Root Of Women's Plight In Caryl Churchill's Plays:A Study From Foucault's Historical View

Caryl Churchill(1938-)is a distinguished leading figure in the worldwide theater and one of the most prominent female playwrights in contemporary Britain.She is well-renowned for her extensive theatrical themes,ever-changing innovation of dramaturgy and eminent political awareness.In her productive and unceasing writing career,she tirelessly narrates with great creativity and talent how women of different historical backgrounds survive and live from the stance of a socialist-feminist,satirizing various kinds of oppressions imposed on women and unveiling their real existence in history.However,it is not the mere intention for Churchill to depict the heartrending fates of women.What underlies is the root rendering women in history powerless in plight,presenting Churchill's serious concerns and sensitive touches for the female.Studies on the dramaturgic techniques and feminist issues take the mainstream of research on Churchill,while the studies from the perspective of Michel Foucault's views are comparatively less conducted.Thus,grounded on Foucault's historical views,this thesis aims to explore the root of women's plight in history in Churchill's Vinegar Tom,Cloud Nine,and Top Girls so as to promote the understanding of Churchill's plays.The thesis consists of five parts.The introductory part demonstrates the background information of Caryl Churchill,the current study on the playwright both at home and abroad,the approaches as well as the significance of this thesis.In addition,this part also introduces Michel Foucault's historical views,which functions as a theoretical support for the further analysis.The following three chapters throw light on the root of women's plight in Churchill's plays from three aspects: oppression of theocracy,repression of class and suppression of patriarchy.Chapter One elucidates women's plight from the oppression of theocracy.In the specific milieu of theocratic society,women are in the underprivileged status.First,being no harm or mischief to anyone,some women are forcibly accused as witches by fabricated charges and made objects of scapegoats,victimized by the religious authority to defend its domination and solidify its ruling order.Second,taking Alice and Ellen in Vinegar Tom as examples,disadvantaged women who are on the edge of society have no chance to escape the persecuted fate,nor do they get the right to control their own lives in a society ruled by theocracy.Third,even though some women dauntlessly attempt to make a difference in the theocratic world,what they have strived for is proved futile in the end,such as female Pope Joan in Top Girls.Chapter Two explicates women's plight from the repression of class.The repression of class over women is presented in a multiplicity of forms in history.The feudal ruling is the main root of underclass women's subjugated plight and they can do nothing to make themselves safe from the repression.Besides,capitalist repression on the working class is deeply rooted in history.The working-class women exemplified by Joan Noakes and Alice in Vinegar Tom suffer from harsh repression and sexual harassment from the capitalist oppressors,and ultimately their succumbing to their fates is undoubtedly a kind of powerlessness against it.In addition to that,in Churchill's plays,women confront the suppression from the female group inside as well,which is graphically reflected in Top Girls,particularly in the character Marlene.Instead of forming a solid alliance with the vast majority of women,some of the aggressive women have already become the new source of oppression.Chapter Three enunciates women's plight from the suppression of patriarchy.As an enforcer of patriarchal power,father becomes a primary source of women's plight.In Top Girls,deprived of discourse,Nijo and Isabella live for their fathers instead of living for themselves,accepting male-imposed requirements and suppressing their own willingness.In Cloud Nine,the image of father is emerged as the mother.Influenced by the patriarchal thinking patterns and behavioral standards,Maud tries to inculcate them in her daughter,virtually placing women of next generation into the same patriarchal cage.What's more,women are regarded as the complete creation of their husbands and play the apportioned roles.The wives at home are denied the opportunity to express themselves and can't escape the fate of being controlled.Besides,the pervasive dominance of social patriarchs exerts an everlasting influence on women.Women are not only under the arbitrary sexual suppression of male,but also forced to live a life against their sexual preferences,and their success is also the imitation of male successful diagram.The last part is Conclusion.Based on Foucault's historical views,this thesis interprets the oppression of theocracy,the repression of class and the suppression of patriarchy to analyze the root of women's plight in Caryl Churchill's three plays,namely,Vinegar Tom,Cloud Nine,and Top Girls.Conclusion can be drawn that,faced with multiple suppressions from theocracy,class and patriarchy,women have been historically posited in an underprivileged and disadvantaged status.It is especially significant to emphasize the root accounting for women's powerlessness in plight which still exerts a lingering influence on the contemporary society.Interpretations of Churchill's creative use of historical materials from Foucault's historical views can further expand the perspectives of examining historical events and women's destiny,so that the erased,unheeded and twisted image of women can be put into full display,and the profound and abundant connotations in Churchill's plays can be amply enunciated.