Étude de la pièce de Caryl Churchill (document en anglais)

Caryl Churchill's play sets in the 1980's. As we know, in the 1980's the role of women was completely different from today. Nowadays most of women have a job and women are often leading on men while before only a few of them had a high job and role in society and it was unacceptable. The one who reached that top (as Margaret Thatcher) had to fight and sacrifice for it. Women often showed submission to men. In Churchill's play we have examples of women, called 'top girls', who reached that top and I will study to what extent these characters are 'top girls'.

First of all, a 'top girl' is a women who has been successful in different areas : in her family role, in her career and in her emancipation, but success doesn't make a woman a 'top girl' if she's not happy. Indeed the happiness and the satisfaction are essential. But this isn't possible without regrets and sacrifices. Indeed, as we'll see, to reach their goal, they've all sacrificed something or somebody and they're not happy at all.

In Cary Churchill's play, we have three distinct kind of girls/women. We have the old one who are dead but tell their story trough Marlene's mind at the dinner. We have the 1980's women, working in the 'top girls agency' who we discover through their work. We have Angie and Kit the future 'top girls' who are still children and may be 'top girls' in the future.

I will start by studying the old characters. Isabella Bird was an adventurous, an explorer. She succeed in her emancipation and she's proud of it : ''I didn't get married til I was fifty'' P.3. She didn't want to conform to the social ideas of her time : the marriage and the mother role. She fulfilled her desire of adventure and freedom but she seems to be regretting not having a family life. She didn't take care of her sister and she had problems with her husband which was in jail. This shows that she failed in her family role.

Pope Joan also succeed in her emancipation. She wanted to learn but in the unequal 1980's system, she needed to be a man for that. It's why she denied her sexuality to reach her goal :''Exactly and I shouldn't have been a woman.'' P.15. She even seems to regret to be a woman ! She had children but she lost them. She first lost her femininity : ''I dressed like a boy when I left home''. Then she lost both her family and her career as a pope because people discovered she was a women.

Lady Nijo can be regarded as successful in her emancipation and her career because she was the courtesan of an emperor, she was incredibly rich and powerful, but she decided to take a stand against male and she hit the emperor. She lost her notoriety. She lost everything even her children, and she seems to regret having no family life. As well as Pope Joan, she started with a lot, she had everything she ever wanted, power, money but then she ended with nothing even not a family.

Dull Great is a different protagonist, she wasn't looking for power or recognition. She had a family, 10 children exactly, but unfortunately her whole family has been killed by men (spanish soldiers) and she fight against male to take a revenge. Her family seems to be the most important thing in her life but she lost it so we can also say that she also ended with nothing.

Patient Griselda is totally different from characters like Pope Joan or Isabella Bird. I think it's the reason why she arrived late, because Caryl Churchill first wanted to introduce us a kind of character who wanted a career and took a stand against the system controlled by men and then the author introduced Griselda, the perfect wife and mother. She failed in her career and emancipation but she succeed in her family role. She showed total submission to her husband but she was happy. And that is surprising because, Great, Nijo, Isabella and Joan all died unhappy and regretting a lot of things while Griselda seems happy with her life. She's the only one who fits correctly in her society and that gives the idea that at that time women’s success was impossible to attain and even the most seemingly high status female characters were miserable.

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