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When Shelagh Delaney began writing A Taste of Honey she was only 18 years old, having left school at 16 to find employment. Delaney had always been passionate about creative writing and this gave her the impetus she needed to begin writing a novel. However, Delaney soon decided to change the form of A Taste of Honey from a novel to a play. This was because she was disappointed with most of the theatre that existed in the 1950s.

After seeing a production of Terence Rattigan’s play Variation on a Theme, Delaney was convinced she could write a better play herself. She felt that the play, like so many productions of the 1950s, did not challenge its audience in any way. Instead, it portrayed the lives of middle class people who lived rather blessed lives and did not face the struggles and challenges that so many members of the working classes faced on a daily basis.

When analysing form in A Taste of Honey you can refer to:

• the type of text it is
• the style of writing

Evidence and explanation of the form used

Writing A Taste of Honey as a play gave Shelagh Delaney the opportunity to produce an innovative and original piece of drama. She knew that audiences at the time mainly saw on stage what life was like for the middle classes. She felt that A Taste of Honey would allow audiences the opportunity to see for themselves the struggles faced by the working classes. Delaney was also able to confront them with issues that were considered to be controversial in the 1950s, such as interracial relationships and homosexuality.