Summary
In Act Two, it is summer. Jo’s pregnancy shows. The sound of fairground music fades out as Jo and her friend, Geoffrey, arrive home from a fun fair to the same Manchester flat from Act One. They have a bunch of bright balloons. Jo falls on a couch and asks Geoffrey not to wake her up for a month.
Geoffrey goes to the dark kitchen to get her some biscuits and coffee. He lights a match to be able to see; he comments on how big the place is. Jo says she works all day in a shoe shop and all night in a bar to pay for it, but it’s all hers. He says he can tell it’s hers by the state it’s in. He asks where she keeps the cups; she says in the sink. They discuss how Geoffrey’s landlady threw him out. He says he was behind with the rent. Jo teases him about getting caught with a man. He goes to leave, but she pleads with him to stay. He says he can’t stand people who laugh at others.
Jo gathers sheets and blankets for Geoffrey to stay over. He looks through her book of drawings on the table. He says he doesn’t like the messy charcoal and says they’re all sentimental. He asks why she didn’t go to a “proper school.” He accuses her of simply wanting to get married. She says someone tried, but the guy was “in with Christmas and … out with the New Year.”
Jo says she’s going to have a baby in September. Geoffrey says he’s worried about how she’s going to take care of herself and the baby. She feigns a lack of concern. He asks about her mother. Jo says Helen married some man and lives in a big white house somewhere. He says that if Helen has money, that’s all that matters: the baby will need lots of things. Jo tells him not to make plans for the baby, or it’ll be born dead or daft.
Geoffrey and Jo get ready for bed. When lying down, Geoffrey asks what Jimmie was like. Jo tells him. She says she’s had enough of love though. That’s why she’s letting Geoffrey stay there—he won’t “start anything.” Geoffrey says tomorrow he’ll clean the place up a bit and make her a proper meal. There is a sequence in which the characters dance off and on the stage to reset it for a scene that takes place several months later.
Geoffrey is cutting fabric to make a baby’s gown while Jo paces around the room. Jo complains about how hot it is, and how bad it smells. She looks out the window and comments on how the river is the color of lead. There are filthy children too. She says it’s the parents’ fault, and talks about one neighbor woman in particular whom she believes shouldn’t be allowed to have children.
Jo teases Geoffrey for making the baby clothing, calling him her “big sister.” Jo says she hates babies. Geoffrey says he thought motherhood was supposed to come naturally to women. Jo says it comes naturally to him, and he’d make someone a great wife. Jo gets angry when they talk about how the landlady downstairs is planning to make the baby a wicker basket. Jo wants the landlady to stay out of their business.
Jo throws herself on the couch and says she wants to throw herself in the river. Jo suggests that Geoffrey would like everyone to think the baby is his. He says, “Not likely.” But then he says he’d like to be the father of her baby. Jo asks why he stays there. He says someone has to look after her. Geoffrey asks Jo how she’d feel if he “started something” after the baby was born. He says she’ll need him. He squeezes her arm and asks to kiss her; he says he’s never kissed a girl. She tells him to let go of her and leave her alone. They struggle; he kisses her. She says he should practice on somebody else.
Geoffrey asks her to marry him. She says she isn’t marrying anybody. She says she likes him but doesn’t want to marry him. He says he doesn’t suppose he could live up to “that black beast of a prince of hers.” Jo says she thinks it would be best if he moved out, adding that it’s not doing him any good being there with her all the time. He says, “I’d sooner be dead than away from you.” She lies down. He says that she doesn’t want anybody else there and he’s only interested in her. She says she supposes they need not split up.
Analysis
In Act Two, Delaney moves the story ahead more than half a year. The themes of poverty and abandonment arise with the revelation that Jimmie didn’t return to Jo at the end of his six months with the Navy as he promised. Rather than starting her life with Jimmie, Jo lives alone in the same dingy flat and works two jobs to afford rent. She is also pregnant, having had unprotected sex with Jimmie when he stayed with her over Christmas.
The theme of shame reemerges with the introduction of Geoffrey, a student Jo befriends while at a fun fair. Geoffrey takes an interest in Jo when he pieces together the fact that she is a poor, unwed young woman with a baby coming soon. Jo teases Geoffrey by insinuating that he is gay, which she seems to gather based on his appearance or mannerisms. Geoffrey’s shame is palpable as he dodges her accusations and skirts the subject, refusing either to confirm or deny his sexuality. It is worth keeping in mind that, at the time the play was written, homosexuality was still illegal in England, and prosecutions against gay men ramped up in the 1950s. In this context, Geoffrey’s secrecy was necessary not only to protect him from public shame, but also from facing criminal charges.
The theme of shame also arises in regard to Jo’s pregnancy. Delaney makes clear why Jimmie hasn’t returned or contacted her, but given that he is serving in the Navy during a time of relative peace, it is likely that he got cold feet about marrying Jo or has perhaps met another woman. Delaney reveals that Jo’s shame over having wound up pregnant and abandoned at eighteen has meant that Jo doesn’t want to tell her mother about the baby. For Jo to do so would mean swallowing her pride and admitting that Helen was right when she scolded Jo for getting seriously involved with a man when so young. And while Jimmie’s affection for Jo seemed genuine, Helen will likely believe that he only offered to marry her to be able to have sex with her.
Delaney also builds on the theme of codependency in Act Two. On one hand, Geoffrey moves in with Jo as a matter of convenience, having been kicked out of his last place because his landlady probably suspected him of being gay. On the other, Geoffrey’s words and actions suggest he is drawn to supporting Jo, who he sees as a victim of her circumstances.
Geoffrey’s dysfunctional attraction to Jo escalates to the point where he proposes marriage and forcefully kisses her. In this instance of situational irony, Jo’s expectation that Geoffrey would be a safe man to share her home with because of his sexuality is undermined when he makes a pass. However, the boundary violation isn’t enough for Jo to kick Geoffrey out, and she concludes that they may as well stay together in their unconventional domestic arrangement. Although the relationship between Geoffrey and Jo is more civil and affectionate than Jo’s relationship with Helen, the pairing nonetheless mirrors aspects of Jo and Helen’s codependent attachment.
