top girls englis lit

It has been said that women have never achieved full equality with men. To what extent are Churchill’s characters ‘Top Girls’ in act one

Many roles of women in society have been limited. There are very clear expectations of men and women, the men are the breadwinners and women are only to be housewives and mothers. Women through the ages have had to deal with a male dominated society. Men believed that women always needed support and someone to look after them. Women have been portrayed as being the weaker sex, physically and emotionally, so women would be unable to cope with the daily issues that a man faces. Therefore a woman would not be able to have the same profession or rights as a man. Even though women were usually highly educated and were able to look after themselves, women’s roles in society have been and in some cases still are limited. Feminist plays often concentrate on the psychological social, cultural and educational roles of women. Feminist playwright Caryl Churchill is known for her non-naturalistic techniques and feminist themes. Churchill’s play ‘Top Girls’ looks at the many issues that women have to deal with on a daily basis, in an attempt to gain equality with men, and more importantly, to gain acceptance in society. She concentrates on this so that her audience could question the roles, stereotypes and issues that are dealt with everyday, like: violence and political and sexual oppression. This play highlights these challenges that women have had to face, as well as showing the audience the strength and determination of women and the independence that many women have gained throughout history. Churchill has managed to interpret these issues by presenting the overpowered and very distressed female characters. In contrast with the females in the audience that have a modern view of equality. The audience will be able to empathise with the characters because they can see that the characters have been separated from the males, as they