Themes and Meanings
“This place stinks,” says Jo to Geof in act 2. “That river, it’s the colour of lead. Look at the washing, it’s dirty, and look at those filthy children.” Such imagery not only sets the mood, but also keeps the audience aware of the squalor surrounding the flat. The play protests against poverty, poor housing and minimal schooling opportunities. Jo feels let down, for example, by having to attend too many different schools because her mother is always on the move. The play also illustrates the gap between the magic of people’s dreams and the grim reality of their daily lives. Beneath the sharp give-and-take of the comic repartee is a wistful yearning for the possibility of more honest relationships between people, for more affection in a world where most things, including love, are (as in Helen’s world) for sale.
At a more personal—and more powerful—level the play is a study of a girl on the threshold of adulthood, wanting to be grown up, yet dreading the responsibilities of maturity (including motherhood). In her quest for a warm relationship she comes upon three types of love: sexual and romantic love with The Boy, brotherly and sisterly love with Geof, and the maternal love which she longs for but never gets from her mother, and which she finds difficult to summon up for the child within her.
Jo has few illusions about The Boy. She understands him in terms of her own fantasy world, endowing him with a mystical nature and a romantic name, “Prince Ossini,” that typify a young girl’s novelettish notion of romance. In the final scene, when she is forced to shed many of her dreams, she refers to him quite casually as “Jimmie.”
Both the men in her life are outsiders—The Boy, because he is black, and Geof, because he is a homosexual (although this is implicit rather than explicit). The “taste of honey” which she experiences in her brief happiness with Geof can be understood to represent the short period of freedom between school and marriage that is typical for a working-class woman.
Jo is startlingly—and comically—honest about herself and her times. She calls Geof “an Edwardian,” but claims herself to be a “contemporary.” “I really am, aren’t I?” she says, “I really do live at the same time as myself.” Jo, The Boy and Geof are expressions of the “contemporary” mood of the late 1950’s for freedom and toleration, heralding the permissiveness to come in the 1960’s. Peter and Helen, with their coarse attitudes toward homosexuality and ethnic variation, embody the prejudice and materialism against which the younger generation was beginning to protest.
Themes
Last Updated September 7, 2024.
Alienation and Loneliness
Jo feels profoundly abandoned by her mother, Helen. This has been a recurring
issue throughout her life, but it becomes unbearable when Helen relocates them
to a new apartment just before Christmas, only to leave almost immediately with
her boyfriend. Jo's sense of isolation directly leads to her becoming pregnant.
After Helen departs with Peter, Jo breaks down in tears. Seeking comfort, Jo
invites a young black man who claims to love her to stay with her for the
Christmas holidays. Previously, Jo had resisted any intimacy with him, knowing
he was about to embark on a six-month naval tour. However, overwhelmed by
loneliness when he returns to her flat, Jo abandons her future plans for work
along with her inhibitions.
Duty and Responsibility
Helen is supposed to care for her daughter, but she shirks this responsibility and avoids the role of a mother. She is always ready to...
(This entire section contains 775 words.)
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run off with a man, without considering the consequences for Jo. As the play unfolds, it becomes evident that this behavior has been a constant in Jo's life. Helen has never taken her daughter's feelings into account or assumed any responsibility for her well-being. Jo is left to fend for herself, a situation she seems to have managed for some time before the play begins. Helen thinks so little of Jo that she doesn't even inform her romantic partners about her daughter's existence. Consequently, Jo lacks a maternal role model. This becomes a significant issue in the final act when Jo grapples with her impending motherhood and her mixed feelings about having her own child. There is ample evidence suggesting that Jo might perpetuate the cycle of neglect that Helen began.
Friendship
Geof demonstrates his value as a friend through his efforts to support Jo. As
her sole friend, he moves in with her when she is most in need. Jo, not wanting
anyone to see her, is unable to work and therefore has no money for rent or
food. Geof, having been evicted for being homosexual, accepts Jo's offer to
sleep on her living room couch. He becomes Jo's only friend, taking on the
responsibilities of paying rent, buying groceries, and preparing meals. Geof's
friendship even extends to attempting to reunite Jo with her mother, although
he underestimates Helen's selfishness. He is the only person who offers Jo
unconditional love. Geof provides her with loyal and generous friendship,
something Jo has never experienced and is unsure how to accept.
Mother and Daughter Relationship
A key theme in this play is the dynamic of mother-daughter love. In the case of
Helen and Jo, there is an absence of a traditional parent-child bond. Helen
fails to behave like a nurturing and caring mother, while Jo does not show the
typical respect and obedience of a child. Notably, Jo avoids calling Helen
"mother," instead using her first name, "Helen," as a sign of disrespect.
Helen, on her part, frequently conceals the fact that she even has a daughter, perhaps in an attempt to preserve an illusion of youth. Jo is often left alone by her mother whenever a better opportunity—usually involving a wealthy man—arises. Jo's actions clearly indicate her desperate need for a maternal figure. In terms of nurturing, Geof is the closest person Jo has to a parent.
Pride
Jo's pride is so strong that she refuses to leave her apartment once her
pregnancy becomes visible. She must be aware of the neighborhood gossip, but
she chooses to ignore it. Staying confined to her flat means she cannot work,
leaving her without a means to support herself. Helen also exhibits pride; she
is willing to push her illegitimate grandchild in a pram down the street, but
when she discovers the child is black, her pride prevents her from being seen
with the baby. Jo's pregnancy by a black man is more of a class issue than a
racial one. Despite being poor and working-class, Helen views the child's
father as beneath their social status. Consequently, Helen rejects Jo’s unborn
child, even suggesting extreme actions like giving it away or drowning it,
rather than being associated with it.
Helen's misplaced pride allowed her to stay in a relationship with a man who belittled, humiliated, and ultimately discarded her, yet this same pride leads her to reject her own grandchild, whom she deems unsuitable. The pride portrayed in A Taste of Honey is not the uplifting kind that helps characters overcome challenges. Instead, the misguided dignity that Jo and Helen display keeps them trapped in their cycle of misery. Their distorted standards blind them to the possibility of breaking free from their circumstances.