“oh god, why are we so miserable?”

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“Oh God, why are we so miserable?” Examining the price of success for women in Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls and William Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew

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“Oh God, why are we so miserable?” . Examining the price of success for women in Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls and William Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew. Key theatrical considerations. - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Page 1: “Oh God, why are we so miserable?”

“Oh God, why are we so miserable?” Examining the price of success for women in Caryl

Churchill’s Top Girls and William Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew

Page 2: “Oh God, why are we so miserable?”

Key theatrical considerations

• Taming was written for an all-male theatre where women could only be symbolically represented. It is a theatre in which women are marginalised on two fronts – on the stage and in the patriarchal society which it describes. Men are dominant and their monopoly on power cannot be challenged.

• Top Girls was written for an all-female cast, where men are referred to but never physically present on stage. Roles are inverted. Women take centre stage while men are placed in the wings/margins. The most significant offstage male character is Howard, but he is hardly a figure of strength.

Page 3: “Oh God, why are we so miserable?”

Success in patriarchal society

• In Taming, women can achieve success in only one way: by conforming to men’s expectations of them through the display of so-called feminine virtues.

• Women are prized for their beauty, gentleness, chastity and grace – which translates into submissiveness, passivity and silence in the company of men.

• Daughters are mere commodities to be traded by fathers and marriages resemble business transactions rather than acts of love.

Page 4: “Oh God, why are we so miserable?”

Success in the corporate world

• In 1980s Britain, aggressive and ambitious women such as Marlene have opportunities to climb the corporate ladder, which was once the exclusive privilege of men.

• In a sense, Marlene is rewarded for the very qualities that render Kate worthless to her society.

• Despite being validated by the corporate world, Marlene and women like her still face persecution from society. Mrs Kidd for instance labels her as “one of these ballbreakers … You’re not natural” (p. 59).

Page 5: “Oh God, why are we so miserable?”

The price of corporate success

• Mrs Kidd tells Marlene: “You’ll end miserable and lonely” (p. 59). Her words are prophetic and a very real example of dramatic irony.

• Marlene has abandoned everything for corporate success and she lives in denial of her daughter Angie and her working class origins.

• There is no turning back the clock – although this is ironically what occurs within the narrative structure of the play to reveal the hidden aspects of Marlene’s character.

Page 6: “Oh God, why are we so miserable?”

“I knew my return of vigour was only temporary, but how marvellous while it lasted” (p. 29)

• The empty pursuit of power and wealth cannot provide the emotional satisfaction that Marlene desires and her eventual fate may not be very different from those of her historical counterparts at the dinner table who, for the most part, tell stories of success and inevitable decline.

• Marlene’s success may be short lived for a younger, more ambitious man or woman could eventually unseat her.

• Despite having greater legitimacy in the workplace, long term happiness outside of marriage and children remains frustratingly elusive for women such as Marlene.

Page 7: “Oh God, why are we so miserable?”

“Her silence flouts me, and I’ll be revenged.” II.i.29

• The wooing of the highly valued Bianca by rival suitors resembles an auction in which they compete to offer the best price to her father for her hand.

• Bianca does little else but comply. She only breaks her silence to endorse her father’s actions.

• Kate becomes outraged by Bianca’s silence and would force her to speak her mind. Ironically, she would “liberate” her by physically binding her and subjugating her sister to her will.

Page 8: “Oh God, why are we so miserable?”

To suffer in silence• What exactly would it mean for Bianca to break her

silence? Who is actually the one in control? Is it Kate for breaking her silence or Bianca for remaining silent? What does Kate hope to achieve through her actions?

• For the most part, Kate and Bianca appear to be in binary opposition, but is Kate attempting to have Bianca validate her actions?

• In Top Girls, Griselda’s unyielding compliance to the authority/tyranny of the Marquis allows her narrative to be “like a fairy-story” with a happy ending (p. 20).

Page 9: “Oh God, why are we so miserable?”

Key points to consider

• Does Bianca ensure her own survival – and eventual success – by remaining silent in the face of adversity just as Griselda does?

• Does that mean that Bianca has strengths that we do not readily see? Does she view marriage as a business transaction just as her father appears to do?

• Although they function to serve the interests of men, both Griselda and Mrs Kidd are nevertheless strong women who show unwavering determination.

Page 10: “Oh God, why are we so miserable?”

“We were just talking about … being clever girls” (p. 4)

• The opening act of Top Girls, is a purely symbolic, theatrical construct for it brings together women from different historical moments in celebration of Marlene’s promotion to Managing Director. This is clearly impossible.

• We are not supposed to question its legitimacy, but explore its implications for the exploration of the female condition.

• All the women are desperate to tell their stories before an audience within and without the play.

Page 11: “Oh God, why are we so miserable?”

Key points to consider• What we understand from reading the literary text is

different from that of the audience in a theatre. • We can clearly make out all the words on the page, in an

actual performance of the play, some would overlap thereby obscuring their meaning and generating a kind of soundscape or a collage of sound symbolic of discord. This has the effect of women silencing each other’s voices and positions women as antagonists to other women.

• The women want to be heard and validated, but they do not want to listen to anyone else. They are self serving and there is no genuine camaraderie despite the collective show of support of gathering at the dinner party.

Page 12: “Oh God, why are we so miserable?”

Key points to consider

• Can we consider Bianca Kate’s antagonist rather than Petruchio?

• Kate’s act of rebellion is short lived because the only person that could validate her, Bianca, refused to acknowledge her words.

• Because the world is deaf to her words, Kate is effectively silenced. She is written off as a liability by patriarchal society.

Page 13: “Oh God, why are we so miserable?”

“Fie, fie, unknit that that threatening unkind brow” (V.ii.136)

• Kate begins her famous speech by admonishing her sister’s actions in an effort to correct them. Hence, she is being antagonistic.

• Is this a demonstration of compliance to Petruchio and the values of her society or a means of getting the upper hand over her sister?

• Would she silence her, whereas previously she would have her speak?

Page 14: “Oh God, why are we so miserable?”

“I think you were wonderful” (p. 59).

• Marlene rejects the only person who loves her unconditionally and validates her words and actions: her daughter Angie.

• The very qualities that allow Angie to unquestioningly worship Marlene as a role model – her innocence, trusting nature, and lack of maturity and intelligence – Marlene would only view as signs of weakness.

• In fact, Marlene writes her off completely: “She’s not going to make it” (p. 66).

Page 15: “Oh God, why are we so miserable?”

“We’d rather it was you than Howard” (p.50)

• Marlene only acknowledges women who are strong, capable and driven like herself. However, such women can only ever be competitors and rivals, not allies.

• It is telling that no actual women from Marlene’s life are present at the dinner party.

• While Nel and Win have begrudging respect for Marlene, neither “like[s] coming second” (p. 50).

Page 16: “Oh God, why are we so miserable?”

ANGIE. Frightening.

MARLENE. Did you have a bad dream? What happened in it? Well you’re awake now, aren’t you pet?

ANGIE. Frightening. (p. 87)

Page 17: “Oh God, why are we so miserable?”

Further Questions?

Mr. Ken Mizusawa

Teaching FellowEnglish Language & Literature National Institute of EducationNanyang Technological University

Email: [email protected]