Codependency
Codependency is a central theme in A Taste of Honey. Defined as excessive psychological or emotional reliance on another person—particularly in instances of addiction—codependency is depicted through Helen and Jo's dysfunctional relationship. From the outset of the play, Delaney establishes that Helen and Jo don't abide by conventional etiquette when addressing each other, but instead bicker and belittle each other as if they are warring siblings and not mother and daughter. Even when Helen tries to convince Jo to pursue art school, her motherly encouragement is laced with sarcastic insults. While it seems as though Jo and Helen simply hate each other, Delaney depicts their relationship as more complex when Helen tells Peter that Jo can't stand to see Helen be affectionate with anyone else. Despite Jo constantly putting her mother down, it turns out that Jo craves Helen's attention and affection—basic emotional needs Helen has never been able to meet. When Helen eventually learns of Jo's pregnancy, she reenters her daughter's life to boss her around, shame her, and show a minor but much-craved amount of affection as she pledges to help Jo through her labor. However, their usual dysfunction reemerges as Jo tells her mother about the baby's father and Helen goes back to shaming and resenting Jo. In this way, Delaney shows how difficult it is for either character to free herself from switching between the codependent roles of victim, abuser, and rescuer.
Poverty
Poverty is another major theme in A Taste of Honey. Delaney introduces the theme with the play's setting: a filthy, poorly maintained flat in an industrial neighborhood. Jo immediately complains that she doesn't like the new place, prompting her mother to remind her that affordability takes precedence over Jo's feelings. Through the women's conversation, Delaney establishes that neither Helen—described as a "semi-whore"—nor Jo work, meaning they live off government subsidies and what little money Helen's boyfriends give her. When Peter—a car salesman with money to splash around—proposes marriage to Helen, part of his pitch is that he can lift her out of poverty. Helen resists at first but eventually gives in, moving out of the drab flat to live in a new house. Meanwhile, Jo continues to languish in poverty, briefly pursuing work in a pub before she takes to hiding inside to conceal the shameful fact of her out-of-wedlock pregnancy. Delaney continues to depict Jo's poverty with her unconventional domestic arrangement with Geoffrey, who is a poor student himself but feels obligated to help Jo through her desperation. At the end of the play, Delaney leaves the audience with the open question of what will happen to a single mother who has practically zero resources or help.
Alcoholism
Alcoholism—the mental illness and compulsive behavior that results from alcohol dependency—is a key theme in A Taste of Honey. In the first scene, Helen's alcohol dependency becomes clear when she searches for a whiskey bottle on the grounds that the liquor will help soothe her cold. Helen proceeds to behave irresponsibly and erratically as she ignores Jo's protests and casually pressures her teenage daughter to loosen up and try some whiskey herself. Delaney also explores the theme through Peter, Helen's similarly alcohol-obsessed fiancé, who shows up at the flat intoxicated and makes several comments about when the pub opens. At the end of the play, the theme of alcoholism resolves when Helen abandons Jo to go have a drink. Unable to process the information that her grandchild will be Black, Helen excuses herself from having to deal with reality by once again numbing her feelings with alcohol.
Abandonment
Abandonment is another crucial theme that Delaney depicts in A Taste of Honey. The theme is explored mainly through the actions of Helen, a mother who repeatedly deserts her daughter and ignores her daughter's emotional needs. Despite the fact that Jo longs to earn her own money and live apart from Helen, when Helen moves in with Peter, Jo perceives the decision as a slight against herself; sure enough, Helen never drops by to visit Jo after she has moved away. While speaking with Geoffrey, Jo comments on how she, as a child, always tried to hold Helen's hand, but Helen would draw her hands back, rejecting her child's need for affection. This combination of physical and emotional rejection damages Jo's psychology, leading her to crave her mother's affection while simultaneously knowing she won't ever receive it. Delaney also explores the theme by showing how Jo subconsciously seeks out the abandonment she is used to by getting involved with a man who never returns after impregnating her. This tendency to expect and subconsciously crave abandonment leaves Jo vulnerable to being mistreated again by Helen after Helen has made her abrupt return. At the end of the play, the theme resolves with Helen's decision to leave the flat just as Jo is going into labor—a symbolic gesture that proves Helen, even with a grandchild to consider, will never reform herself and put Jo's needs before her own.
Shame
Shame is a major theme in A Taste of Honey. The theme first arises when Helen discovers Jo's drawings, which Jo has concealed because she fears being humiliated by her mother; in fact, Helen doesn't shame her for pursuing a creative career, but rather shames her for planning to waste her talent by working in a pub. Delaney also explores shame when Jimmie expresses concern over the fact that Jo's mother hasn't met him and doesn't know he is Black. Jo assures him that she isn't ashamed of who he is, but contradicts herself in the following scene when she conceals his race while describing him to Helen. Shame also arises when Jo attempts to humiliate Peter for having photos of women in his wallet; feigning innocence, he lets her look through the pictures as though he has nothing to hide. Shame is also explored through Geoffrey, who never confirms or denies Jo's insinuations that he is homosexual. When Helen and Peter meet Geoffrey, they immediately assume he is gay and proceed to ridicule him with childish insults. Shame also comes up in relation to Jo's pregnancy. Not wanting neighbors to know she is having a child as a single teenage mother, Jo hides inside the flat to avoid scrutiny. Helen also shames her, citing the fact that everyone in the area is already talking about her pregnancy. Ultimately, Delaney shows how shame pervades dysfunctional family and social contexts where defensiveness and judgment are the norm.
Dignity
Defined as a sense of pride in oneself, dignity is an important theme in A Taste of Honey. Despite the poverty, squalor, and dysfunction that pervade their lives, both Helen and Jo show a defiant pride in themselves. While Helen has a reputation as a sexually available woman who can more or less be paid for sex, she maintains her dignity by acting evasive and unattainable with Peter as he makes advances and professes his love. Jo shows pride in herself when she refuses both Geoffrey's and her mother's help after she is abandoned pregnant by Jimmie, despite the fact she has no source of income or plan once the baby arrives. Ultimately, Delaney presents characters that defy social expectations by maintaining personal dignity in spite of their low and objectively difficult circumstances.
Resentment
Resentment is another key theme in A Taste of Honey. Defined as indignation as a result of unfair treatment—or the perception of unfair treatment—resentment flows back and forth between Helen and Jo as they bicker throughout the opening scene. For Helen, Jo has always been a burden and has represented a limit to her freedom as a woman; for Jo, Helen has never treated her with the love and affection children intuitively expect from a mother. This mutual feeling of unfair treatment leads Helen and Jo constantly to cast the other as a persecutor and to see themselves as the victim. As the play goes on, Delaney depicts the women struggling to move beyond these roles and attain a sense of mutual respect. However, the glimpse of genuine care Helen seems to show for her daughter at the end of the play is swiftly undermined by Helen's resentful reaction to the news that her grandchild will be Black. Returning to the status quo, Helen resentfully walks out while Jo looks on, having confirmed that she was right not to trust her mother.
