Five reasons why schools should teach Princess & The Hustler at GCSE

In September 2022, AQA launched ‘Spark something’ to inspire and support English teachers to teach their new set texts. To improve the diversity and inclusion of their English Literature GCSE offer, particularly racial diversity and inclusion, AQA introduced a new novel, My Name is Leon by Kit de Waal, as well as a new poetry cluster and two new plays: Leave Taking by Winsome Pinnock and Princess & The Hustler by Chinonyerem Odimba. 

I was lucky enough to be asked by BBC Bitesize to become their lead writer on Princess & The Hustler. This is Odimba’s heart-warming and heart-wrenching story about Princess, a 10-year-old girl, and her family living in Bristol between Christmas 1962 and September 1963. In the play’s opening scene, her father, The Hustler, returns after being away for a long time.  Throughout the plot, Princess dreams of being winner of Weston-super-Mare’s Beauties of the West contest; Odimba says that part of her motivation for writing the play was to allow young Black girls to feel “beautiful” as well as “strong and capable”. The story is set against the backdrop of the Bristol Bus Boycott of 1963. At this time, the Bristol Omnibus Company was upholding a colour bar, which meant that they refused to hire Black or Asian bus drivers or conductors. The people of Bristol protested against this racial discrimination by refusing to ride the buses.

After the initial research stage, BBC Bitesize asked me to write revision-focused content for their website on the text. By this point I was already in love with Princess as well as Odimba’s story of family, struggle, and self-love. Below are five (of many) reasons why I believe schools should absolutely be teaching this text as part of the AQA modern text section of the literature GCSE.

Reason 1: Young people need stories about people like them fighting for what they believe in 

From early in the play, Wendell Junior, Princess’ older brother, is a devoted fighter of the cause of the Bristol Bus Boycott. He attends marches and speaks passionately about the need for change. Young people are the future, and this important aspect of the story can remind them just how much power their voices and actions can have. 

Reason 2: The play communicates important lessons and messages

The play, in very nuanced ways, teaches important lessons that will genuinely help students to understand themselves and to navigate the world around them. One example is the colourism that Princess experiences throughout the book which is often very subtle. There is an instance where her lighter skinned half-sister, Lorna, is invited to a birthday party by a girl at school, but she is not. Odimba does not explicitly point out that this is the reason why Princess is not invited, but the reader is encouraged to infer this through careful hints. This is an important lesson about how prejudice and discrimination are often insidious. However, this in no way means that these instances are any less harmful. This will show students that not all prejudice has to be explicit and obvious to be wrong and painful. 

Reason 3: The historical events are part of England’s history

Princess & The Hustler sheds light on a very important period in England’s history. It absolutely should be taught in a specification which aims to help young people to “appreciate the depth and power of the English literary heritage”. 

Heritage does not happen and is not learnt about in a vacuum; teaching texts about England’s heritage, whether showing aspects of the country in a good or bad light, are an asset to achieving the aforementioned aim. 

Reason 4: The play covers a variety of themes 

I was reluctant for any of these reasons to be about the exam itself. However, of course, it would be somewhat irresponsible to teach texts to students at a GCSE level with no consideration as to how it will help them to succeed in their exams (and, in lots of ways, consequently their future). That said, Princess & The Hustler covers a variety of themes that offer opportunities for students to analyse in detail. Themes like family, love, conflict,  prejudice, and power are all richly peppered and embedded throughout. Diversity has become somewhat of a buzzword. And yet, this play alone offers true diversity in the sense that in such a small story it covers so much. 

Reason 5: Young people need stories about self-love

We are living in a world of social media and, heartbreakingly, growing numbers of mental health issues among teenagers. It seems necessary here to celebrate the fact that at its very core, this is a story about a girl who, against a lot of external barriers, learns to love herself. 

Mavis, Princess’ mum, says to her when she is struggling with her self-image:

“Phyllis James you listen, and you listen good!//Whether your hair long or short. Skin good or bad.//Us…//Us…girls and women with our skin dark as the night, every shade of brown, glowing like fresh-made caramel, or legs spindly like a spiders we are everything that is beautiful on this earth.//And you…you the prettiest of them all because you are my girl”. 

I think we can all agree that this is absolutely beautiful advice for young people to be exposed to.

For more information about the BBC Bitesize revision resource to accompany Princess & The Hustler, please visit www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize