A Taste of Honey: Act 1: Scene 2 Summary & Analysis

Jo and her boyfriend Jimmie, a young black sailor, are walking in the street and stop in front of the door to Jo’s house. Jo tells him she was not surprised to see him waiting for her outside of school but that she is glad he came, and Jimmie says he is glad too. Jo says she should go inside but Jimmie tries to make her stay. He says he is happy days become dark early in winter, because that gives him more time to kiss her.

When Jimmie kisses Jo, she complains about it, saying that she likes it but doesn’t want to do it all the time. Jimmie asks Jo if she is worried that people might see them, but Jo says she doesn’t care. Jimmie asks her to repeat this. He is surprised by the sincerity of her answer, and says she is the first girl who has truly not cared. Suddenly, he asks Jo to marry him. Jo says, paradoxically, that she won’t marry him but that he has convinced her to do so.

Jimmie asks how old Jo is and she says she is almost eighteen. Still shocked at Jo’s agreement to marry him, he asks her again if she will marry him, to which Jo replies that he shouldn’t have asked her the first time if he was only joking. Jimmie says he wasn’t. He asks her again and she says she loves him. Jimmie asks her how she knows this and she says she simply does. Jimmie says he adores her and gives her a ring he bought earlier that morning in a shop.

Jimmie asks Jo what her mother will say and Jo says that she will probably laugh. Jimmie does not understand why Helen would not care to know whom her daughter marries, but Jo says that whomever she chooses to marry has nothing to do with her mother. Jimmie wonders if Helen might disapprove of his skin color, but Jo believes that her mother is not prejudiced in that way.

The two discuss when they should get married and decide to do it in six months, during Jimmie’s next leave. Jo tries to put the ring on her finger but realizes it is too big. She asks Jimmie for a bit of string to tie it around her neck, commenting that she is going “all romantic.” She searches through Jimmie’s pockets and finds a toy car, which Jimmie teaches her how to use. When she asks to keep it, he says she can have it along with his soul.

Jo uses her hair ribbon as a necklace for her ring. Jimmie says she has a pretty neck and Jo tries to hide the ring away, so that her mother will not see it and laugh at her. She tells Jimmie that she is leaving school this week to start a part-time job at a bar. When she finds a full-time one, she will leave Helen and find a room of her own.

Jimmie says that he would like not to be in the Navy so that he could spend time with Jo. He jokes that he is now trapped in matrimony, and the two of them teasingly fight over who first tried to entice the other. They recall meeting at an empty soccer field that Jimmie knew about. Jo says that he took advantage of her innocence there, to which Jimmie replies he did not, since he had scruples. Jo retorts that he had no scruples at all and would have gone as far as she would have let him. Jimmie argues that they both enjoyed it and Jo concludes that this is an inappropriate conversation for young girls, capable of tainting their minds. Jimmie replies that women do not have young minds, for they are born thousands of years old.

Jo tells Jimmie he sometimes looks that old and asks him if his ancestors came from Africa, but Jimmie explains that they came from Cardiff. He mockingly asks her if she is disappointed, but Jo tells him there are still traces of the jungle in him. She then decides to go into the building because she is hungry, and when Jimmie jokingly says they should save up on food and clothes for their marriage, Jo complains about her belongings, saying that she only has one coat which she has to use for everything. Jimmie tries to reassure her by saying she looks fine.

Jo asks Jimmie if she will see him tonight, but he says he is going out drinking with friends. As a result, Jo decides to skip school tomorrow to meet him during the day instead. After planning to meet the next morning, they kiss each other good night. Jimmie tells Jo he dreamed of her the previous night and fell out of bed twice. She tells him she loves him and when Jimmie asks why, Jo says it is because he is silly.

When Jo enters her apartment, Helen notices that Jo is late and says that her eyes betray the fact that she is in love. Helen interrogates Jo about her boyfriend, whom she did not know about. Jo says he is a lovely, twenty-two-year-old sailor who used to work as a male nurse. Helen tells her to be careful with sailors’ ardor and asks if Jimmie still has contacts in hospitals to give them free samples. Jo tells her mother to shut up.

Jo asks Helen to look up in a magazine what is playing at the cinema tomorrow. Helen criticizes the cinema in general, saying it is often difficult to understand what the actors are saying, and complains about what she considers to be a pornographic advertisement. They joke about turning Jo into a movie star but Jo says living in the streets would be more honest, to which Helen replies that that might end up happening.

Suddenly, Jo asks her mother what her birthdate is and Helen admits she doesn’t know, ironically saying she has always tried to forget that date. The two of them discuss Helen’s first marriage and Helen says her first husband was rich but despicable, and that he divorced her when she became pregnant with Jo. Jo says she, too, would have kicked out a wife who had a baby with another man. Helen, however, says that she does not think she would have done that herself.

In the magazine, Jo notices a commercial for an Arabian mystic who reads people’s destinies, and Helen makes a speech about the only two things that matter in life: work and want. She asserts that everyone is in charge of their own destiny, however ignorantly one might be leading one’s life. At the end of this speech, she tells Jo that she is getting married.

Jo initially remains silent when she hears about her mother’s engagement. However, after Helen incites her to react, Jo says she cannot possibly feel happy for her. Frustrated, she says that her mother is too old to get married, noting that Helen looks sixty instead of forty, and that she hopes to be dead by that age.

Peter then enters the apartment with a bouquet of flowers and a box of chocolates. While he looks uncomfortable, Jo ironically calls him “Daddy” and Peter realizes that Helen has already told Jo the news. Helen compliments Peter on how handsome he looks and Jo says he must be insane for asking Helen to marry him. She then proceeds to bitterly criticize her mother’s appearance. Peter merely says he finds Helen attractive and hands Jo the chocolate, saying they are for her, which leads Jo to say that he must be buying her silence. Helen leaves the room to get ready to go out with Peter.

Peter criticizes the way Jo is devouring all her chocolates, and Jo in turn tells him not to act like a father. Suddenly, in a fit of mixed tears and laughter, she attacks him physically and Helen re-enters the room, telling Jo to leave Peter alone. Peter asks Helen why she cannot keep her daughter under control and Helen turns to Jo, asking her not to tease Peter.

Peter and Helen then announce that they are celebrating the fact that Peter has bought a house, which leads Jo, surprised and hurt, to comment that her mother has indeed planned everything behind her back. After Helen leaves the room again, Peter shows Jo the pictures of the house, which has multiple tennis courts and swimming pools.

Believing that Peter might be hiding something, Jo notices that Peter has other pictures in his wallet and asks to see them. Peter reluctantly shows her pictures of his family members, whom he hates. Jo then notices there are other pictures he does not want to share and asks him if they are of other women. She cynically speculates that he must have had thousands of girlfriends and, when she asks him about one of the women in a picture, Peter refers to her as “number thirty-eight.”

Jo then asks Peter why he wears an eye patch. Peter explains that he lost an eye serving as a private in the army. Jo interrogates him about his eye, asking him if he will show her (which he refuses to do) and whether he takes his patch off to sleep (which he does not answer). They look at some more of the pictures in his wallet and Peter says he does not find young women attractive. At the same time, he notes that he does not find Helen old.

Jo asks him why he is marrying Helen and Peter asks her why he shouldn’t, to which Jo gives him a frustrated, obscure answer about how strange his generation is. As though stating an obvious fact, Peter asks her if she doesn’t care much for her mother and Jo replies that Helen doesn’t like her either, which Peter says he can easily understand.

Peter, who has by now become impatient, is about to tell Helen he will wait for her in the pub, but Helen suddenly appears, looking for her hat. She tells Jo, who has been smoking, to put her cigarette out and asks why there are so many books lying about. Peter playfully takes Helen’s hat and puts it on, but Helen, irritated, asks him to give it back and Peter complains that she has no sense of humor. Helen notices that Jo’s books are all children tales, except for the Bible, which Jo tells her she should read. Helen comments that she prefers to drink and be happy, to which Jo replies that she also lives to regret it. Peter mocks Jo’s puritan attitude.

Jo asks Helen why she is marrying Peter, and Helen says that it has to do with his money. As the two of them are about to leave, Helen nonchalantly asks Peter to leave Jo some money, since they will probably go on a weekend trip for a few days. Offended, Jo asks Peter if he doesn’t think that she is too young to be left on her own, and Peter turns to Helen to ask if Jo will be all right. Helen merely replies that they cannot take Jo along with them.

When Helen and Peter say they are hungry, Jo, trying to remind her mother of her responsibilities, says that she is too and that her mother should prepare her meals. Helen aggressively replies that she has never claimed to be a proper mother and that Jo should either cook for herself or decide not to eat at all. Peter simply notes that Jo already looks seriously thin. Jo also asks for money for a new dress, but Helen says Jo should buy a needle and some thread because all her clothes are falling apart. She says that she would be ashamed to be known as her mother if Jo had an accident in the street. After Peter mentions that he wants to leave this dangerous neighborhood as fast as he can, Helen and he exit the apartment, leaving Jo alone.

Jo lies down on the bed and begins to cry. Soon, however, her boyfriend walks in. He asks her if she is crying but she hides her emotions, saying she has a cold, and Jimmie believes she might indeed have a temperature. When he asks her if she has been eating, she says she hasn’t. He proceeds to put a pill in some milk for her, which Jo half-seriously says must be an opium pellet, but Jimmie explains it is a cold cure. Looking around, he complains about how dirty this apartment and the neighborhood children are, but Jo says the children’s appearance is the parents’ fault.

Jimmie asks her about the couple he just saw exiting the building and Jo tells him it was her mother and her new fiancé. Jimmie notes that Jo would be a lovely bridesmaid but Jo says she would rather go to her own funeral. Jimmie convinces Jo to drink the milk he has prepared, which Jo doesn’t like, and comments on how young her mother looks to have a daughter of Jo’s age. Jo asks him if he likes Helen but Jimmie says that is an inappropriate question to ask one’s fiancé.

When Jimmie notices how cold it is in the apartment, Jo explains that the heating doesn’t work and asks him if he is going someplace warm with the Navy, which Jimmie says he is. Seemingly obsessed with Helen, Jo continues interrogating Jimmie about her mother, asking him if he finds Helen beautiful and if Jo looks like her. Jimmie says Helen is beautiful but that Jo does not look like her at all. This piece of information makes Jo happy, since she doesn’t like the idea of resembling her mother.

Jimmie then tenderly puts on Jo’s necklace. When Jo asks him about the ring, Jimmie admits that he bought it a supermarket, but Jo still finds his intention endearing. On the bed, as Jimmie embraces Jo, he compares himself to Shakespeare’s Othello, asking Jo if she will be his Desdemona. Jo accepts and, in turn, asks him to stay with her during Christmas, which makes Jimmie call her naughty. Jo replies that she must take advantage of the time they have together, since she has a feeling she will never see him again.

When Jo says she merely wants to make the most of the limited time they have together, Jimmie jokes about her believing that he is “only after one thing,” but he ultimately playfully agrees that he is. However,  when he says he loves her and promises to return, Jo is taken aback and asks him how he can say that. Jimmie says that he is not sure what his words mean, but that they are true. When he embraces Jo she asks him not to do that, saying that she likes it. The scene fades out and wedding bells are heard.

Helen is bearing boxes full of wedding clothes and is excitedly telling Jo to hurry up. Jo, who has a heavy cold, walks in in her pajamas. Helen tells Jo that she is excited because Peter has been spending a lot of money on her and has been giving her gifts. She mentions that she was going to ask Jo to be her bridesmaid but Jo tells her not to be silly.

 While getting ready, Helen suddenly notices that Jo is trying to hide something. Aggressive in her curiosity, she finally succeeds in grabbing hold of the string around her daughter’s neck and snatches the ring off. Jo then reveals that she is going to get married to Jimmie, which leads Helen to explode in a rage, telling Jo she is stupid and would be useless as a wife. Visibly disturbed by this situation, Helen argues that while Jo probably feels in love, this is no reason to make such an important commitment. Jo merely says that she could say the same thing to her.

Helen, who seems truly distraught at her daughter’s decision, suddenly softens in an effort to convince Jo that she is too young to get married and that she should learn from her mother’s mistakes. Helen begins to feel guilty for leaving Jo alone and not being able to make sure that she doesn’t get herself into trouble. However, Jo only confirms her mother’s fears, saying that she is already “ruined.” Helen then reacts with anger, telling Jo she makes her sick. In a final effort to calm down and share her thoughts with her daughter, she tells her to be young and free instead of trapping herself in marriage.

Jo changes the subject to her cold, saying this too is Helen’s fault. She asks her mother for some water but Helen hands her whiskey, which leads Jo to complain that Helen has been drunker these past weeks than Jo would have even thought possible. Jo makes jokes about Helen’s spiritual destruction, and Helen answers her with even more irony.

Before Helen leaves, Jo asks Helen what her father was like. Helen ends up revealing to Jo that her father was “a bit retarded,” “a bit stupid.” While Jo initially believes her mother is lying, Helen matter-of-factly insists that she is telling the truth. She explains that their love affair lasted only a short while and that the man later died. Jo asks if madness is hereditary and Helen initially jokes about Jo needing to judge for herself if she is mad, but finally tells her that she is merely joking and that Jo is obviously no less intelligent than anyone else.

Disappointed with what her mother has just told her, Jo complains about her father’s story, but Helen retorts that it is simply the truth. Jo asks her how she could have gone out with an “idiot.” Helen explains that he had nice eyes and that he provided a respite from her husband, a rich man who hated sex. She recalls this period of her life, and in particular her first sexual experience with Jo’s father, with fondness. Finally, Helen announces that she will see Jo after the honeymoon. As Helen is about to go meet Peter, she says that Jo must not be sad to see her leave, but Jo says that she is neither glad nor sorry. Ready for her wedding, Helen exits the apartment, saying that she will be back if Peter doesn’t show up, and Jo wishes her good luck.