Top Girls Caryl Churchill

Learning Objective To become familiar with the wider context of the play To understand the characters and their function

Reminder of the Paper 2 expectations Format of Paper 2 Paper 2: Essay Duration: 2 hours Weighting: 25% Studying 3 texts but answer a comparative question on at least two of the following texts: A View from the Bridge Hedda Gabler Top Girls

Reminder of the Paper 2 objectives 1.Consider the changing historical, cultural and social contexts in which particular texts are written or received 2.Demonstrate how the formal elements of the text, genre and structure can not only be seen to influence meaning but can also be influenced by context 3.Understand the attitudes and vaules expressed by literary texts and their impact on the readers

Context- Churchill’s Questions Quotes by Churchill: ‘Playwrights don’t give answers, they ask questions.’ – Discuss this and feedback. Consider the other plays we have studied- were Miller and Ibsen asking questions. She asks quite a few questions in ‘Top Girls’ which we need to answer for ourselves.

In ‘Top Girls’ Churchills asks, ‘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? If you are a woman, are you more likely to answer this question in a certain way? How can a woman balance the demands of a career and motherhood? What actually constitutes success in life?’

Top Girls has become emblematic of contemporary woman’s struggle! Churchill wrote the play as a response to the election of Margaret Thatcher. Some thought that her rise to power in politics was as indicative of progress for women. Churchill worried that Thatcher’s right wing politics benefited a minority of wealthy Britons while leaving the less fortunate behind. The play voices her concerns regarding social emphasis on capitalist success over sisterly solidarity. To confront the era’s broad ranging political dilemmas, she compares and contrasts the lives of two sisters.

Churchill wrote ‘Top Girls’ in opposition to Thatcherism. Having become politicized during the 1970’s, Churchill saw the 1980s shift from a socialist mind-set to a capitalist emphasis as an ominous change. This difference became clear to her when comparing British and US concepts of female equality.

The Sisters – Marlene and Joyce Each of the sisters has different answers to the questions the play asks: while one sister decides to follow a path that emphasizes her career at the expense of her family life, the other maintains close familial ties but continues to lead a life of economic drudgery. Churchill avoids idealizing either path, but her portrayal presents an opportunity for her audiences to examine their opinions regarding gender and class. Discuss this and feed back to the class.

Churchill Experiments with style and form She establishes the principle of overlapping dialogue, a technique that has become widespread in British Theatre. The play presents scenes out of sequential order, thereby requiring the audience to actively participate by connecting the play’s plot lines. Discuss other writers who do this – think about Toni Morrison and consider what her purpose was.

Let’s get to know our characters…and our playwright Isabella Bird ( ) Lady Nijo (b.1258) Dull Gret is the subject of the Brueghel painting ‘Dulle Griet’‘Dulle Griet’ Pope Joan Patient Griselda Playwright = Carol Churchill Task: Use the internet to find basic information about the characters above. In addition, find out some more about our playwright Caryl Churchill.

So what do we know about our characters… Isabella Bird ( ) lived in Ediburgh, travelled extensively between the ages of 40 and 70 Lady Nijo (b.1258) Japanese, was an Emperor’s courtesan and later a Buddihist nun who travelled on foot through Japan Dull Gret is the subject of the Brueghel painting ‘Dulle Griet’‘Dulle Griet’ Pope Joan, disguised as a man, is thought to have been Pope between Patient Griselda is an obedient wife from Chaucer’s ‘The Canterbury’s Tales’