Maggie and Hobson in Hobson's Choice

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Maggie and Hobson in Hobson's Choice

The play "Hobson's Choice" is an invigorating character comedy set in

Salford, a town near Manchester. It is also a biting commentary on the

Victorian values that overhung into the early twentieth century, when

it was written. It pits Henry Horatio Hobson, an alcoholic old shop

owner, against his forceful daughter Maggie, who is determined to

break out of the dull boot shop and the life of genteel spinsterhood

that awaits her.

"Hobson's Choice" looks at the Victorian class and gender stereotypes,

and then blows them to pieces. Hobson himself has clear ideas about

the place of women, which he frequently expresses. His view is that "a

wife is a handy thing", yet that men who marry are "putting chains

upon themselves". This shows him to be a sexist hypocrite, but perhaps

he is a product of his time? His views on class are equally

pronounced, since he declares Willie unfit for Maggie to marry because

"his father was a workhouse brat", and similarly treats Mrs Hepworth

with great respect, though she -being in the class well above Hobson-

treats him with disdain. This shows that to some extent at least,

Hobson is merely reflecting the attitudes of his society.

Another theme relating to class is Alice and Vickey's marriages, and

their subsequent snobbery, about being in business not trade, and

their refusal to help Hobson when he needed it most. The location of

the play is also vital for its context- Salford, in Lancashire. The

play is entirely focussed on Salford, with Manchester being the only

reference to the outside world. Hobson is terrified of having his name

in the "Manchester Guardian" -...

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...nd allow the couple to raise a family of their own. Hobson is almost

certainly dimly aware of this, but has convinced himself in his

alcoholic stupor that he is in the right.

Maggie on the other hand shows us what a woman can be, even while

sticking broadly to the rules and expectations of the Victorian middle

class. She can run a business, though not in public, can choose her

partner, and will in all probability end up as a Mrs Hepworth -

strong, dominant, rich and independent. Despite Maggie's evident

success in the nineteenth century, consider what a woman of her

character and skills could be in the twenty-first century, and then

the injustice of her position is immediately obvious. Ultimately

however, "Hobson's Choice" is a play with a feminist message, and that

is all the more impressive considering its setting.

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