“Take that”
Willie in worry bends over rather expecting “That” to be a blow. Then he raises his head to find she is holding out a visiting card with her address apon it. As Willie tries to read what is written apon the card he finds he can’t, his excuse is that the print is funny as he tries to hide his embarrassment. As Mrs Hepworth carries on talking Hobson thinks Willie has done something wrong and says
“I assure it will never happen again”
By this you can see Hobson doesn’t have any faith in Willie. The thing is because, Mrs Hepworth has searched everywhere in Manchester for a pair of boots and there haven’t been any ones see has liked these are the best she has found. Therefor Mrs Hepworth asks Willie to let her know whether he ever moves shop, as she wants him to make her shoes for her
When the play begins nothing is said of Willie and no one talks of him until Mrs Hepworth spots a great talent in him. No one can really see Willie’s potential apart from Maggie, who can see beneath the surface of Will. Willie gets his first taste of praise when Mrs Hepworth demands to see him to congratulate him on his ability to make boots,
“I’ve tries every shop in Manchester, and these are the best made pair of boots I’ve had. Now you’ll make my boots in future.”
This is not much to Willie, as he does not really take it in he just wants to disappear down the cellar where he can hide away from the company of other people.
Willie is very shy and has no confidence at all and he has no idea of his future, apart from work by himself quietly! When Will is approached by Maggie he is very scared of her and wants to go away from her. He wants no business with her at all because he is not good at communicating, he gets embarrassed easily and hates attention.
Other people just ignore Willie, to them he is just the young man that was employed to make the boots for Hobson’s boot shop. Hobson thinks very little of him and underpays him as one part says:
Mrs H: “The mans a treasure and I expect you underpay him.”
Hobson: “That’ll do Willie. You can go.”
Mr Hobson immediately dismisses him, as he knows that he does underpay him, and wants to change the subject, this shows how little Mr Hobson thinks of Willie.
The sisters also don’t think much of Willie, and they go for the upper class rich people. When Maggie tells them that she intends to marry Will they are very shocked.
Alice: “You’re going to marry Willie Mossop! Willie Mossop!
They are very shocked because Willie is a working class man and they are considered to be posh also they believe that if Willie is in the Family then no one else will want to marry them as they wont want Will as a brother in law.
Maggie is in charge of the shop and she can see that Will is a very hard worker who deserves more in life.
“Do you know what keeps this business on its legs? Two things: one’s the good boots that sell themselves, the other is the bad boots other people make and I sell.”
Maggie knows that this is how the shop works and without Will they would be nothing. She knows that he can get more out of life so she tries to make him marry her but he won’t because he has been forced to marry someone else. This shows that he is pushed around and can’t stick up for himself.
Will is almost pushed around with Maggie, as he has no confidence. Will is afraid to try to do well and he has no career plans for the future as he is too shy to try, he says
“Nay, I’d be feared to go in them fine places.”
Will is scared to work in very posh places, as he does not like talking to other people and would rather sit quietly in a corner.
The first sign of development in Willies character is when Maggie tells Hobson that she is marrying Will and that he cant do anything about it. When Hobson hears this he threatens to hit Will and Willie says:
“ If you touch me with that belt, I’ll take her quick, aye, and stick to her like glue”.
When Will says this Maggie praises him and Hobson is shocked because no one expects Will to say such a thing.
During the middle of the play Willie is still unsure of himself and a little scared of Maggie but he says that she is growing on him, as he did not love her before:
“ You’re growing on me lass, I’ll toe the line with you.”
He did not really love before but now this is a sign that he is starting to love her.
Will grows more confident under Maggie’s influence and is less shy but unsure. Willie has also got more talking ability and can make good speeches. If he had been asked to do a speech in the beginning he would have run away! So this is a great improvement to Willie.
Other people recognise the change as Freddie says:
“ Neat speech indeed”
So Willie has changed a lot compared to his old self and the change was for the best.
Near the end of the play Willie has changed completely into a new person. He answers back to people and seems to act confident and unshy:
“I’ll do the arranging Alice. If we come here we come on my terms.”
When Maggie’s sisters here this they think how unlike Will it is and are shocked. This is evidence that Will has moved on and left his shy and bashful side behind for good.
The main part of evidence we have that shows us that Willie has changed is when Willie says to Hobson:
“ Mossop and Hobson or its Oldfield Road for us Maggie.”
He is even confident enough to argue with Maggie who he seemed so scared of before and he would not have dared to say a thing like that to Hobson either.
Will Mossop starts off to be a very cautious boot maker working for Hobson but he is completely transferred, over the years, into a thoughtful, unshy an who has the confidence to run and start his own business.
