Act 2 Summary

Act 2 takes place at the Salvation Army in West Ham, where a man and a woman sit at the table finishing a sparse meal of bread and milk. They both have heavy common accents and appear to be extremely down on their luck. The man is Snobby Price, a young painter who believes that he is extremely intelligent and far too good to work or eat at the Salvation Army. The woman, Rummy Mitchens, reveals to Snobby Price that she is married, although she pretends not to be so that the Salvation Army will want to convert her to piety, feeding her in the process. Snobby Price has a similar story, and tells the Salvation Army staff that he used to blaspheme, gamble and beat his mother senseless so that they will continue to try to convert him, whilst they provide him with...