'Hobson's Choice'
'Hobson's Choice' A Hobson's choice is basically to offer the option of taking the thing preferred or nothing. So, it is not really a real choice at all. The phrase originated from a practice of a seventeenth century Cambridgeshire stable owner called Hobson whose customers had to take the horse nearest to the door, which was actually Hobson's choice. The phrase was passed on by many generations and is now a phrase used by a large number of people. In the play 'Hobson's Choice', Harry Hobson who lives in Salford above his boot shop with his three daughters, Alice, twenty-three, Vickey, twenty-one and Maggie, the oldest by seven years of Vickey. Hobson is a middle-class man who receives his income from the shop he owns. This shop of his is a boot shop. He, however, does not take any part of the operating. His eldest daughter, Maggie is his main source of income. Her talent in persuasion and a boot maker, Willie Mossop, go well as a partnership; his natural craftsmanship provides boots worth buying. Hobson, whilst the shop is in operation would usually his time in the Moonraker's Inn. He would usually meet with Jim Healer, his companion. Hobson creates an image of himself as a rather domineering character. His hypocrisy is a main ingredient of his bullying behaviour. The attitude and feelings immediately change when Ms. Hepworth, a first-class citizen enters his shop as he
I am currently planning a show and propose to perform Harold Brighouse's Hobson's Choice.
Sohail Ali Rutlish High School 22nd January 2004 Dear Mr Doyle, I am currently planning a show and propose to perform Harold Brighouse's Hobson's Choice. This play raises some important issues, and I feel that students and their parents would ultimately benefit from seeing this work. You might ask why I have chosen this piece, while there are many other plays with well worked-out plots and themes, which could provide "food for thought" for our students. The reason that I have chosen Hobson's Choice is that it may be particularly beneficial to the majority of our school community, including teachers and parents. This is because the piece addresses the challenges of family life and of relationships between the generations. This work carries a strong message about the difficulties faced by both parents and children over the issue of independence. It portrays the struggle between a determined father and his three daughters. For those of you who have not seen this play, it tells the story of a man called Hobson who runs a shoe shop with his three daughters. He has always limited his daughters' activities and denied them independence. The twist of the story comes when Hobson's eldest daughter Maggie proposes to Willie Mossop, the boot-maker in her fathers shop. This infuriates her father as he had decided that she would not marry but look after him in his old age. The story
Hobson's choice was written in the content of theatrical change by Harold Brighouse in 1945 and therefore, audience of that time may have a different perspective understanding of the play compared to much a modern or present day audience.
Hobson's Choices Hobson's choice was written in the content of theatrical change by Harold Brighouse in 1945 and therefore, audience of that time may have a different perspective understanding of the play compared to much a modern or present day audience. However despite the different in perspective, the play is still relevant to modern audience in that some of the activities which went on in the play can be compared to similar activities happening in the modern day. The first to be considered is the independence that was available to Hobson's daughter because they were able to select their husbands despite their father's aversion to the ideas, especially Maggie, similar things happen can be seen n modern day as women are able to make their own personal choices regarding which they make their partners. This therefore reflects the present independence that women have. The relationship between the father and the three daughters can also be compared single parent families are on the increasing. The play shows misunderstanding which may arise between a child and one parent due the absence of the other parent and this reflects in the disharmony present in some single-parents homes. The partnership or business merging can be also be seen when one of
Drama Coursework- The two stimuli's for my coursework were a play, Hobson's Choice by Harold Brighouse and a song, For What its Worth by Stephen Stills.
Drama Coursework- Comparing Two Stimulis The two stimuli's for my coursework were a play, Hobson's Choice by Harold Brighouse and a song, For What its Worth by Stephen Stills. Some characters in both texts are similar, such as Maggie in Hobson's Choice is protesting against her father and the children in the song are protesting against the war. The theme duty is similar in both texts. The setting is different; Hobson's Choice is set in 1880s Salford when wages were low, but the setting in the song is the 1660s Vietnamese war. The theme of duty could be used in our performance as it was in both texts. The theme of family in Hobson's Choice could be used to influence us. The similarity of protesting could be used in my role as I could protest for the innocence of my friend. As the characters in the song protest against the government, we could protest against the law. Unlike the song, Hobson's Choice has the theme of the break of family; we could use this in our performance. The contexts of both texts are very different. Hobson's Choice was written in 1880s when Salford was poor, therefore we could have a poor family in our performance. The song was written in the time of the Vietnamese was when the 1660s Americans enjoyed freedom. We could use this, but have the freedom taken away. The work ethic of the character Mr Hobson was different from the work ethic of
What have you found interesting about the ways Brighouse presents the character of Maggie in act one of ‘Hobson’s Choice?’
What have you found interesting about the ways Brighouse presents the character of Maggie in act one of 'Hobson's Choice?' Maggie is the eldest of Hobson's three daughters. Of the three she is the most intelligent and most valuable to Hobson. She has a very hardened appearance and almost mothers the other three, Hobson, Vicky and Alice. In the beginning of the book, she works in Hobson's shoe shop along with her two sisters. She is a great sales woman and because of this, she is very valuable to Hobson, Hobson himself says 'Maggie's to useful to part with.' Brighouse has written Maggie into the play to be very forcefully and dominant. She does not let a customer go out of the shop without making a purchase. This happened when Albert Prosser came into see Alice, his girlfriend. Maggie turned to him and exclaimed 'This is a shop, you know. We're not here to let people go out without buying.' These qualities make Maggie a very successful businessperson. It is these qualities that make Maggie so important to her father, Hobson. If Maggie were to leave then the business would cease and Hobson would be in a very big mess. I think Maggie struggles when it comes to love and marriage, which inevitably creates problems for her. I do not think she knows how to express her feelings properly without hurting others feelings. She does not think courting should be carried out
I think in the play Hobson's choice the character that changes the most is Willie, because at the beginning his status as hobsons boot hand was very low, and was an uneducated person
Who changed the most in hobsons choice I think in the play Hobson's choice the character that changes the most is Willie, because at the beginning his status as hobsons boot hand was very low, and was an uneducated person. By the end of the play he was a well educated person and was the head of the family, with hobsons own business. ACT 1: in act 1 Willie has probably the lowest status out of the characters, as hobsons boot hand and was very disrespected by Hobson. He even gets beaten by Hobson with a belt because of Maggie wanting to marry him. He was so low down in the social ladder and poor that, it would be a disgrace for Hobsons daughter to marry his boot hand, he would be a laughing stock. When Maggie him to marry her, he wasn't sure about it and seamed to be afraid of Maggie. He definitely didn't want to marry her, even when he did marry her he was very nervous. That didn't help Willie very much either, not being able to express himself very well, which didn't help him very much with his social life. ACT 2: In act 2 Willie and Maggie buy there place with the help if Mrs H, they borrowed £100 and promised to pay it back next year. They brought a cellar which they could live in but also, could be there shoe shop, Hobson thought that it would have no affect on his business at all, but soon they were taking all of his business and making him go broke. At the end of act
Character Study : Maggie Hobson
Character Study : Maggie Hobson Maggie Hobson, thirty years of age with two sisters Vickey and Alice and Henry Hobson as her father, as she is very peremptory. From Maggie's character we can determine that she is a copy of her father. This can be proved by the fact that she is bossy and very controlling of everybody's doings. Maggie is a perfectionist in everything she does, she will only do things, which are well organised and accomplished. Contrarily, she also is a person who likes to plan things in advance of its existence. Her dictation of other people over a vast period of time has led to people worshipping her as if she were god. At the start of the play where we are believed that Alice, Vickey and Maggie are in Hobson's boot shop when Hobson was to have been hung over from the previous nights drinking with the Masons when Maggie had a verbal fight which led to him going to the Moonrakers to drink once again. Maggie then mentioned to him not to be late for lunch, which according to Maggie, would take place at 1pm. Hobson then decides to get his own way by telling Maggie dinner will be when he is ready. At this moment she decided to put the last word in to disrupt her father when she acknowledged the fact that he is in charge she repeated, "Yes, father". That should give us an idea of what personality Maggie Hobson has. Moments later Alice's young man, Albert Prosser
Compare and Contrast "Hobson's Choice" with "Still life at the Penguin Caf".
Compare and Contrast "Hobson's Choice" with "Still life at the Penguin Café". David Bintley choreographed 'Hobson's choice' in 1989. It is set in Salford in the 1880s and it tells the story of a boot maker, Henry Hobson, and the unlikely marriage of his eldest daughter Maggie to a poor boot maker, Will Mossop. It is a narrative ballet and is purely for entertainment. 'Still Life at the Penguin Café' was also choreographed by David Bintley. Instead of telling a story, it shows snapshot images of extinct and endangered animal species. There are a number of symbolic and moral themes to it. These include the use of hybrid animals to make the audience realise that it is humans that are to blame for endangering these species. It was choreographed not only for entertainment, but also to encourage the audience to think about their moral values and the way they think of the world. Both ballets have very different structures. 'Hobson's Choice' is a 3 act narrative dance, whereas 'Still Life at the Penguin Cafe' is split in to 8 small sections each focussing on a different animal. This is because of their very different purposes. 'Hobson's Choice' tells a story and the three acts show scene changes and progressions in the story. However, the sections in 'Still Life at the Penguin Cafe' are not directly related, as it is not telling a story. The different sections
Character Study : Harry Hobson
Character Study : Harry Hobson Harold Brighouse Although a prolific and popular playwright and novelist during his lifetime, the reputation of Harold Brighouse today rests almost entirely on his play Hobson's Choice. Born in Eccles near Salford on 26 July 1882, his mother was a teacher and his father was in the cotton business. Despite gaining a scholarship to Manchester Grammar School, Harold was not a keen student; at seventeen he left school to start work in the textile industry. Henry Hobson, a boot shop owner in Salford, not a very successful one either. Henry has three children, all girls, Maggie, who is thirty, Alice, twenty-three and finally Victoria, known as 'Vickey' who is twenty-one. All of the girls work for Hobson, but do not receive any form of wage. Hobson treats the three girls with no respect whatsoever; we understand that this is true by the tone and aggression in Hobson's voice when he interacts with them. He is the most hypocritical man in 'Hobson's Choice'; this is proven by the change in his tone and body language when Ms Hepworth, a high classed customer, enters his shop. When Hobson greets Ms. Hepworth he immediately rushes to pull up a chair for her to sit on. Ms Hepworth questions Henry Hobson about who made her shoes, which she had recently purchased in this shop. Hobson does not give her a straight answer so Ms. Hepworth uses a different, more
Hobsons Choice Assignment
Hobson's Choice - Talk about Willie This essay will talk about Willies steps from being a shoe maker to becoming the owner of a shop. Willie is an important character although he is one of the only working class characters in the play. (The other, his friend who also works in the shop.) The play focused on the key figure 'Willie' climbing the social ladder. Also his anxiousness towards the other characters. On his way up he even manages to insult his old master. He gains a father-in-law and two sister-in-laws. His old girlfriend Ada Figgins though he was not much to look at but Maggie still wanted to marry him. Mrs. Hepworth thinks Willie the boot maker is good at his trade. Hobson disagrees with her congratulating him. As Mrs. Hepworth says 'Did you make these boots.' Then Hobson remarks 'If there is anything wrong I'm capable of making the man suffer for it.' This shows Hobson thinks poorly of his staff, also Mrs. Hepworth thinks People should be praised for doing a good job. However, Hobson gets jealous of Willie because of this. Hobson doesn't pay his daughters waages but he does pay Willie's. Jim says '...and their wages?' Then Hobson says 'Wages! do you think i pay my own daughters wages?' 'I'm not a fool!' This is saying that Will