A Taste of Honey: Key Quotations (AQA GCSE English Literature): Revision Note
Exam code: 8702
A Taste of Honey: Key theme quotations
In your exam, you will be required to know the play well enough to refer to key pieces of dialogue or events. This will help produce a convincing and thorough interpretation of the whole play.
To form a strong argument that examines the theme in the question, you’ll need to use references or refer to key phrases or words as supporting evidence. This means that quotes should be linked closely to a point you make about the theme.
Here, we will analyse key quotes grouped according to the following themes:
Motherhood and family
Discrimination
Independence and marriage
Motherhood and family
Shelagh Delaney’s play A Taste of Honey, staged in London in 1958, depicts a mother and daughter struggling to find common ground, live in harmony, or find love and security in a world that offers them little personal control.
Paired quotations
“Turn ’em all. You’re bound to find the right one in the end. She can’t do a thing for herself, that girl. Mind you don’t gas yourself” — Helen, Act 1, Scene 1
“Turn on all the knobs. Mind you don’t gas yourself” — Jo, Act 2, Scene 2
Meaning and context
In the exposition (opens in a new tab), Helen tells Jo to turn on the stove as she is unwell:
She instructs Jo to try all the knobs and to avoid gassing herself
She comments to the audience that Jo is incapable of being independent
By the final scene, though, when Helen visits Jo in her own flat, Jo says the same thing to her mother when she asks about the stove
Analysis
The sharp tone, delivered in short sentences, present Helen as an uncaring mother:
Insulting comments about her daughter, which are directed to the audience, breaks the fourth wall, emphasising their poor relationship with each other
This implies their need for outside support
When Jo mocks her mother by repeating these words back to her when she is living independently, Delaney reveals how impactful a mother’s words can be:
Jo has remembered Helen’s words and, once she is independent, uses them against her
This presents their relationship as permanently damaged
“Still, we all have funny ideas at that age, don't we — makes no difference though, we all end up same way sooner or later” — Helen, Act 1, Scene 1
Meaning and context
Helen ignores Jo’s comment that she will not get married, saying that she is just a young girl and will soon change her mind
She says that everyone will “end up” getting married at some point
Analysis
Delaney presents Helen’s view that marriage is an inescapable social convention:
Her negative attitude to the state of being married is evident in the phrase “end up”, which implies a lack of choice
Her view of marriage is that it is a certainty: it will happen “sooner or later”
She suggests that Jo is naive to expect she will have a different life
Examiner Tips and Tricks
Examiners reward answers that treat characters, settings, and moments from the text as evidence of the writer's methods. This helps you to achieve better marks for analysis.
For instance, you could consider how the writer delivers ideas through their choice of setting, what their characters represent and how they contrast each other. For instance, Delaney sets her play in an industrial town in the North of England to depict working-class lives.
Discrimination
Shelagh Delaney explores the theme of discrimination in her play by creating characters from marginalised groups. Through the characters’ experiences, and how they interact with each other, A Taste of Honey depicts casual racism, sexism, and homophobia.
Paired quotations
“Do you object to the ‘gross clasps of the lascivious Moor’?” — The Boy, Act 1, Scene 2
“I don’t suppose I could live up to that black beast of a prince of yours” — Geof, Act 2, Scene 1
Meaning and context
Jo’s Black boyfriend (referred to in the play as “Boy”) asks Jo if the reason she does not want to kiss him is because she objects to the touch of a lusty “Moor”:
He quotes a line from Shakespeare’s Othello, which raises themes of racism
A “Moor” is someone of North African descent with a dark skin colour
Later, when Jo declines Geof’s proposal, he makes a sarcastic comment about the Boy:
He describes him as like an animal (a “beast”), another reference to Othello
Analysis
Delaney refers to a Shakespearean play that raises themes of racial discrimination
When the Boy refers to himself as a “lascivious Moor” he is teasing Jo, although he shows an awareness of discrimination against him
Geof’s comment is spoken with bitterness:
He implies the Boy is animalistic
His reference to the Boy being a “prince” reveals Geof’s jealousy and perhaps insecurity
“I can’t stand people who laugh at other people. They’d get a bigger laugh if they laughed at themselves” — Geof, Act 2, Scene 1
Meaning and context
Geof is bitter about Jo’s reference to his sexuality:
She asks about “people like” him and says she will not “snigger” (laugh at him)
He says that people who mock others are, in fact, easier to mock
Analysis
Delaney suggests through Geof’s extreme distaste for people who mock others that he feels resentful about discrimination
He is presented as empathetic:
He is upset about “other people” being laughed at which implies he is not just angry about his own experiences
“That puts another ten years on her” — Peter, Act 1, Scene 1
Meaning and context
When Peter meets Helen’s daughter Jo, he says that this immediately ages Helen
He implies that she may have told him she was younger than she was
Analysis
Delaney shows Peter’s sexist attitudes as he comments negatively on Helen’s age once he knows she is a mother
That Helen may have told him she was younger, and through negative comments about Helen’s age (even by Jo), Delaney illustrates discriminatory attitudes to gender:
Peter’s comment, that it adds “ten years” either to the age he thinks she is or the age she said she was, implies young women are seen to be superior to older women
Examiner Tips and Tricks
Examiners repeatedly recommend that you use references or quotes as support for a point of analysis. Try to avoid ‘translating’ the quote or paraphrasing what it means. Examiners are looking for an understanding of how and why the writer has raised particular themes, and how character dialogue presents attitudes and perspectives about ideas.
It is a good idea to consider things like a character’s tone of voice. Are they being sarcastic? Are they hiding their feelings? You can also consider patterns in a character’s dialogue, such as the way Helen and Jo insult each other throughout the play.
Independence and marriage
Shelagh Delaney’s play depicts the struggles of a young woman, Jo. Her challenging life with her mother leads to a desperate need for independence. Delaney illustrates how this makes Jo rush into adult situations.
“Ruining my life. After all, you’ve had plenty of practice" — Jo, Act 1, Scene 1
Meaning and context
When Jo tries to get a job, Helen tells her to “ruin” her life if she wants to
Jo replies bitterly that her mother has tried hard to ruin her life herself
Analysis
Delaney’s character Jo struggles to exert any sense of independence while living with her mother:
She believes Helen’s life choices have affected her future negatively
Delaney presents Jo as a resilient daughter, determined to live life differently to her mother:
She often uses her mother’s words against her, creating dark humour
Paired quotations
“Don’t worry, you’ll soon be an independent working woman and free to go where you please” — Helen, Act 1, Scene 1
“Do you know, for the first time in my life I feel really important. I feel as though I could take care of the whole world” — Jo, Act 2, Scene 2
Meaning and context
When Jo complains about the new flat and her mother’s parenting, Helen says sarcastically that she will soon be able to move out and live her own life
When Jo does get her own flat and her mother visits, she tells her that she is happy being independent because it boosts her self-esteem
Analysis
Delaney shows the damaging effects of neglect and verbal abuse on Jo’s self-esteem:
Under her mother’s care, Jo is belittled and insulted constantly
Her independence, although she struggles financially and has little support, empowers her
The metaphor (opens in a new tab) “whole world” highlights Jo’s increased capacity for caring once she is on her own
Sources
Delaney, Shelagh (2008), A Taste Of Honey (Edited by Glenda Leeming and Elaine Aston), Bloomsbury Academic.
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