A Taste of Honey - Book Report/Review Example

Gay marriages or open homosexual cohabitations were unheard of because such people were at risk of bodily harm if their sexual orientation was made public. My thesis will focus on the life of the women (Helen and Jo)and their problems in the setting of the 1950s. From the opening of the play, the focus is on the women (Helen/Jo), their problems, and their attempts to cope with life. There will also be a focus on their increased hostility and dialogue structure.Jo's frustration with Helen's relationship with Peter and her loneliness is also analyzed.

My aim will be to highlight Jo's interracial relationship with her black boyfriend Jimmi who she has a sexual relationship with after she feels depressed by Helen's departure to a happy matrimonial life. She subsequently gets pregnant and he leaves her. She is forced to share the flat with the good-natured Geoff who is also Gay. The way he gets treated when he attempts a friendly reconciliation between Jo and Helen is reminiscent of the attitude of the society towards bisexuals in those days.

There are further racial undertones to the play which will be the main theme of my thesis, for example, Jo's resentment at giving birth to a black baby and the reaction of Helen at knowing that Jo had sexual relations with a "black man".The end is a bit abrupt after another attempt at reconciliation with Helen fails and she leaves for good after rebuking Geoff again for his sexual orientation. As a corollary to my thesis, I will also aim to bring out the difficulties single mothers or mothers-to-be faced in those days as compared to today and whether things have really changed in terms of societal attitudes.

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