Drinking (Motif)
Drinking is a significant motif in A Taste of Honey. Delaney introduces the motif when Helen and Jo arrive at the flat in the first scene. Even though Helen complains of a cold, she swigs whiskey to soothe herself. Helen also insists that Jo should have a drink herself, dismissing her daughter's insistence that she doesn't like alcohol. The motif of drinking comes up again when Peter and Helen constantly discuss when the pub opens and closes, a timetable they observe like there is a train they cannot miss. The motif resolves when Helen abandons Jo during her labor on the grounds that she must go get a drink to deal with the shock of learning her grandchild will be mixed race. In this way, Delaney shows how Helen and Peter use drinking to excuse rude and selfish behavior.
Helen Leaving (Motif)
Throughout A Taste of Honey, Delaney depicts instances in which Helen leaves her daughter on her own. The motif starts with Helen leaving over Christmas to have a holiday with Peter. Sad to be left alone, Jo invites Jimmie to stay with her over Christmas, which leads to Jo getting pregnant. Helen leaves Jo again to marry Peter, who has bought a house for Helen to live in. Left alone once more, Jo finds comfort in Geoffrey, who feels obliged to help Jo through her pregnancy. At the end of the play, the motif of Helen leaving her daughter arises a final time as Helen goes out "for a drink" after learning that her grandchild will be mixed race. Ultimately, the motif shows how Helen repeatedly disappoints her daughter, leading Jo to crave affection and attention from Helen.
Women in Peter's Wallet (Symbol)
The photos of women in Peter's wallet are a symbol of his likely infidelity. Midway through the play, Peter comes to the flat to pick up Helen for a dinner date. While Helen gets ready in the other room, Peter shows Jo a photo of the house he has just bought. Jo asks to see the other photographs in Peter's wallet, as she suspects they are of the family he is concealing from Helen. However, it turns out that his wallet is full of photos of women, presumably former or current girlfriends. Peter allows Jo to look through the pictures, feigning indifference as she condescendingly comments on which ones are most attractive. Later, when Helen reveals that Peter has left her for a younger woman, Jo's suspicion that Peter is a cheater proves correct.
Contents of Jimmie's Pockets (Symbol)
The items Jo finds in Jimmie's pockets are a symbol of his childlike naivety. After Jimmie gives Jo an engagement ring, she points out that it is too large for her finger and says she will wear it as a necklace instead. Asking Jimmie for a length of string, Jo says: "Come on, turn your pockets out. Three handkerchiefs, a safety pin, a screw! Did that drop out of your head? Elastic bands! Don’t little boys carry some trash. And what’s this? ... A toy car!" The useless items—and in particular the toy car—speak to Jimmie's lack of experience as an adult. Though he is twenty-two, the fact that Jimmie carries objects Jo associates with "little boys" signals to the audience that Jimmie has proposed to Jo out of innocent, boyish excitement.
Jo's Bulbs (Symbol)
The flower bulbs Jo wants to grow are a symbol of her naivety. In the first scene, Jo talks about the flower bulbs she stole from a park; she wants to grow them into flowers in a window box, but doesn't know where to keep the bulbs over the cold winter months. Jo concedes that she always tries to grow flowers, but has never succeeded. Toward the end of the play, Geoffrey is cleaning the flat when he discovers the bulbs sitting in loose dirt under the sofa. With this callback, Delaney shows how Jo naively believed she could cultivate flowers to brighten up the miserable flat while not having a clue about how to grow them.
