage. By the end of the play, the reader can see that Maggie and Willie have become extremely successful, as Willie takes over Hobson’s shop, which in turn means that Hobson does not have any authority over Maggie and Willie. Therefore instead of Hobson being the master, Willie Mossop is, thus the roles are reversed. It can also be seen that Willie Mossop is a changed man by the end of the play; confident and able to stand-up to his father-in-law, Hobson.
