Maggie is a strong character when it comes to love and she recognises Alberts love for her sister Alice but disagrees in courting one another
“Courtings like that my lass,
All glitter and no use to anybody”
Then being the good businesswomen that she is, makes Albert makes him buy something in the shop
“This is a shop you know,
“We are not here to let people go without buying”
Then gets him to buy a pair of boots.
Maggie is very persuasive. She just tells Will that he is going to marry her and he doesn’t want to at first:
“I’ll be obliged if you will put this notion from you.”
Because he is promised to Ada Finnings but after Maggie fights for him he agrees that he will marry her:
“You’re growing on me lass. I’ll tow the line with you.”
But her marriage to will is all a practical arrangement as she is good at her job and Will is a skilled craftsman. As this partnership moves on the pair become more successful, they manage to pay back Mrs Hepworth the loan she gave then to get started and we see a more romantic side to Maggie as she saves a flower from her wedding day bouquet.
“I thought I’d press it in my bible
For keep sake”
A factor about Maggie that would appeal to a modern audience is that she is very intelligent. She controls the accounts and organises everything at Hobson’s. She taught Will to read and write, because Will was born into the lower class she was not properly educate and so he was illiterate but Maggie changed that by educating him herself:
“I’ll just set you a short copy, for tonight.”
Maggie is honest and fair, when Albert and Freddy are trying to get more money than they agreed out of Mr Hobson, she knows he cannot afford what they are asking and so she gets them down to a more realistic price:
‘I know perfectly well what father can afford to pay, and it is not a thousand pounds nor anything like a thousand pounds.’
Maggie is also humble because she is not afraid to ask for help when she needs it. She asks Mrs Hepworth for money as her and will haven’t got any from their previous jobs because Hobson didn’t pay Maggie and Will came from a lower class and had little pay, all to get married and start up a good business
“We’ve paid back Mrs Hepworth what she lent us for our start and made a bit o’ brass on top o’ that.”
At the beginning of the play Will lacked self-confidence and he was poor. He was also a victim of Hobson’s exploitation:
“What does she want to praise workmen to his face for?”
But Will is a talented craftsman and a skilled worker which is why Mrs Hepworth complimented him and asked that he makes her shoes in the future:
“These are the best-made pair of boots I’ve ever had. Now, you’ll make my boots in future.”
This is a great compliment for a working class man because they were not often praised for their work and didn’t often do so well. This is a point about Will that would appeal to a modern audience.
Will, like many other working class in the 1880’s could not read at the start of the play but due to Maggie’s help he learns how to read and write. By starting up his own business shows he is a good business man and he pays off Mrs Hepworth the money back she lent the couple to get the business started.
“We’ve paid off Mrs Hepworth what she lent us for our start.”
Will is from a working class background; he is one of Hobsons boot hands and suffers social prejudice from Maggies sisters Alice and Vicky but now is near equal class to them but they still see him form a lower class and treat him with a lack of respect
“Will Mossop do you know who you are talking to?”
As the play progresses Wills confidence increase as he now dares to stand up to Hobson, Alice, Vicky and Maggie
“I’ll take you into partnership and give you a half share”
The Audience may find Wills character comical due to his sayings “Well by gum”
And make the viewers laugh. When Maggie tells Will she wants to marry him he is a bit worried at tries to back down from the proposal because he did not love her, but they get their partnership up and running and as the story continues he realises that he can learn to love and give Maggie the respect she needs to create a successful business.
From the start to the end of the play Will Mossop changes a lot. He went from working in Hobson’s cellar to owning his own successful business and being married to Maggie. His main change was that he went from poverty to being a member of the working/middle class. By doing this he has made his way up the social ladder, which was very hard to do in the 19th century. Wills struggle could be compared to a dream going from rags to riches. In my opinion this would be the most important factor about Will that would appeal to a modern audience.
Maggie’s determination to make a success of hers and Willie’s marriage and the business that they start would make her popular with a modern audience because she did not really love Will when they were married, but she had to do something to get away from Mr Hobson, her authoritarian father and she also managed to get her sisters married.
