Year 10 pre 1914 drama coursework :: English Literature

Year 10 pre 1914 drama coursework How does the presentation of Jo in a taste oh honey by Sheilagh Delaney link to the â€Å"kitchen sink drama† genre, popularised in the 1950’s and 1960’s In a taste of honey Helen is the mother of Jo. Helen and Jo both live together and they have just moved into a small bed-sit. Helen often argues with Jo. Jo, Later on in the play, has a black boyfriend, who, in the play, is only known as boy In a taste of honey all the characters experience a little bit of pleasure in their life. Helen marrying Peter, Jo and the black boy. However they all have to pay for this pleasure. Jo gets pregnant and the black boy leaves. Helen leaves Jo for peter and when this doesn’t work out Helen comes back to Jo. In the play Jo is subject to neglect. This is because her mother, Helen, leaves her alone at 15 to fend for herself. â€Å"I’ll be seeing you. Hey! If he doesn’t show up I’ll be back† This is the start of the period when Helen leaves Jo. At this stage in the play the readers don’t know if Jo will survive for long without Helen. Peter however se this and gives Jo a pound to have so she could buy food to eat. Jo’s role in the play is to show what it would be like in those times to be a single expectant mother. She also has the purpose of showing us how parents have influences on their children: for example Jo was created after Helen and Jo’s dad had a one-night stand. â€Å"I didn’t do it on purpose. How was I supposed to know that you’d materialize out of a little love affair that lasted 5 minutes?† this shows that Jo was a mistake and that Helen was an unmarried mother. However no matter how hard she tried Jo made that same mistake as Helen. In the 1950’s and 1960’s Jo would be called illegitimate because Helen wasnÂ’t married when Jo was conceived. However in today’s times Jo would not be called illegitimate because there are lots of people who have children before they get married. Helen doesn’t treat Jo with a lot of respect, as she doesn’t often tell however she is going. She also doesn’t support Jo when she needs her the most. Jo in this time left school at 15 because she didn’t have a full education so she wouldn’t have been able to get a properly paid job. This is typical of a kitchen sink drama because in those drama’s they were all about real