Top Girls by Caryl Churchill
“I remember way back somebody writing about one of my radio plays, and saying that you wouldn't know it had been written by a woman. The writer clearly meant this as praise, and that gave me pause." - Caryl Churchill
Churchill, Caryl.The Common Imagination and the Individual Voice. (1988) New Theatre Quarterly, 4, pp 3-16.
Throughout her career, Churchill has established herself as one of Britain’s foremost feminist playwrights. On August 28, 1982, she debuted her play Top Girls at the Royal Court Theater in London.
BBC: Top Girls Part 1 of 2
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BBC: Top Girls Part 2 of 2
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Discussion with Caryl Churchill and actors
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Historical Background
Churchill was born just before the beginning of the Second World War and moved to Canada when she was 10. This meant that she largely missed the deprivation caused by the war (for example, food rationing), and also grew up without a sense of her place in the class hierarchy. She has frequently commented that on her return to English she was horrified by the lack of equality (across class, gender and race) that she noticed after the liberal atmosphere in Canada. Like many of her generation she was against apartheid, racism, sexism and homophobia.
England in the 1960s was riven with political instability and unrest. In the wake of the post-war consensus which saw the two major political parties in agreement over the main aspects of policy and the establishment of the Welfare State, a rift had emerged. The 1960s also saw the beginning of the liberalisation of sexuality (thanks to the contraceptive pill, the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality and reforms of the divorce and abortion laws) and a period of economic growth and renewed confidence in Britain (helped by the international popularity of the Beatles and other British cultural exports).
The 1970s, by way of comparison, were a time of civil unrest: the beginning of British occupation of Northern Ireland, the miners' strikes, the three-day week (to help cope with fuel shortages) and the deterioration of race relations.
The Women's Liberation Movement were also busy advocating for women's rights.
When Margaret Thatcher came to power in 1979 the trade unions in Britain were believed by many to have more influence over industry than the government did: effectively setting levels of pay and working conditions. They had achieved this power via a series of strikes, which culminated in the "Winter of Discontent" of 1978-9 when a variety of municipal workers went on strike, leading to garbage in the streets and a refusal to bury dead bodies. This strike is one of the iconic moments of the late twentieth century and the memory of the chaos and devastation it caused led many Britons to vote for the Conservative Party for the first time. Thatcher was the first female leader in the Western world.
Churchill was born just before the beginning of the Second World War and moved to Canada when she was 10. This meant that she largely missed the deprivation caused by the war (for example, food rationing), and also grew up without a sense of her place in the class hierarchy. She has frequently commented that on her return to English she was horrified by the lack of equality (across class, gender and race) that she noticed after the liberal atmosphere in Canada. Like many of her generation she was against apartheid, racism, sexism and homophobia.
England in the 1960s was riven with political instability and unrest. In the wake of the post-war consensus which saw the two major political parties in agreement over the main aspects of policy and the establishment of the Welfare State, a rift had emerged. The 1960s also saw the beginning of the liberalisation of sexuality (thanks to the contraceptive pill, the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality and reforms of the divorce and abortion laws) and a period of economic growth and renewed confidence in Britain (helped by the international popularity of the Beatles and other British cultural exports).
The 1970s, by way of comparison, were a time of civil unrest: the beginning of British occupation of Northern Ireland, the miners' strikes, the three-day week (to help cope with fuel shortages) and the deterioration of race relations.
The Women's Liberation Movement were also busy advocating for women's rights.
When Margaret Thatcher came to power in 1979 the trade unions in Britain were believed by many to have more influence over industry than the government did: effectively setting levels of pay and working conditions. They had achieved this power via a series of strikes, which culminated in the "Winter of Discontent" of 1978-9 when a variety of municipal workers went on strike, leading to garbage in the streets and a refusal to bury dead bodies. This strike is one of the iconic moments of the late twentieth century and the memory of the chaos and devastation it caused led many Britons to vote for the Conservative Party for the first time. Thatcher was the first female leader in the Western world.
- Watch "The Making of Margaret Thatcher" for more background information.
- Read the article below to get a sense of how Thatcher was viewed by many. The article gives good insight into her "femininity."
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Feminist Criticism
Feminist criticism has many different objectives: rediscovering the work of "lost" women writers; re-evaluating the contribution of women to the writings of famous men (for example Wordsworth's sister, Dorothy); assessing the depiction of women in literature; and also exploring the frames of reference within which women discuss their own experiences.
One of the key tenets of the first, second and third waves of the Women's Movement has been the insistence on dividing the biological sex (male and female) from gender (male/female). The first is determined by the chemical composition of an individual's DNA - an x and a y chromosome for males, two xs for females; the second is determined by the society in which they are born and raised. In feminist theory, therefore, there is nothing "essentially" feminine or masculine, they are simply words used in western society to describe traits that are either idealised or assumed to be natural through learned association. Thus, feminist theory allows women to question the idea of "natural" behaviour; is it "natural" for women to stay at home and look after the children because they are more feminine than men or is it the result of a number of societal factors-- that men historically earn more money than women, that women find it more difficult to return to work immediately after giving birth because of the effects of childbirth on their bodies, and that maternity leave is a relatively recent phenomenon?
Feminists have read Top Girls in different ways. For some, the play is a critique of Marlene and her individual ambition and the first act just reinforces the narrowness of her outlook. Lisa Merrill commented that "by attempting to equate Marlene's promotion at work with the extreme circumstances overcome by the other five guests, Churchill renders Marlene's achievement petty and ludicrous" (Randall ed. 1988). For others, this scene represents a collective celebration of women's achievements through the ages and a re-evaluation of women's contribution to history and culture.
Top Girls challenges the definition of what it means to be a successful woman. Many of the women in the play refuse the role of the idea woman embodied by Griselda: they do not accept their lot as the inevitable consequence of their gender. Although Joyce elected to stay at home and look after Angie, she expresses dissatisfaction with her life, and with her role as a mother: hence her occasional hostility towards Angie. Nell refuses to get married, preferring to maintain her independence an focus on her career; and so does Marlene. In Elaine Aston's words, the women in the play "refuse the 'fixing' of gender roles" and in doing so question the very idea of fixed gender roles (Aston (1997), p. 39).
Feminist criticism has many different objectives: rediscovering the work of "lost" women writers; re-evaluating the contribution of women to the writings of famous men (for example Wordsworth's sister, Dorothy); assessing the depiction of women in literature; and also exploring the frames of reference within which women discuss their own experiences.
One of the key tenets of the first, second and third waves of the Women's Movement has been the insistence on dividing the biological sex (male and female) from gender (male/female). The first is determined by the chemical composition of an individual's DNA - an x and a y chromosome for males, two xs for females; the second is determined by the society in which they are born and raised. In feminist theory, therefore, there is nothing "essentially" feminine or masculine, they are simply words used in western society to describe traits that are either idealised or assumed to be natural through learned association. Thus, feminist theory allows women to question the idea of "natural" behaviour; is it "natural" for women to stay at home and look after the children because they are more feminine than men or is it the result of a number of societal factors-- that men historically earn more money than women, that women find it more difficult to return to work immediately after giving birth because of the effects of childbirth on their bodies, and that maternity leave is a relatively recent phenomenon?
Feminists have read Top Girls in different ways. For some, the play is a critique of Marlene and her individual ambition and the first act just reinforces the narrowness of her outlook. Lisa Merrill commented that "by attempting to equate Marlene's promotion at work with the extreme circumstances overcome by the other five guests, Churchill renders Marlene's achievement petty and ludicrous" (Randall ed. 1988). For others, this scene represents a collective celebration of women's achievements through the ages and a re-evaluation of women's contribution to history and culture.
Top Girls challenges the definition of what it means to be a successful woman. Many of the women in the play refuse the role of the idea woman embodied by Griselda: they do not accept their lot as the inevitable consequence of their gender. Although Joyce elected to stay at home and look after Angie, she expresses dissatisfaction with her life, and with her role as a mother: hence her occasional hostility towards Angie. Nell refuses to get married, preferring to maintain her independence an focus on her career; and so does Marlene. In Elaine Aston's words, the women in the play "refuse the 'fixing' of gender roles" and in doing so question the very idea of fixed gender roles (Aston (1997), p. 39).
Caryl Churchill: "Playwrights don’t give answers, they ask questions."
- Is it more important to break out of a cycle of poverty and ‘make something of yourself’, or to fulfil your responsibilities to your family and community?
- What happens to the collective basis on which feminism is built if the only way for women to succeed is to behave like men?
- What happens when someone like Marlene becomes a role-model for other women, as she is for Win, Nell, Angie, and Shona?
Act 1: The Restaurant
Focus:
Focus:
- The historical women
- Marlene as the host
- The waitress
- Overlapping dialogue
The Historical Women
- Describe her story.
- What are some of her defining characteristics, either revealed in her dialogue or through your research?
- What sacrifice(s) has she made in her life?
- Identify 2-3 quotations that "sum up" the historical woman.
- How would you describe her? What does she stand for or symbolize within the patriarchy?
Isabella Bird
(1831-1904) - lived in Edinburgh, travelled extensively between the ages of 40 and 70.
Encyclopedia: Isabella Bird
Encyclopedia: Isabella Bird
Lady Nijo
(b. 1258) - Japanese, was an Emperor's courtesan and later a Buddhist nun who travelled on foot through Japan
Wikipedia: Lady Nijo
Wikipedia: Lady Nijo
- How does Lady Nijo feel about her courtesan role?
- What happened to her children?
Dull Gret
the subject of the Brueghel painting Dulle Griet, in which a woman in an apron and armour leads a crowd of women charging through hell and fighting the devils.
The Guardian: Dulle Griet
The Guardian: Dulle Griet
- How does Gret act throughout the dinner? How is she being portrayed?
- How does her portrayal align with the character in the painting?
Pope Joan
disguised herself as a man, is thought to have been Pope between 854-856.
History Channel: Pope Joan
History Channel: Pope Joan
- What does Joan's story reveal about the attitude towards women in her time?
Patient Griselda
the obedient wife whose story is told by Chaucer in "The Clerk's Tale" of The Canterbury Tales.
About Griselda
Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Clerk's Tale"
About Griselda
Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Clerk's Tale"
- How does Griselda contrast the other women?
Essential Question
How does Marlene fit in with these historical women? How is she depicted in the opening scene?
Collectively, what do the women represent?
How does Marlene fit in with these historical women? How is she depicted in the opening scene?
Collectively, what do the women represent?
Task: Use the quotations on the document to analyse Marlene as a protagonist. How is she depicted in the opening scene? What type of women is she?
act_1_-_marlene_analysis.docx | |
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This is a feminist play. Marlene is portrayed as a strong woman who goes against previous feminine ideals. What is ironic about how she introduces these historical women? What might Churchill be trying to criticise about 1980s patriarchal society?
Marlene: Now who do you know? This is Joan who was Pope in the ninth century, and Isabella Bird, the Victorian traveller, and Lady Nijo from Japan, Emperor's concubine and Buddhist nun, thirtheenth century, nearer your own time, and Gret who was painted by Brueghel. Griselda's in Boccaccio and Petrarch and Chaucer because of her extraordinary marriage (31).
The Waitress
- What is a waitress' role?
- How many lines does the waitress have in this scene? What significance might that hold considering this is a feminist play?
- Look at the scenes below with the waitress. What do they all have in common? What could the waitress symbolise in a feminist play? In what way does Churchill use her to criticise society?
Marlene: Oh good, some food. (The Waitress brings the first course, serves it during the following, then exits) (17).
Gret: Walking is good. (Meanwhile, the Waitress enters, pours lots of wine, then shows MARLENE the empty bottle) (23).
Marlene: Oh God, I can't bear it. I want some coffee. Six coffees. Six brandies. / Double brandies. Straightaway. (The Waitress exits) (36).
Feminism in the 20th Century
“Feminism begins with a keen awareness of exclusion from male cultural, social, sexual, political and intellectual discourse...and ends with a resolve to radically change these circumstances.”
Godiwala, Dimple. Breaking the Bounds : British Feminist Dramatists Writing in the Mainstream Since C. 1980. New York, NY, USA: Peter Lang Publishing, 2003. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 10 January 2016.
Click for a Timeline of Women's History in the UK
“Feminism begins with a keen awareness of exclusion from male cultural, social, sexual, political and intellectual discourse...and ends with a resolve to radically change these circumstances.”
Godiwala, Dimple. Breaking the Bounds : British Feminist Dramatists Writing in the Mainstream Since C. 1980. New York, NY, USA: Peter Lang Publishing, 2003. ProQuest ebrary. Web. 10 January 2016.
Click for a Timeline of Women's History in the UK
Second Wave Feminism
“Second-wave feminism, scholars argued until recently, was a product of middle-class educated women who rejected inequality masquerading as domestic tranquility in the postwar United States.”
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The Glass Ceiling - coined by “The Wall Street Journal” in 1986
“There seemed to be an invisible—but impenetrable—barrier between women and the executive suite, preventing them from reaching the highest levels of the business world regardless of their accomplishments and merits”
http://www.dol.gov/oasam/programs/history/reich/reports/ceiling.pdf
“Motherhood. Sometimes the blame for the glass ceiling is laid at the door of motherhood. Women are distracted from their career path by the need to stay at home and rear children. They are unable to undertake the tasks required to reach the top; for example, extended trips abroad, wearing air miles like battle medals, long evenings “entertaining” clients and changing plans at short notice.” Source
Sex Discrimination Act of 1975:
An Act to render unlawful certain kinds of sex discrimination and discrimination on the ground of marriage, and establish a Commission with the function of working towards the elimination of such discrimination and promoting equality of opportunity between men and women generally; and for related purposes.
“There seemed to be an invisible—but impenetrable—barrier between women and the executive suite, preventing them from reaching the highest levels of the business world regardless of their accomplishments and merits”
http://www.dol.gov/oasam/programs/history/reich/reports/ceiling.pdf
“Motherhood. Sometimes the blame for the glass ceiling is laid at the door of motherhood. Women are distracted from their career path by the need to stay at home and rear children. They are unable to undertake the tasks required to reach the top; for example, extended trips abroad, wearing air miles like battle medals, long evenings “entertaining” clients and changing plans at short notice.” Source
Sex Discrimination Act of 1975:
An Act to render unlawful certain kinds of sex discrimination and discrimination on the ground of marriage, and establish a Commission with the function of working towards the elimination of such discrimination and promoting equality of opportunity between men and women generally; and for related purposes.
Act 1 Scene 2: Top Girls Employment Agency
Essential Question
- How does Jeanine contrast with the character of Marlene?
- To what extent has Marlene's attitude been impacted by notions of feminism and the Glass Ceiling?
Activity: Set up a mock interview between Marlene and Jeanine. With a partner, choose roles and face each other as you would in an interview. Read through the scene.
Compare/Contrast: How does Jeanine contrast with the character of Marlene? Identify distinctions between the characters and chart them out in your notes in a mindmap or a t-chart.
Context
- How does Marlene hold power over Jeanine? Find 3 examples in the scene that display Marlene's power over Jeanine, either by words or actions.
- To what extent do you see evidence of the 1975 Sex Discrimination Act protecting Jeanine during this interview?
- To what extent has Marlene's attitude been impacted by notions of feminism and the Glass Ceiling?
Act 2 Scene 1: Top Girls Employment Agency
Essential Question:
Activity: Watch the 1992 BBC production (Act 2 Scene 2) and discuss the corresponding questions.
Louise and Win Activity: Subtext
Discuss what each character might be saying inside her head during this interview. Add in 6-7 lines of subtext throughout the interview scene to exemplify the women's thoughts and reactions to the situation.
- What happens when someone like Marlene becomes a role-model for other women, as she is for Win, Nell, Angie, and Shona?
Activity: Watch the 1992 BBC production (Act 2 Scene 2) and discuss the corresponding questions.
- Win and Nell: What is their attitude towards men? Describe the relationships they currently have with men.
- What does it tell us about Marlene that she has been "doing some of Pam's ladies...while she's away" (60)?
- What does this scene tell us about the attitudes of women in the workplace in the 1980s? Does Churchill present these women in an idealised, romantic light? What are our impressions of Win, Nell, and Marlene?
Louise and Win Activity: Subtext
Discuss what each character might be saying inside her head during this interview. Add in 6-7 lines of subtext throughout the interview scene to exemplify the women's thoughts and reactions to the situation.
Essential Question
What is Mrs Kidd's function in the play?
-What does this scene demonstrate about the sacrifices of women in the 1980s?
What is Mrs Kidd's function in the play?
- Who is Mrs Kidd?
- Why has she come to see Marlene?
- Ultimately, what does Mrs Kidd want from Marlene? How does Marlene respond?
- Why has Churchill included Mrs Kidd in this play? What does she symbolise?
-What does this scene demonstrate about the sacrifices of women in the 1980s?
Act 2 Scene 2: A Year Earlier: Joyce's Kitchen
Essential Question
How does Churchill use Marlene and Joyce to criticise 1980s UK society? Joyce - represents the left-wing collective working class Marlene - represents the right-wing individual / capitalism |
Margaret Thatcher
The Iron Lady |
- Make a mind map/character profile for Joyce. Who is she? Where does she live? What are her responsibilities? What is her family situation?
- Make a mind map/character profile for Marlene: What do we learn about her past?
- Identify 5 quotations that display Marlene's political and social attitude.
- How are Joyce and Marlene different? (Focus on pgs 89-97). Make a chart or a venn diagram to compare and contrast the characters.
- After examining these characters, what are your thoughts? How does Churchill use these characters to criticise the changing political and social spectrums of 1980s UK society?