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- Hobson's Choice: the plot
Hobson's Choice: the plot
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Harold Brighouse's comedy is set in Salford in 1880. A bullying father is outwitted by his clever eldest daughter.
Act 1: Maggie's choice
Henry Hobson runs a boot shop and bullies his three daughters, Maggie, Alice and Vicky. He refuses to pay marriage settlements.
When a wealthy customer, Mrs Hepworth, praises the boots made by the shy workman Willie Mossop, Maggie sees his talent and decides to marry him, though he is promised to someone else.
When a wealthy customer, Mrs Hepworth, praises the boots made by the shy workman Willie Mossop, Maggie sees his talent and decides to marry him, though he is promised to someone else.
Acts 2 and 3: a new business
Maggie and Willie leave and set up their own shop, taking Hobson's best trade.
Hobson, drunk, falls into a cellar belonging to the Beenstocks, and Maggie arranges for him to be sued for trespass. The money pays for her sisters' marriages.
Maggie and Willie marry.
Hobson, drunk, falls into a cellar belonging to the Beenstocks, and Maggie arranges for him to be sued for trespass. The money pays for her sisters' marriages.
Maggie and Willie marry.
Act 4: the tables turn
A year later Hobson is ill from heavy drinking and his business is failing. He needs Maggie to come back.
Willie, now confident, sets the terms: a partnership, with his name first.
Willie, now confident, sets the terms: a partnership, with his name first.
How does Maggie solve her sisters' problem of having no marriage settlements?
- Hobson falls into a cellar while drunk.
- Maggie and her allies use the trespass case to get money from him.
- That money funds Alice's and Vicky's marriages.
Answer: She uses Hobson's trespass case to win money for their marriage settlements.
Maggie chooses Willie, they start a rival shop and marry, the trespass case pays for her sisters' marriages, and finally Hobson must accept Willie as the senior partner.
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