'Small Island': reading Act 1 Scene 2

Both Queenie and Hortense tell their story by directly addressing the audience. Class is a key dimension here - Bernard offers Queenie the hope of a middle class life. Bernard is a caricature of a repressed English gentleman, who is fearful of all that is unfamiliar. The setting of Bernard's cold, closed-off Edwardian house mirrors his personality and is opposite to Queenie's warmth. The playwright uses humour to show the lack of passion between the couple.