To Be Determined - Essay Example

The Shoemaker’s Holiday is a story where the author paints a picture of London, the prevailing customs and trades. The story portrays a note of optimism throughout and incorporates essentially two stories – the story of Rose and Lacy on one hand and that of Jane and Ralph on the other. He shows how love can win over money. The story shows some dreams coming true after overcoming all the obstacles. The shoemaker’s Holiday not only projects the theme of love but also relates how people fight against poverty in order to meet their love.

Lacy, a spendthrift nephew of the Earl of Lincoln is in love with Rose, the daughter of Sir Roger Oatley, the lord mayor of London. However both their guardians are against their marriage and plan to send Lacy away to war against France in order to separate them. Lacy decides to escape this and disguises himself as a shoemaker in order to find his love Rose. He spends all the money given to him by the Earl and sends his cousin Askew with a false promise of joining him at the war later. Although the story takes place in the background of sixteenth century, the reality of socio economic conditions of London was not that optimistic.

While real wages fell, prices rose in the mid sixteenth century and high costs were incurred due to the wars against Scotland and France. (Luu, 44) The story therefore raises the hopes of the people who are down the economic scale because it shows how opportunities lie around and everyone seems to be engaged in some trade or the other. Thus the story contradicts the reality. The play shows a struggle against poverty. The economic aspect is emphasized in the play. Therefore the story appeals to the mass on the lower economic scale because it raises their hopes that opportunity lies around them only to be grabbed at the right moment.

Looking at the other aspect of the story, which is love, one may notice that both the couples get