Plot
- In Salford in 1880, Henry Hobson owns a bootmaker's shop, drinks heavily and bullies his three daughters, Maggie, Alice and Vickey.
- Maggie, 30 and the cleverest, runs the shop. She decides to marry Will Mossop, Hobson's shy but skilled bootmaker.
- Maggie and Will marry and open a rival shop with help from a rich customer, Mrs Hepworth. Maggie uses Hobson's drunken fall into a corn merchant's cellar to get money for her sisters' marriages.
- Hobson becomes ill from drink and needs Maggie. Will, now confident, makes Hobson agree to a partnership on Will's terms.
Themes and context
- Gender roles, class, marriage, ambition and power within families.
- Written by Harold Brighouse in 1915, while women campaigned for the vote, and set in 1880. A 'Hobson's choice' is no real choice at all.
Characters
- Maggie is determined and practical; Will grows from timid to confident; Hobson is a proud tyrant who loses power.
Key terms
- Hobson's choice
- A choice with only one real option.
- Patriarch
- A man who heads and controls a family.
- Comedy
- A play with a light tone that ends happily.
- Partnership
- A business owned and run by two or more people.
Quick questions on Hobson’s Choice
- What is Hobson's trade?
- Bootmaker: His shop is in Salford.
- Who runs Hobson's shop?
- Maggie: She is the cleverest daughter.
- Who does Maggie decide to marry?
- Will Mossop: He is shy but a skilled bootmaker.
- Who helps Maggie and Will start their shop?
- Mrs Hepworth: She is a rich customer.
- How does Maggie get money for her sisters' marriages?
- From Hobson's fall into a cellar, which leads to a court case: He trespassed on a corn merchant's property.
- How does the play end?
- Will makes Hobson agree to a partnership on Will's terms: Will has gained confidence.
- When was Hobson's Choice written?
- 1915: It is set in 1880.
- Which theme does Maggie's control of her marriage show?
- Gender roles being challenged: Women were campaigning for the vote in 1915.