Scene Three
We learn in this scene that Willie now has his own shop. Maggie is obviously proud of the progress they have made in such a short time. She is determined that Willie will be treated with respect as part of the family and makes her sisters kiss him as a token of their acceptance of the situation. Maggie is also quick to cut Alice down to size when Alice says, scornfully, ‘Willie Mossop was our boot hand’. She is quick to point out that Willie is master of his own business and her sisters are just shop assistants. Maggie announces that she and Willie will be married at one o’clock at St. Philip’s church. She buys a brass ring to use as a wedding ring. This shows that Maggie has her feet firmly on the ground as she is not prepared to waste money on sentiment when they need all the money they can to get their business off the ground. Willie and Maggie use a hand-cart to take away some of Hobson’s old and unused furniture. Alice and Vickey are appalled that Maggie is willing to live in two cellars using secondhand furniture. Alice and Vickey clearly want to start married life with everything new and this shows the difference between them and Maggie. Vickey’s selfish streak is apparent when she sees the two broken chairs Will is carrying out and immediately resents Maggie having them. Maggie has always been confident and in this scene is even more sure of herself. Her language is the language of command. When Alice tries to tell her that she doesn’t know what she is aiming at, Maggie replies swiftly, ‘The difference between us is that I do. I always did’. There are also signs in this scene that Willie is growing in confidence from the timid, frightened, dirty workman who first appeared.
Scene Four
Albert Prosser brings Maggie the action for trespass against Hobson. Maggie knows her father’s strong feelings about lawyers and intends to use the situation for her own ends. Maggie makes Albert push the hand-cart to Oldfield Road. He isn’t happy at the thought of anyone seeing him pushing a handcart but obeys. After a brief word with Willie, when she gives him the chance of backing out if he really does not want to marry her, they all leave for the wedding. Maggie again has the last word in the scene. When Vickey asks Willie if he’s got the ring, Maggie comments tartly, ‘I have. Do you think I’d trust him to remember?’ In this scene, we again see what a commanding character Maggie is. Albert Prosser, a lawyer, and Freddy Beenstock, the son of a successful business man, both defer to her and do as she tells them.
ACT THREE
Scene One
When Act Three opens, Maggie and Willie are married. They are back at Oldfield Road, celebrating with their guests. Willie makes a toast and has obviously been carefully coached by Maggie. ‘I’ve been learning a lot lately’ he says. Maggie’s sisters are genuinely surprised at the progress Willie has made. Maggie is increasingly keen to push Willie forward, to defer to him as the master of the house. She quickly corrects Albert when he asks where she got the capital from to start the shop. ‘You mustn’t call it my shop’ she says, ‘It’s his’. Maggie is determined to see Willie treated with respect. When Albert and Freddy laugh, she makes them help Willie with the washing up. Willie is obviously nervous about being left alone with Maggie on his wedding night. He tries to delay Freddy and Albert but they are having none of it. The guests are about to leave when there is a knock at the door and Hobson’s voice is heard off stage. Maggie makes her sisters, Freddy and Albert go into the bedroom and then answers the door to her father.
Scene Two
When her father arrives, Maggie is keen to advance Willie’s position. She refers to him as the master of the house and asks Will if she is to let her father come in. She is referring to Willie in the way that the expected customs of the time dictated. Although Hobson is suffering from a hangover and is distressed about the possibility of having to go to court, Maggie makes him go through the ritual of sociability and eat a piece of wedding cake. The depth and complexity of Maggie’s character can be seen here as she admits it may be foolishness but still wants to have her father sitting at her table on her wedding day eating her wedding cake. She makes the pretence of not knowing what he has come and about and when he tells her that he is in trouble, she proposes leaving the room to let him discuss his problem with her husband. This play acting is to establish the position that there are no secrets from Willie and that he is now part of the family. This is also why she insists Willie calls Hobson, father.
Hobson speaks in a theatrical manner, ‘When there is ruin and disaster, and outrageous fortune overwhelms a man of my importance to the world, it isn’t only the Salford Reporter that takes note of it’. Hobson is concerned about four things:
- Lawyers – he has always hated them
- His reputation – he sees himself as an important, respected member of society
- Financial ruin – he is sure that his public disgrace will lose him trade
- The high costs that he will have to pay for trespass.
In this scene, Maggie cleverly leads her father into the trap of accepting an out of court agreement.
Scene Three
Hobson falls for Maggie’s trickery and agrees to pay £500. Hobson’s hatred of the legal profession again comes out when he says to Albert, ‘Honest men live by business and lawyers live by law’. Maggie manipulates the situation by allowing Albert to do his legal bit before she moves in to get what she wants. Vickey is the baby of the family and talks to her father in a sweeter way than the others do, ‘Father dear, how can you be beaten when they wanted a thousand pounds and you’re only going to give five hundred pounds?’ Maggie has tricked her father for the benefit of her sisters. It is typical of her that she expects nothing for herself. When Hobson does realise he has been tricked, he is angry and bitter. He tells his daughters that they can keep out of his way and reserves his greatest bitterness for Maggie, ‘You, especially, Maggie. I’m not blind yet, and I can see who ‘tis I’ve got to thank for this.’
Scene Four
After Hobson leaves, Willie makes a last desperate attempt to delay the others. They leave in high spirits, pleased that their problems have all been sorted out. Maggie is very sure of herself. When Willie says that Albert and Freddy have got a long start on them, Maggie replies, ‘And you’ve got me’. The 2 proverbs that Willie has been set as a copying exercise by Maggie look forward to their successful future, ‘There is always room at the top’ and ‘Great things grown from small’. We discover that the expensive flowers came from the rich Mrs Hepworth and Maggie shows a little sentiment when she keeps one to press in her Bible despite throwing the rest on the fire as they would be clutter on a working day.
ACT FOUR
Scene One
Act Four opens in Hobson’s living room. Hobson’s political views are revealed by the pictures on the wall – Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and the Conservative Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli. These show him to be a supporter of the monarchy and the Conservative party. The discussion at the beginning between Jim Heeler and Tubby Wadlow serves to put the audience in the picture one year after the end of Act Three. In 2 pages of dialogue, we discover that Hobson is ill, he has neglected the business, trade is poor and that most people in the neighbourhood believe that the success of Willie Mossop has destroyed Hobson’s business. We see Tubby loyally sticking to his master when it would have been in his best interests to leave and find work elsewhere. Tubby’s old-fashioned sexist attitudes come out when he talks to Jim about men assistants in the shop. Men, he says, like to have their shoes fitted by an attractive female assistant. Women who aspire to be ladies, he says, want their shoes to be fitted by someone of their own sex!
Hobson feels sorry for himself, ‘They’re married, and I’m deserted by them all and I’ll die deserted, then perhaps they’ll be sorry for the way they’ve treated me’.
Scene Two
Doctor MacFarlane visits Hobson. The Doctor soon reveals himself as being as awkward, difficult and determined as Hobson. He diagnoses Hobson’s condition with remarkable speed. This is quite a weak scene as the Doctor diagnoses the condition within seconds, Hobson produces cash to pay the Doctor without knowing the fee, and Macfarlane insists Hobson must get Maggie back despite knowing nothing about her or her circumstances.
Scene Three
Maggie comes back in this scene after being alerted to her father’s illness by Tubby Wadlow. Maggie sends Tubby for Hobson’s medicine and for Willie. Maggie says she will consider coming back but makes it clear that she is not looking forward to it. Hobson tries to play down the importance of her marriage to Willie and their home in Oldfield Road, but Maggie refuses to be bullied by her father.
Scene Four
Alice arrives looking prosperous. She makes disparaging remarks to Maggie about Willie’s trade as a cobbler and makes it clear she has no intention of leaving her posh house in the Crescent to return to the shop. Vickey arrives and rushes to embrace her father, acting the role of affectionate baby of the family. She too says she can’t return to the shop as she is expecting. Maggie makes her father put a collar on before Willie arrives. When Willie arrives and Maggie goes to meet him, Alice and Vickey discuss the situation and are obviously anxious about Maggie and Willie coming back, even though they have no intention of returning themselves.
Willie has changed a great deal since we last saw him. He is obviously prosperous and confident.
Hobson’s proposal to Willie about coming back to his old job shows how out of touch with reality he is. He does seem to genuinely think he is being generous to Maggie and Willie. In the exchange between Hobson and Willie we see how far Willie has come. At the end of Act One, Hobson was taking his belt to Willie and now, Willie is offering Hobson a partnership in his own business. Hobson is completely controlled by Maggie and Willie. He tries to put up a fight but the partnership seems taken for granted and all they have left to argue about is the name of the shop. When it comes to the pinch, Hobson is sensible enough to know where his best interest lies.
The play ends with great warmth and affection. When Will first agreed to marry Maggie, he told her, honestly, that he did not lover her. The love at the end of the play is very clear to see. The moving final scene when Maggie insists on keeping her brass ring is full of genuine, sincere feeling.
Themes
Choice
The title itself tells us about this theme – Hobson is left with no choice but to accept what is offered to him. At the end, he has allowed both his character and his business to sink. Doctor Macfarlane says: “Your complaint and your character are the same.” It is interesting to think about what earlier choices Hobson could have made to prevent his downfall – perhaps go to the Moonraker’s less often!
It is arguable how much ‘choice’ Willie had in his engagement to Maggie. He put up little resistance but was Maggie his escape route from Ada’s mother?
When Hobson needs rescuing, Alice and Vickey choose their new way of life, leaving Maggie and Willie to follow what they feel duty bound to do.
Improvement
At the start of the play, Willie is a ‘natural fool at all else’ other than making boots. He has no thought of improving himself and would be ‘feared to go’ as a bootmaker in one of the ‘big shops in Manchester.’ Maggie however has ‘watched’ him for a long time and ‘counted on’ him for the previous six months. Is this a sign of Maggie’s courage that she is prepared to see her future tied with Willies? Maggie gives Willie his ‘appy dream’ and this perhaps gives him the strength to stand up to Hobson.
After a month of Maggie’s tutoring, Willie has his own premises and has been ‘accepted’ by Alice and Vickey. He makes his wedding speech and when he sees Hobson, he is ‘master’ of his own household. A year later, Will is ‘prosperous and has self-confidence’. Maggie says ‘you’re the man I made you, and I’m proud’, and Will is already thinking of the improvements he wants to make to the shop.
Love
Love and choosing marriage partners are also important themes – connected to the main theme of choice. It is clear that the marriage of Will and Maggie, as well as their bank balance, will the strongest. Hobson ‘felt grateful for the quiet’ when his wife died. Later, of Freddie and Albert, he says they are ‘putting chains upon themselves.’
Alice and Vickey seem not to be improved by marriage – merely become more proud and self-centred.
Maggie compares courting with the ‘fancy buckle’ – ‘all glitter and no use to nobody’ and yet she says at the end, ‘I’ll wear that ring for ever, Will’. Whereas Hobson saw marriage as slavery, it brings freedom to Will and Maggie. Their relationship becomes one based upon genuine affection.
Equality
Hobson is seen as a bullying parent and a bullying employer. He intends to ‘choose a pair of husbands’ for Alice and Vickey and doesn’t like the way they dress. Maggie has the courage to challenge Hobson. When Mrs. Hepworth praises ‘a workman to his face’ Hobson is angry. When Maggie suggests it was because ‘he deserved it’, Hobson is not impressed. As he exploits his daughters who work for no wages, so he exploits his workmen.
When Willie wants to escape from Maggie but is told, ‘You’ll go back when I’ve done with you’ Harold Brighouse has reversed the domination role. Maggie is set to obtain her liberty and equality and to achieve it for Will and her sisters. Whilst Hobson sees Willie as a ‘workhouse brat’, Maggie sees him as her ‘best chance’ to escape her Salford life. Maggie achieves a personal and business equality with Will.
Parenting
Both Hobson and Jim Heeler have ruled, or tried to rule, their children – ‘they mostly do as I bid them, and the missus does the leathering if they don’t’ says Jim. In seeing Maggie’s management of Will and handling of Hobson in Act IV, there could be an assumption that this improvement would project into parenthood.
Alcoholism
Hobson’s downfall is rooted in his alcoholism. His drunkeness allows him to be tricked into paying the settlements. Brighouse shows us the adverse effects of alcoholism on family life and business.
‘Hobson’s Choice’ as a comedy
The play’s events are dated in Victorian times, but its ideas and attitudes are universal. One of its ideas is the right of women to determine their own lives, whilst another is the rebellion of the younger generation against parental control. The comedic value comes from the bumptious and conceited Hobson getting his comeuppance whilst Wille, ‘a backward lad’ grows to his full potential, marries the boss’ daughter and takes over his business.
Maggie is the character who acts as a barometer to see how foolish others are. She takes no nonsense from her father, she has no time for the snobbery that would condemn her for marrying beneath her nor for her sisters false priorities in setting up a home.
If you get asked a question about the comedy within the play, the type of things you need to mention are:
- How Maggie makes Albert Prosser buy new boots when really he has come in to see Alice
- How Hobson likes the sound of his own voice especially when he is going on about wanting to marry his daughters off in Act One Scene 2
-
The way in which Mrs. Hepworth silences Hobson when she wants to talk to Willie and he is saying ‘it’ll never happen again’ even though he has no idea what she wants
- The way Maggie makes Willie marry her and he is uncomfortable
- The inability of Alice to balance the books at the start of Act 2 Scene 1 shows her inefficiency in business
- The way Maggie manipulates her father over the trespass action. Hobson in this scene is very over the top as he imagines the ruin the publicity would cause him
-
Willie’s words of comfort to Hobson which are obviously not words of comfort. ‘I don’t suppose you’ll go on being vicar’s warden after this to do.’
- Willie’s wedding speech which is obviously rehearsed
- When Willie tries to delay the others from leaving in Act 3 Scene 4 because he doesn’t want to be alone with Maggie
- When Maggie drags Willie back into the bedroom by his ear at the end of Act 3
The development of Willie’s Character
Sometimes you may be asked how Willie develops from the start of the play to the end. To answer this sort of question, you need to consider the following:
-
At the start, Willie is described as ‘not naturally stupid, but stunted mentally’. He is stunted by his circumstances in life ‘a workhouse brat’ and by the way in which society makes it difficult for people to better themselves when they start at the bottom of the heap
-
He winces when Mrs Hepworth says ‘take that’, expecting a blow and being unable to read the visiting card.
- Willie seems well-meaning at the start but is out of his depth and the comedy arises from Willie becoming one of the strongest characters in the play at the end.
-
When Hobson threatens Willie with the strap, he stands up to Hobson and Maggie says ‘Willie! I knew you had it in you lad.’
- Willies’ confidence grows as Maggie teaches him to read and he gives an obviously rehearsed speech at the wedding meal.
-
As Willie’s business booms, so Hobson’s fails until in the end Willie comes to take over the business. He shows how far he has progressed when he is well aware of what the business in worth ‘Two hundred as it is. Not as it was in our time, Vickey.’ And ‘I’ll do the arranging, Alice. If we come here, we come here on my terms.’ He also tells the girls that times have changed since they used to order him about in the shop. When dealing with Hobson, Willie is proud of what he is done and tells Hobson ‘You’ve got no trade, and me and Maggie’s got it all and now you’re on your bended knees to her to come and live with you, and all you think to offer me is my old job at eighteen shillings a week. Me that’s the owner of a business that is starving yours to death.’
-
Even though Willie gets the terms he wants – Hobson to have a half share in the business but to take no part in running it – he still remains a likeable character. ‘I’m afraid I bore on him too hard.’ It is Maggie who won’t let him have his way over the name on the shopboard though.
-
Willie shows further signs of ambition when he says ‘I’ve done one jump in a year and if I wait a bit I’ll do the other.’
Give advice to an actor playing Maggie on how you think she should present the character to an audience
- Maggie’s softer side – keeps a flower from her wedding bouquet; wants her dad to share in the cake on her wedding day; wants Willie to commit properly to her before they get married.
- Maggie as bossy and organising
- A woman who knows what she wants and is determined to get it
- Maggie as a good saleswoman – with Mrs Hepworth
- Maggie – realistic view about her and Willie’s relationship
Events to mention:
- Makes Albert buy the boots at the start
- Manipulates her father about when he comes home from lunch at the Moonraker
- Tells Willie he is going to marry her
- Sorts out Ada Figgins
- Sets up in business with Willie
- Tells her sisters they have to come to her wedding and buys the ring herself
- Manipulates her father about the accident in Beenstock’s cellar
- Comes to look after her father at the end
- Behaviour with Willie over the naming of the shop
Previous exam questions
You will find it useful to make brief essay plans for the questions below as part of your revision.
-
Give advice to an actor playing Maggie on how you think she should present the character to an audience.
- At the beginning of the play, Hobson says, ‘You’ll none rule me,’ to his daughters, whereas at the end of the play he says meekly, ‘Yes, Maggie.’ Explain how and why this change in Hobson’s attitude came about.
- Explain which of the characters in ‘Hobson’s Choice’ you have most sympathy for and why.
- To what extent is is possible to feel sympathy for Henry Hobson?
- ‘Hobson’s Choice’ has been described as showing ‘the overturning of the old social order’. How does Harold Brighouse try to make this theme entertaining for an audience?
Think about:
- What happens in the play’
- How the different characters speak and behave;
- How the overturning of the old social order is presented to an audience.
- What do you think of Willie and the way he is presented to an audience?
- ‘Hobson’s Choice’ is subtitled ‘A Lancashire Comedy’. To what extent do you find it ‘a comedy’? Your answer must be supported by detailed reference to the text.
Quick Quiz on the whole of the play – see how much you know.
- Where does Willie go to live after he leaves Hobson’s?
- Where do Willie and Maggie get the money to get started in business?
- Where do Willie and Maggie find premises?
- Why does Henry Hobson start to lose business?
- What happens to Hobson on his way home from the pub?
- What do you think about the accident? Was Hobson the only one to blame?
- What does Maggie do when she finds out about her father’s accident?
- Where is Mr Hobson when Maggie and Willie are getting married?
- Why is Maggie sure her father will come round to her when he wakes up and finds the paper?
- Where do Maggie’s guests go when Mr Hobson arrives?
- Why is Hobson so concerned about the legal action?
- What does Maggie say to her father when he asks her if he can come in?
- How long had Willie and Maggie been married when Hobson became ill?
- Why is Hobson living alone?
- Find two reasons why Hobson’s business started to fail?
- Which two people did Hobson send for when he woke up and felt desperately ill?
- What did the doctor say to him?
- Why couldn’t Vickey come back to Chapel Street to look after her father?
- What did Hobson say to Vickey and Alice when they said they couldn’t look after him?
- Explain what was finally agreed between Hobson and Willie Mossop.
Quick Quiz 1
- Names of Hobson’s daughters?
- What was Hobson’s business?
- Who did Alice want to marry?
- Where does Hobson drink?
- Name of Hobson’s friend?
- Who did Vickey want to marry?
- Why does Hobson grumble about his daughters?
- Why does Hobson say Maggie can’t get married?
- Who was Mrs. Hepworth?
- Why did Mrs. Hepworth come to the shop?
Quick Quiz 2
- Why does Maggie think it will be a good idea to marry Willie?
- Who is Willie engaged to?
- How do Vickey and Alice react when they find out Maggie wants to marry Willie?
- What does Hobson threaten Willie with when he hears about the wedding?
- Why does Maggie force her sisters to kiss Willie?
- Why do Albert and Freddy take orders from Maggie?
- How would you show Willie’s nervousness at being left alone with Maggie on the wedding night?
Quick Quiz 3
- In Act 3, what are Maggie and Willie’s reactions to Hobson?
- How would you show Hobson’s attitude towards the action for damages?
- How does Hobson feel when he realises he has been tricked? How would you show this attitude on stage?
- Why does Maggie keep a flower from her wedding bouquet?
- How would an audience react to the final stage directions in Act 3?
Quick Quiz 4
- Look at the stage directions at the start of Act 4. What is the atmosphere in Hobson’s living room?
- What condition is Hobson in now?
- Why is Hobson, ‘frightened of himself’?
- How have Alice and Vickey changed in the last year? How would these changes be shown to an audience?
- What clues are given in Act 4 about the change in Willie Mossop?
Quick Quiz 5
- Why does Willie reject Hobson’s terms?
- Who now sets the tone for Willie and Maggie’s relationship?
- What is Hobson’s final attitude? How would you show it on stage?
- Why does Maggie insist on keeping the brass wedding ring?
- How would the audience feel at the end of the play?
‘Hobson’s Choice’ – Act 2
Identify the speaker
- ‘You know what’s got by selling clogs won’t pay the rent’
- ‘I wish I was married and out of it’
- ‘I must say. Your father has turned awkward’
- ‘There’s more in kissing nice young women than I thought’
- ‘A ring out of stock!’
- ‘I’d start properly or not at all’
- ‘It’ll be a grand satisfaction to look back and think about how we were when we began’
- ‘But I’m far from saying it’s good law’
Consider these issues
- How has Hobson’s shop changed since Will and Maggie left?
- What do we learn about the way Hobson has been acting?
- What is the importance of Alice and Vickey kissing Will?
- What do we learn from Maggie’s choice of wedding ring?
- How does Maggie intend to secure the ‘marriage portions’?
- What is the purpose behind Maggie insisting Albert pushes ‘a hand-cart through Salford in broad daylight’?
- What are Maggie and Will’s feelings as they go to Church?
‘Hobson’s Choice’ – Act 3
Identify the speaker:
- ‘I’ve been learning a lot lately’
- ‘I know which of you three men ‘ull be thought most of at the Bank’
- ‘Me wash pots!’
- ‘Do you want company on your wedding night?’
- ‘You don’t sound cordial about your invitation, young man’
- ‘Then there’s your cake, and you can eat it’
- ‘This ‘ull give a lot of satisfaction to a many I could name’
- ‘You’re a backward lad, but you know your trade and it’s an honest one’
Consider the following:
- Why is Will keen for Albert and Freddie to stay?
- What part does Will play in Hobson’s visit?
- Why does Maggie insist Hobson eats some wedding cake?
- What do we learn about Maggie from the way she manages the ‘negotiations’?
- Why is Hobson so angry as he leaves?
- What do we learn about Maggie’s character in this act?
‘Hobson’s Choice’ – Act 4
Identify the speaker:
- ‘Its’ temper’s ruining this shop’
- ‘I think your daughters should be here’
- ‘I’m frightened of myself’
- ‘You’ve both got your fate written on your faces’
- ‘Women are a necessity, sir’
- ‘There’s another man with claims on me’
- ‘My child comes first with me’
- ‘I’m afraid I bore on him too hard’
Consider the following:
- How has Hobson managed the shop since Maggie’s departure?
- Why does Hobson choose to have Doctor MacFarlane stay in preference to Jim Heeler?
- How have Vickey and Alice changed since their marriages?
- What is Hobson’s offer to Maggie and Will? What do you think of it?
- What is the balance of the relationship like between Maggie and Will at the end of the play?
- How much is Will’s confidence his own?
- What are we supposed to think about Hobson?
Quotations to learn (as well as the ones that are in these notes!)
Act One
Albert Prosser “I’m terrible hard on bootlaces, Miss Hobson.”
Hobson “There’s been a gradual increase of uppishness towards me”
Vickey “We shall dress as we like, father, and you can save your breath”
Maggie “If you’re dealing husbands round, don’t I get one?”
Willie “I do a bit. Only it’s such a funny print”
Jim Heeler “Women are worse than men for getting above themselves”
Maggie “I’ve got the love all right”
Ada “I’m trusting him to make the future right”
Act Two
Tubby “You know what’s got by selling clogs won’t pay the rent”
Alice “I wish I was married and out of it”
Freddie “I must say. Your father has turned very awkward”
Willie “There’s more in kissing nice young women than I thouhgt”
Alice “A ring out of stock!”
Vickey “I’d start properly or not at all”
Maggie “It’ll be a grand satisfaction to look back and think about how we were when we began”
Albert “but I’m far from saying it’s good law”
Act Three
Willie “I’ve been learning a lot lately”
Maggie “I know which of you three men ‘ull be though most of at the Bank”
Freddie “Me wash pots!”
Albert “Do you want company on your wedding night?”
Hobson “You don’t sound cordial about the invitation, young man”
Maggie “Then there’s your cake, and you can eat it”
Willie “This ‘ull give a lot of satisfaction to a many I could name”
Hobson “You’re a backward lad, but you know your trade and it’s an honest one”
Act Four
Tubby “It’s temper’s ruining this shop”
Jim Heeler “I think your daughter should be here”
Hobson “I’m frightened of myself!”
Dr MacFarlane “You’ve both got your fate written on your faces”
Dr MacFarlane “Women are a necessity, sir”
Maggie “There’s another man with claims on me”
Vickey “My child comes first with me”
Willie “I’m afraid I bore on him too hard”
