Caryl Churchill S Top Girls Feminism Vs Culture

Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,7, University of Münster (Englisches Seminar), course: From Page to Stage, language: English, abstract: Caryl Churchill's play Top Girls, particularly its first act, centers on various women from history, fiction, art and mythology who gather in a restaurant to celebrate the promotion of Marlene, the protagonist of the play. Above all, this dinner scene is marked by a lack of understanding between the characters and the unability of each one to change into the others' perspective. The juxtaposition of the figures finally ends up in a collaps of the conversation and a monologisation of their dialogues. This lack of understanding is based on the different cultural backgrounds of each character. Everyone is part of a different society that is based on different norms and values which eliminates the possibility of a change of the character's perspective. The question, my term paper is based on, is how far feminist criticism is valid regarding the tension between culture and feminism. In this respect, it is necessary to examine the cultural backgrounds and the respective existence of a feminist's movement in the cultures of the characters. A valid feministic judgement on the characters can only be given when they are analysed in the light of their culture and afterwards opposed to each other. Therefore, the literature I took into account focuses on historical information of the characters' cultures, especially women's cultural history. Furthermore, I analysed literature on Caryl Churchill as well as women dramatists in Britain and the feministic movement. I examined how far each woman of the dinner scene can be valuated as a feminist or as having a feministic attitude and often, this feministic attitude is not a general characteristic but rather a characteristic which is connected to a certain domain of their culture. Hence, I extracted thre

Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1,7, University of Münster (Englisches Seminar), course: From Page to Stage, language: English, abstract: Caryl Churchill’s play Top Girls, particularly its first act, centers on various women from history, fiction, art and mythology who gather in a restaurant to celebrate the promotion of Marlene, the protagonist of the play. Above all, this dinner scene is marked by a lack of understanding between the characters and the unability of each one to change into the others’ perspective. The juxtaposition of the figures finally ends up in a collaps of the conversation and a monologisation of their dialogues. This lack of understanding is based on the different cultural backgrounds of each character. Everyone is part of a different society that is based on different norms and values which eliminates the possibility of a change of the character’s perspective. The question, my term paper is based on, is how far feminist criticism is valid regarding the tension between culture and feminism. In this respect, it is necessary to examine the cultural backgrounds and the respective existence of a feminist’s movement in the cultures of the characters. A valid feministic judgement on the characters can only be given when they are analysed in the light of their culture and afterwards opposed to each other. Therefore, the literature I took into account focuses on historical information of the characters’ cultures, especially women’s cultural history. Furthermore, I analysed literature on Caryl Churchill as well as women dramatists in Britain and the feministic movement. I examined how far each woman of the dinner scene can be valuated as a feminist or as having a feministic attitude and often, this feministic attitude is not a general characteristic but rather a characteristic which is connected to a certain domain of their culture. Hence, I extracted three areas in which this tension between the characters’ cultures and their feministic attitude are surfaced: their relation to men,their family and domestic life and their working life. Yet, instead of examining each character in each category, I concentrated on those characters that stood out in their behaviour and opposed them to each other.

Marlene thinks the eighties are going to be stupendous. Her sister Joyce has her doubts. Her daughter Angie is just frightened. Since its premiere in 1982, Top Girls has become a seminal play of the modern theatre. Set during a period of British politics dominated by the presence of the newly elected Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, Churchill's play prompts us to question our notions of women's success and solidarity. Its sharp look at the society and politics of the 1980s is combined with a timeless examination of women's choices and restrictions regarding career and family. This new Student Edition features an introduction by Sophie Bush, Senior Lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University, UK prepared with the contemporary student in mind. METHUEN DRAMA STUDENT EDITIONS are expertly annotated texts of a wide range of plays from the modern and classic repertoires. A well as the complete text of the play itself, this volume contains: · A chronology of the play and the playwright's life and work · an introductory discussion of the social, political, cultural and economic context in which the play was originally conceived and created · a succinct overview of the creation processes followed and subsequent performance history of the piece · an analysis of, and commentary on, some of the major themes and specific issues addressed by the text · a bibliography of suggested primary and secondary materials for further study.

Caryl Churchill is widely considered to be one of the most innovative playwrights to haveemerged in post-war British theatre. Identified as a socialist feminist writer, she is one of the few British women playwrights to have been incorporated into the dramatic canon. Top Girls is one of Churchill's most well known and often studied works, using an all female cast to critique bourgeois feminism during the Thatcher era.

First published in 1997.

A two-act play in which preconceptions about gender, romance, and "lifestyle" are scrambled, neutralized, and possibly even rebuilt.

"Seven Jewish children is Caryl Churchill's response to the situation in Gaza in January 2009, when the play was written."--p. [8].