Hobsona's Choice by Harold Brighouse: Play Analysis
HOBSON’S CHOICE by Harold Brighouse
Harold Brighouse
He was born in Eccles, Lancashire in 1882 and died in 1958. His father worked in the Manchester cotton industry and his mother was a headmistress, so Harold came from a comfortable middle-class background. His mother hoped he would have an academic career, but after attending Manchester Grammar School, he left at 17 and went into the export side of the cotton business.
He worked hard at his career but his real passion was the Manchester theatres and music halls. When he moved to London at the age of 20 he became an avid theatre-goer and frequented the Court Theatre (renamed now as the Royal Court). The Court Theatre broke from the tradition of focussing a play around a well-known performer and the actual play rather than the personalities became the focus of attention. The Court Theatre became the centre of a revival in British Theatre and began the Repertory Movement.
Harold Brighouse married and returned to live in Manchester, however he frequently visited London and the theatre. After watching one bad performance he felt he could write better plays himself and embarked upon his writing career. He wrote many plays, eight novels and also wrote for the Manchester Guardian as a theatre critic.
Harold Brighouse wrote Hobson’s Choice in 1916 and this is the work that he is most remembered for and has remained a popular play.
Historical Context and Setting
The phrase ‘Hobson’s Choice’ originates from a seventeenth-century horse trader who lived in Cambridgeshire. Hobson advertised that his customers could have a ‘free choice’ of horse, but his customers had no choice at all and really ended up with the horse that was available at the time! Therefore ‘Hobson’s choice’ means that there is no choice at all.
Brighouse wrote Hobson’s Choice in 1916 but set the play in 1870. Society at the turn of the century was very different from our own, especially for women. At the time of writing the play women
Harold Brighouse
He was born in Eccles, Lancashire in 1882 and died in 1958. His father worked in the Manchester cotton industry and his mother was a headmistress, so Harold came from a comfortable middle-class background. His mother hoped he would have an academic career, but after attending Manchester Grammar School, he left at 17 and went into the export side of the cotton business.
He worked hard at his career but his real passion was the Manchester theatres and music halls. When he moved to London at the age of 20 he became an avid theatre-goer and frequented the Court Theatre (renamed now as the Royal Court). The Court Theatre broke from the tradition of focussing a play around a well-known performer and the actual play rather than the personalities became the focus of attention. The Court Theatre became the centre of a revival in British Theatre and began the Repertory Movement.
Harold Brighouse married and returned to live in Manchester, however he frequently visited London and the theatre. After watching one bad performance he felt he could write better plays himself and embarked upon his writing career. He wrote many plays, eight novels and also wrote for the Manchester Guardian as a theatre critic.
Harold Brighouse wrote Hobson’s Choice in 1916 and this is the work that he is most remembered for and has remained a popular play.
Historical Context and Setting
The phrase ‘Hobson’s Choice’ originates from a seventeenth-century horse trader who lived in Cambridgeshire. Hobson advertised that his customers could have a ‘free choice’ of horse, but his customers had no choice at all and really ended up with the horse that was available at the time! Therefore ‘Hobson’s choice’ means that there is no choice at all.
Brighouse wrote Hobson’s Choice in 1916 but set the play in 1870. Society at the turn of the century was very different from our own, especially for women. At the time of writing the play women