Hobson’s Choice Themes
1. Alcoholism
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Alcoholism is part of Hobsons downfall- 1. losing the customers at his shop
2. losing his best boot hand
3. losing his daughters,
4. losing his money, because it is in his drunk-ness that he agrees to
Maggie's marriage and pays her settlements for her marriage
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Hobson doesn’t realize his problem like many alcoholics cannot see that he has a problem- ‘reasonable refreshment
sees alcohol as his reasonable refreshment- Page 66
Doctor MacFarlane is called because Hobsons feels so ill- this is where Dr. MacFarlane tells him that he has got
‘Chronic Alcoholism’- Page 65-69
At the end of the play- recognizes his problem and accepts care
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At the start of the play, he needs ‘reviving’ and it is clear he drinks from the girls' conversation about the
Moonrakers.
Alcoholism is his escape.
It is Hobson’s drunken state that allows him to be tricked by Maggie into getting him to give his daughters
settlements.
In fact, Jim Heeler says he is not a ‘toper’, although he does drink very heavily, and Jim is also an alcoholic.
The writer, Harold Brighouse, shows the reader/ audience the adverse effects of alcoholism on Hobsons Family and
business life and the impacts it can have. The writer’s objective is to persuade the audience/ reader to avoid alcohol.
Historical Reference
In the Victorian Times (1820-191)the 1800s- Attitudes began to change towards alcoholism as a result of
industrialization.
 Employers were looking for self-discipline rather than self-expression.
 Drunkenness was a threat to industrial efficiency and growth.
 People blamed alcoholism for more and more problems- personal, social, religious, moral.
 Work was enough to prevent drunkenness- any consumption was unacceptable.
 Groups promoted temperance (David Lean film.)
 They demanded the complete and total prohibition of production and distribution of alcoholism.
 Hobson’s downfall is alcohol.  His self-satisfaction makes him lose his shop- no aspiration beyond reputation.
Harold Brighouse shows the audience that drinking a lot, like Hobson, was a lack of self-control. However, he becomes
unaware of his problem as Dr. MacFarlane says (on p65) that his ‘complaint and his character are the same’
2. Responsibility
Nearly everyone in the play takes some form of responsibility.
Maggie takes on responsibility when 1. she marries Willie she took on responsibility because she had to make him marry
her as only she saw his potential 2. she then had to run their shop as well as the rooms in the cellars, which would have
been a step down socially 3. she taught Willie to read and write and took on the responsibility to make him a better man which she achieved. "Do you know what keeps this business on its legs? Two things: One's good boots you make that
sell themselves, the others the bad boots other people make and I sell. We’re a pair. Will Mossop." 4. Maggie also takes
on responsibility when her mother died, she had to look after the shop, the house, and their family. This was the custom
in that era 5. Maggie also took on the responsibility to get her sisters married, after they said that her marrying Willie had
spoilt their chance. "my brains and your hands 'ull make a working partnership."
Henry Hobson abdicates responsibility to his daughters and spends most of his time at the Pub due to his ''uppish''
daughters. "I give and you take" This results in chronic alcoholism, and he has to give up drinking and taking
responsibility for everything after he becomes a "sleeping partner" for Willie. When his daughters all leave, he finally
realizes how much responsibility he left to them. Hobson takes responsibility for his own life, he is depressed but resists
the urge to drown himself or slit his throat. But after he hears what is wrong with him he loses responsibility for his life
and tries to go back to the pub for another drink. But thankfully for him, the doctor won't allow him to kill himself.
Vicky and Alice give up the responsibility placed on them in having them run the shop after Maggie went. This should
never have happened as even Hobson says that they were mostly "window dressing". After Maggie went the shop went
downhill and the other 2 daughters blame it on Maggie leaving, even though they cannot add properly and don’t know
what to tell Tubby to do. They won't take responsibility for their father after he was diagnosed by the doctor with
alcoholism. They make excuses and won't go back to Hobson's house "I'm not going to break my home up and that’s
flat."
Tubby has to take responsibility for the house after all 3 daughters and Willie have gone. He does not like being a
housemaid and cooking and seems lost in this new role as he is cooking over the living room fire, not in the kitchen.
Willie Mossop takes responsibility for the quality of the footwear he makes, even though he is "stunted mentally". It
seems he is accustomed to receiving punishment as when he is told "take that" he expects it to be a blow. He seems
unaccustomed to receiving praise for his Job and we find Hobson is against praising workmen to their faces. He does not
have much responsibility at the start and he thinks the world is against him. As the play progresses his character grows
and he grows in responsibility with it.
Willie starts to come accustomed to the idea after Maggie has smoothed out the problems. She is the only one who can
see his potential. He takes more responsibility and answers back to Hobson and stands up for himself more. He has
risen in social status by marrying Maggie and no one seems to like this, but he develops and his responsibilities rise from
a cellar shop to the manager of a well-known business. He takes all this into his stride and he is no more the weak-willed
man at the start of the play.
Albert Prosser does not take responsibility for getting married, he leaves it all to Maggie to plan and carry out. He is in
her biding and reveals it in the cellar when he is told to wash up. He takes responsibility in the matter of drawing up the
document to prosecute Hobson but is not prepared to accept responsibility to carry the plan all the way through, this was
left to Maggie. "Well, if anyone had told me I was coming in here to spend a pound, I'd have called him crazy."
3. Love
Maggie is told by her father that she is “past the marrying age, you’re a proper old maid”. Also, the relationship between
Maggie and Willie is interesting as he doesn’t want to marry her at the start and she is very forceful about it. Hobson
sees marriage as slavery. Maggie compares it to “fancy buckle” “all glitter and no use to nobody”, Alice and Vicky see it
as becoming more of a lady. – the metaphor of “all that glister is not gold”
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Love, choosing marriage partners, very important. Connected with choice.
Maggie and Will’s marriage will be the strongest, as it’s based on vision and trust.
This is summarized by Maggie’s views that courting needn’t come first.
At first marriage views are not positive- Hobson quietly happy when his wife died.
Hobson describes Freddie and Albert as ‘putting chains upon themselves.
When Willie is tokened to Ada, this is hardly an ideal marriage. Will seemed relieved when it is broken off.
Although there is no romance between Maggie and Willie, their marriage is good
Alice and Vickey, their marriages do not seem to have improved them as they become even more proud and
self-centered.
Will and Maggie see marriage as freedom and liberation, whereas Hobson sees it as putting chains on people.
Their marriage grows and they gradually love one another more, until the end of the play, when they celebrate
their relationship.
Connected to theme of Choice- love leads to various choices
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Alice and Vickey seem to be marrying for money/ to escape Hobson rather than for love- opposite to Maggie and Will
who come to love each other
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May get these attitudes from Hobson who makes it clear he is grateful for his wife's death
Will & Maggie
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Maggie choosing to marry Will is partly for his benefit- showing love and care
It is their way to prosper and escape Hobson
Shown at the end when Will kisses Maggie out of genuine affection
4. Choice
“Hobson choice” title suggests that Hobson was left with no choice except the available choice. Willie didn’t have a
choice in marrying Maggie
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Will Mossop- arguable he doesn't have a choice in his engagement to Maggie- however, end of the play he chooses
to accept Maggie and buy her a proper ring, etc.
In contrast to Hobson whose choices are detrimental (harmful), Will becomes master of his destiny through hissocial order reverse
Maggie's choices- marry will, leave Hobsons, start a business, manipulate situation of Hobsons fall to marry her
sisters (who originally had 'no choice in marriage while under Hobsons control). Her choices affect most of the
events in the play
Alice and Vickey choose new ways of life, don't turn back by rescuing Hobson.
5. Equality/Feminism
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Hobson has no care for his daughters and discourages what they wear and act.
Hobson gets angry when Willie is praised as he is of a lower class and he thinks it’s silly
Willie says “and you the master's daughter” which shows that he doesn’t understand why Maggie wants to marry
him; he thinks the class is too important for that.
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Hobson does not treat his daughters equally, in regards to himself and regards to them.
He is the head of the family, admittedly not a good one. He would marry off Alice and Vickey, but not Maggie- she’s
too old.
Hobson had no equal relationship with his wife, it is likely that he just used her ‘a handy thing.’
However, Maggie is more than equal to Hobson, as she can stand up to him and prove him wrong.
He exploits his workmen and his daughters.
Juxtaposition- Maggie’s challenge to Hobson to his denying her possibility of Marriage.
Here Brighouse reverses the gender roles and she is determined to gain her liberty and equality, and in that for Will
and her sisters.
Maggie is forceful and able, and she aims to improve and liberate. She has enabled Will to become his own master.
Her equality is based on enablement.
Maggie and Willie have an equal partnership, which is not only based on trust and hope ‘for the best we can get
out of it but also on love.
Maggie’s equality extends to love and generosity, and that even extends to Hobson.
Maggie and Will promise a valuing of people, and they are very able and give the impression that there is no limit
to what they can achieve.
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6.
Parenting
Hobson
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Bully and very controlling of his daughters and wants them to do what he says
Both Hobson and Jim Heeler try and rule with some form of tyranny.
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Throughout the play, parenting is presented negatively through Hobson and Jim Heeler, however, this is
cheered at the end when Maggie agrees to look after her father.
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Selfish- thinks only for his destiny, not for his daughters.
Cruel, he is happy for Maggie not to get married because she is an asset to the business
Remembers his wife only as useful for domestic duties, men were seen as more powerful at the time.
Controlling, Maggie only one that stands up to him, partly because only one is intelligent enough to do so.
Refuses to pay them a wage, outraged when Willie receives praise from Mrs. Hepworth
BUT- does keep them well-fed and dressed
The daughters are happy to conspire against him.
Maggie
 Maggie chooses to support her father when he needs her, and it looks like it was her who had to do all the
work anyway.
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Maggie represents the good side of parenting
Vickey
The protective parent uses pregnancy as an excuse for not looking after Hobson says her child comes
First
7. Improvement and change
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Important in 19th-century literature, a lot of messages to audiences in the 1900s.
The theme of improvement is very much linked to ambition.
Maggie Hobson
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Maggie has ‘watched’ William for 6 months and sees the room and ability for improvement in him.
Maggie often sees how characters could be improved.
Brighouse has structured HC that we see Willie being praised by Mrs. Hepworth and clearly shown that he is a
good bootmaker. Thus it seems fitting that Maggie should use him as a ‘business idea in the shape of a man.’
Maggie sees that Will is a ‘treasure’ and that he needs to improve his circumstances.
After a month, Will has his premises (a cellar in Oldfield Road) and he has been ‘accepted’ by Alice and Vickey.
Will improves to Master of his own house and a year later, he is ‘prosperous and has self-confidence.’
He can stand up to Alice ‘if we come here, it will be on my terms.’
When Hobson confesses that he is ‘a changed man’ there is an irony that Willie has also changed, but he has
improved and he also says that Hobson needs that!!
Maggie says ‘you’re the man I made you, and I’m proud’
Will is already thinking of the improvements he is going to make at Mossop and Hobson’s. He is also going to
improve Maggie’s ring, which Maggie doesn’t want.
W and M have both achieved business improvement.
William Mossop
 At the beginning of the play, Willie was a “natural fool at all else” other than making boots. But Maggie as a
strong woman brought him up and changed him to be “prosperous and has self-confidence”. he now owns
his shop
 Start of the play, Willie is a ‘natural fool at all else’ and has no thought of improvement ‘I’m not ambitious
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that I know of’.
He was ‘feared to go’ as a bootmaker to a big shop in Manchester.
In the beginning, the 'natural fool' was the lowest class, uneducated but he improved himself as the play
went on
It is Maggie's choice to improve him not his however also for her benefit as ends up with a secure future and
position in society
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Improves Hobsons business when he takes it over, improves Maggie’s ring
Mrs. Hepworth is the catalyst (one of the most important elements in a story. Without one, there would be
no story, It is the character that incites incident that sets the successive conflict into motion) for the rest of
the book – minor character big influence
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Mrs. Hepworth has no respect for Hobson “you look ridiculous on the floor” also she identifies as not being
too old for anything – “young women, you seemed to have some sense when you served me”
During Jim and Hobson's conversation, it is revealed about the relationship between men and women in that
time also Hobson regrets the way he treated his wife “a wife is a handy thing…. But I can see my mistake
now “
When he and Hobson have a conversation is highlights the sexist attitude in those times. They see women
only as mothers, wives, and daughters who should obey the men.
Alice and Vickey They have both achieved social improvement, they have ‘done up in the world’ but that is all.
But their attitudes remain the same.
8. Class and Status
Upper Class
 Consisted of Aristocrats, Nobles, Dukes, wealthy families in Victorian courts.
 Powerful position- authority, better living conditions, other facilities.
 Best tutors to provide education- advantage at everything.
 Expensive clothes from Europe, empire, other riches of life.
 Mrs. Hepworth- didn’t have to work for a living, accomplished. Middle Class
 Maid, gardener, butler, and maybe a cook.
 Mainly school educated.
Upper Middle-Class
 factory owners, large-scale businessmen, bankers, doctors, lawyers, engineers, clergymen.
 Dr. McFarlane, Albert- lawyer, Freddie- corn merchant.
Lower middle-class
 small scale businessmen, shop keepers, merchants, civil servants.
 Hobson- shopkeeper. ‘I’m British middle class and proud of it.’
 Alice and Vickey are snobs, especially after they are married. They don’t want Willie as a brother-in-law, and after
they are married they don’t come back to look after Hobson.
Lower Class
 They were not paid good wages.
 Ada, her mother, Willie Mossop, Tubby- working class.
 Willie progresses from working to middle.
 Working-class massive effects on economic, political, social structures.
 Lowest- working men/laborers, then intelligent artisan, and then educated working man.
Historical and Cultural Background
Gender Roles
 Women are not given responsible jobs normally.
 She was to give birth to children and look after the house.
 However, men had all kinds of freedom.
 The man was the head of the family and the guardian of the members.
 They were the protector and the Lord.
 He was strong, brave, and hardworking- stereotype.
 Stereotype of women- weak, shy, and emotional compared to men.
 Very important concept of ideal women- pure and clean.
In the play, the roles are reversed.
 Women are not weak and shy.
 Maggie asks Will to marry him.
 Alice, Vickey, and Maggie defy Hobson by getting married and choosing their husbands.
 In the end, the men have to rely on the women.
Women and Marriage
 Role of Victorian Women limited childbearing and housewife.
 Women encouraged to marry- she needed protection, weak and pure.
 Married woman completely under guidance and supervision of husband.
 Single women- pitied and ridiculed by the community.
 Maggie asks Willie to marry her- breaks the limitations. ‘It seems to me to point one way… you’re leaving me to
do all the work, my lad.’
 Maggie takes to charge completely; Willie doesn’t have any choice. ‘I wish you’d leave me alone… So does the
spider when the fly catches him. You’re my man, Willie Mossop.’
 Alice and Vickey want to marry to ‘escape’ the problems of Hobson.
 Maggie is considered too old to get married by Hobson.
 The girls are bullied by Hobson, and their only way out is to get married.
 While women were treated with respect, women were viewed as being weak and not having any technique.
 Hobson does not want Alice and Vickey to choose their husbands, they have no choice. ‘Can’t we choose
husbands for ourselves?’
 Hobson thinks that women are a waste of time and a burden on society- ‘I’ve done with fathering… They’re
putting chains upon themselves and I have thrown the shackles off… Lord, what a thing you’re talking on…
Clothing
 Victorian women had very conservative viewpoints.
 Generally accepted that dresses should be long- down to the floor, with long sleeves.
 Your legs should never be shown in public or wear trousers.
 Hobson thinks that the latest fashion is indecent, and his girls cannot even choose dresses for themselves. ‘You
were going down Chapel Street with a hump added to nature behind you.’
 Hobson likes his daughters to look ‘nice’.
Work
 Men were hired over women, but women gradually began to make significant inroads in employment.
 Hobson doesn’t pay his girls at all, but Maggie is recognized as a good saleswoman.
 Hobson claims that he’ll run his shop with only men, however, when the girls do get married, the shop goes
rapidly downhill in this state. ‘It’s temper ruining this shop, Mr. Heeler. Temper and obstinacy.’ ‘I order you to get
Maggie back… but I prescribe her, and – damn ye, sir are ye going to defy me again.’