My first impressions of Peter are that he isn't very appreciative of women (as he tells Helen to 'Blow your nose, woman,' and the word choice of 'woman' implies that Peter sees woman as an object) and that he is very flirtatious and quite charming at some points. When Helen says 'I'm old enough to be your mother,' Peter comes back with a witty line of 'Now you know I like this mother and son relationship' which suggests that, if he sees something he would like, he chases after it.
I think he has simply tracked Helen down in order to receive sex from her, as he must be a regular customer (Jo asking 'What's this one called?' suggests this) and Peter approaches Helen and compliments her on this factor by saying 'darling, you do it so well.'
In the first moments after Peter's arrival, Helen treats Jo dismissively, using various excuses to get her out of hearing such as 'Oh go and have your bath'; 'Jo, go and see to that coffee!'; 'Go and lay the table'; and finally gives up thinking of these excuses and says 'Well, do something' followed by a dismissive and quite innapropriate 'Turn yourself onto a bloody termite and crawl into a wall or something.'
Jo's behaviour in this scene is quite protective and doubting of Peter's love proposal for Helen. The quote 'I bet he's married' implies this doubt. She also refuses to leave them to a provate conversation multiple times.
Jo and Helen make revealing comments about affection once Jo enters with the coffee. Helen tells Peter that Jo 'can't bear to see me baing affectionate with anybody' before Jo replies with 'You've certainly never been affectionate with me' which implies that Helen views and treats her clients in a much more affectionate way than her daughter, and this also suggests bad mothering.
Splendid.
ReplyDelete