Peter in A Taste of Honey
- Homophobic.
- Enjoys the company of women.
- Aggressive and angry.
Peter is younger than Helen but he still pursues her, making it obvious that he finds her sexually attractive.
He is something of a rogue and keeps photographs of other women in his wallet. When Jo catches a glimpse of these photographs, she asks:
They鈥檙e all women, aren鈥檛 they? I bet you鈥檝e had thousands of girl friends. What was this one with the long legs called?
Peter enjoys spending the money he earns as a car salesman, but as the play progresses a darker side to his character is displayed when he easily becomes aggressive and angry.
Homophobic
How do we know Peter is like this?
Peter is aggressive towards Geof and rude about him when he first meets him in the flat.
Evidence
peter
[To Jo.] And don鈥檛 bring that little fruitcake parcel either! [Mumbles.] I can鈥檛 stand the sight of him. Can鈥檛 stand 鈥檈m at any price.Analysis
Peter is homophobic and rude and he doesn鈥檛 care who knows it. Although the play is set in the 1950s when people were generally less tolerant of homosexuals, Peter cares little about openly offending Geof. His use of the word fruitcake
to describe Geof is particularly offensive.
Enjoys the company of women
How do we know Peter is like this?
Peter makes it obvious to Helen that he is sexually attracted to her. He flirts with her and sings songs to her. However once the initial attraction has worn off, Peter thinks nothing about chasing other women and even taunting Helen with this information.
Evidence
peter
[To Helen, Jo and Geof.] 鈥 He hadn鈥檛 been home for two weeks and do you know why? He picked up a couple of grapefruit on a thirty-two bust, rich, young and juicy . . .Analysis
Here Peter is being particularly hurtful to Helen. He is telling Jo and Geof about how he left her for two weeks to be with another woman. He is now using words like sour-faced old bitch
to describe Helen and commenting negatively on her age. He no longer finds her attractive and does not care if he hurts her emotionally.
Aggressive and angry
How do we know Peter is like this?
Although Peter can appear to be quite a charming man, as the play develops a darker side to his character is revealed. In the initial stages of his relationship with Helen, Peter pays her compliments, telling her he finds her figure most agreeable
and he also presents her with a bouquet of flowers.
However, he later turns against Helen, has an affair with another woman and is particularly aggressive towards Jo and Geof.
Evidence
Peter
[To Helen.] 鈥 I don鈥檛 like the smell of unwashed bodies, woman. I dragged you out of the gutter once. If you want to go back there it鈥檚 all the same to me.Analysis
Peter calls Helen woman
instead of calling her by her name and this is particularly degrading. It shows how aggressive he can sometimes be when he talks to her. He also talks about having dragged
her out of the gutter which again suggests how angry he is.