Character Analysis — Supporting Characters

While Jo is the central character, the supporting characters — Helen, Geof, the Boy (Jimmy), and Peter — serve essential dramatic, thematic, and structural functions. Understanding their roles and how they relate to Jo is key to a sophisticated GCSE response.

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Character Relationship Map

                PETER
                  |
            marries (briefly)
                  |
              HELEN ----neglect/conflict---- JO ----tenderness---- THE BOY
                                              |                     (Jimmy)
                                          cared for by
                                              |
                                            GEOF
                                         (pushed out
                                          by Helen)

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Helen — The Neglectful Mother

Helen is Jo's mother and the play's most complex supporting character. She is simultaneously entertaining and appalling — a vibrant, funny woman who is also a terrible parent.

Helen's key qualities

Quality	Evidence
Vain	Preoccupied with her appearance and attractiveness
Self-centred	Prioritises her own relationships over Jo's welfare
Alcoholic	Drinks throughout the play; it shapes her behaviour
Witty	Sharp-tongued; Jo inherits her verbal dexterity
Neglectful	Leaves Jo to marry Peter; returns only when her own life fails
Prejudiced	Makes homophobic remarks about Geof; shocked by mixed-race baby

Helen as a mother

Helen fails Jo in every conventional sense of motherhood:

"Helen: I can't stand kids. I never could."

Yet Delaney complicates our judgement. Helen is herself a product of poverty, lack of education, and limited options. She never had a model of good parenting. Her dependence on men (Peter, previous partners) reflects a society where working-class women had few routes to financial security other than marriage.

Helen's return in Act 2

Helen returns after Peter leaves her. Her re-entry into Jo's life is aggressive and territorial:

• She immediately criticises the flat.
• She makes homophobic remarks about Geof.
• She pushes Geof out — destroying Jo's only stable support system.
• She is shocked that the baby will be mixed-race.

"Helen: Oh, don't be silly, Jo."

Helen's dismissal of Jo's revelation about the baby's race reveals her inability to cope with reality — she responds to uncomfortable truths by denying them.

Helen's dramatic function

Function	How
Antagonist	Her neglect drives Jo's isolation and vulnerability
Mirror	Jo fears becoming Helen — she is a warning of what Jo could become
Social commentary	Represents women trapped by poverty, alcoholism, and dependence on men
Comic energy	Her wit and outrageousness make her entertaining despite her flaws

Examiner's tip: Avoid simply condemning Helen as a "bad mother." A grade 9 response will explore why she is the way she is. Helen is a victim of the same social forces that threaten Jo — Delaney presents her not as a villain but as a product of a system that fails women.

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Geof — The Moral Centre

Geof (Geoffrey) is Jo's friend and carer. He is gay, a detail that would have been deeply controversial in 1958. Delaney makes him the most morally admirable character in the play.

Geof's key qualities

Quality	Evidence
Caring	Cooks, cleans, and prepares for Jo's baby
Patient	Endures Jo's sharp tongue and Helen's hostility
Selfless	Offers to marry Jo to give the baby a name
Gentle	Never raises his voice or uses aggression
Vulnerable	Easily displaced by Helen; lacks social power

Geof's relationship with Jo

Geof provides everything Helen does not: stability, care, practical support, and unconditional acceptance.

"Geof: I'd sooner be dead than away from you."

This is a statement of genuine devotion. Geof's love for Jo is real, even if it is not romantic. Their relationship challenges the 1950s assumption that a household must be built on a sexual relationship between a man and a woman.

Geof and gender roles

One of the play's most radical aspects is that Geof takes on traditionally "feminine" roles — nurturing, cooking, cleaning, preparing for a baby. In 1950s Britain, these roles were rigidly gendered. By assigning them to a gay man, Delaney challenges:

• The idea that caring is exclusively women's work.
• The assumption that gay men are incapable of forming loving, stable relationships.
• The belief that a "proper" family requires a heterosexual couple.

Geof's expulsion

Helen pushes Geof out with casual cruelty:

"Helen: Bit of a Jesse, isn't he?"

Geof's departure is one of the play's most painful moments. He is removed not because he has failed but because Helen cannot tolerate his presence — she is threatened by someone who exposes her own inadequacy as a carer.

Geof's dramatic function

Function	How
Moral centre	The most caring, selfless character in the play
Social commentary	His marginalisation reflects 1950s attitudes to homosexuality
Foil to Helen	His competent care contrasts with Helen's neglect
Foil to Peter	His gentleness contrasts with Peter's brashness
Catalyst for themes	His presence raises questions about family, gender, sexuality

Examiner's tip: The examiner loves to see analysis of how Geof challenges 1950s norms. A grade 9 response might argue: "Delaney presents Geof as the play's moral centre, deliberately inverting the audience's expectations by making the character who would be most marginalised in 1950s society — a young, gay, working-class man — also the most competent, caring, and emotionally mature."

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The Boy (Jimmy) — The Brief Sweetness

The Boy is a Black sailor who has a brief relationship with Jo. He is the source of the play's "taste of honey" — a moment of sweetness and tenderness.

The Boy's key qualities

Quality	Evidence
Affectionate	Kind, playful, and warm towards Jo
Romantic	Gives Jo a ring; talks about returning
Transient	He is a sailor — his departure is inevitable
Honest	Straightforward about his feelings

The Boy's significance

The Boy is significant less as a fully developed character and more for what he represents:

1. Interracial love — Delaney presents the relationship without moral judgement, challenging 1950s racial prejudice.
2. Tenderness — his gentleness contrasts with Peter's aggression and Helen's neglect.
3. Transience — his departure reinforces the play's pattern of abandonment; good things in Jo's life do not last.
4. The baby — his absence means the child will be born without a father, adding to Jo's vulnerability.

The Boy's limited stage time

The Boy appears in only a few scenes. Delaney gives him relatively little dialogue or backstory. Some critics have noted that he is more symbol than character — a representation of otherness and lost possibility rather than a fully realised individual.

Examiner's tip: If discussing the Boy, you can acknowledge this tension: "While Delaney uses the Boy to challenge racial prejudice by presenting the interracial relationship without condemnation, the character's limited development means he functions more as a symbolic figure — the 'taste of honey' — than as a fully rounded individual. This raises questions about whether the play inadvertently reduces him to a plot device."

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Peter — The Brash Outsider

Peter is Helen's boyfriend and later husband. He is a car salesman — brash, materialistic, and confident.

Peter's key qualities

Quality	Evidence
Materialistic	Flaunts his money; buys Helen things
Possessive	Treats Helen as a trophy or possession
Aggressive	Confrontational; patronises Jo
Younger than Helen	Their age gap is a source of comedy and tension
Shallow	His interest in Helen is primarily physical

Peter's dramatic function

Function	How
Plot catalyst	His marriage to Helen causes Helen to abandon Jo
Foil to Geof	Brash masculinity vs Geof's gentle care
Social commentary	Represents the materialism of the emerging consumer society
Comic element	His vanity and obliviousness provide dark humour

Peter's marriage to Helen does not last — he leaves her, prompting her return to Jo. His function in the play is primarily to remove Helen from Jo's life and then, by abandoning Helen, to return her.

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Character Comparison: Foils