Journal Name:
- İstanbul Üniversitesi Tiyatro Eleştirmenliği ve Dramaturji Bölüm Dergisi
| Author Name | University of Author | Faculty of Author |
|---|---|---|
Abstract (2. Language):
This paper argues that Caryl Churchill’s play Top Girls criticizes the feminist movement’s
demand for equality and instead foregrounds the need to focus on gender difference when it
depicts the newly promoted protagonist Marlene as a woman who fails to help her daughter
to find a proper place in society. As Marlene had to abandon her role as mother when she
decided to gain power in a men’s world, Marlene’s achievements are questioned in the play,
for in order to be successful Marlene had to give up her feminine part and act as a man. The
play therefore argues that women in patriarchal society are only granted equal rights when
they transform themselves into men and then only gain personal success which, in turn,
leaves this male society intact. That Marlene’s act is completely individualistic and does not
better women’s position at all is made clear in the figure of her daughter Angie who, as the
play underlines, will never find a proper social place despite her mother’s personal
achievements. The play, on the other hand, portrays a completely opposite type of woman in
the figure of Gret who is modelled on the famous painting “Dulle Griet” by Brueghel.
Insisting on her bond both with her children and with other women, Gret in the play
represents a positive alternative to Marlene whose achievements are only restricted to
herself and who cannot even support her own daughter.
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Abstract (Original Language):
Caryl Churchill’in Top Girls adlı oyunu, yalnızca ataerkil toplum düzenini
elestirmekle kalmamakta, aynı zamanda yeni nesil feminizmin ulastığı sonuçları da
irdelemekle kadın sorununa yeni bir boyut kazandırmaktadır. Ulasılan sonuçların
irdelenmesinin sebebi ise, oyunun yazıldığı 1982 yılında Margaret Thatcher’ın İngiltere’nin
ilk kadın basbakanlığı görevini yapmasından ve böylece kadınların ataerkil topluma karsı
mücadelelerine büyük bir darbe vurmus olmasından kaynaklanmaktadır, çünkü Janet E.
Gardner’ın vurguladığı gibi, yeni kadın basbakanın varlığı, kadınların da artık esitliğe
ulastığının bir göstergesi olarak yorumlanmıs ve birçok kadın tarafından, feminizmin artık
hedefine ulastığını ve çabaların sona erdiğinin bir kanıtı olarak varsayılmıstır.
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