Research Article

A Socialist Feminist Reading of Thatcherite Women in British Feminist Plays

Number: 42 December 25, 2019
  • Berna Ülker *
TR EN

A Socialist Feminist Reading of Thatcherite Women in British Feminist Plays

Abstract

This study focuses on the representation of women in British feminist drama that challenges gender roles and gets stuck in having obsessive power as an outcome of the policy of the first British woman Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The study discusses excessively ambitious women who question patriarchal order and subvert gender roles to get power and finally left alone on the top like Thatcher. Marlene in Caryl Churchill’s play Top Girls, Marion in Churchill’s play Owners, Mary Traverse in Timberlake Wertenbaker’s play The Grace of Mary Traverse are discussed throughly. Marlene, Marion, and Mary are the representatives of the destructive effects of the ambition for power that characterize Thatcher’s Britain. Socialist/materialist feminism is applied to the plays both to criticize selfish Thatcherite powerful women figures and to express the lack of collaboration among women to improve their position.

Keywords

References

  1. Betsko, K., & Koenig, R. (1987). Interviews with contemporary women playwrights. New York, NY: Beech Tree Books.
  2. Bimberg, C. (1997/98). Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls and Timberlake Wertenbaker’s Our Country’s Good as contributions to a definition of culture. Connotations, 7(3), 399-416.
  3. Brewer, M. (1999). Race, sex, and gender in contemporary women’s theater: the construction of woman. Brighton: Sussex Academic Press.
  4. Case, S.E. (1988). Feminism and theatre. New York: Routledge.
  5. Churchill, C. (1985). Plays:1. London: Bloomsbury Methuen.
  6. Churchill, C. (1996). Plays: 2 Softcops, Top Girls, Fen, Serious Money. London: Bloomsburry Methuen Drama.
  7. Dahl, M. K. (1993). Constructing the subject: Timberlake Wertenbaker’s The Grace of Mary Traverse. Journal of Dramatic Theory and Criticism. Spring, 149-159.
  8. Foster, V. (1998/99). The uses of history in contemporary feminist drama: a response to Christiane Bimberg. Connotations. 8(2), 249-57.

Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

Creative Arts and Writing

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Berna Ülker * This is me
Türkiye

Publication Date

December 25, 2019

Submission Date

April 16, 2019

Acceptance Date

September 9, 2019

Published in Issue

Year 2019 Number: 42

APA
Ülker, B. (2019). A Socialist Feminist Reading of Thatcherite Women in British Feminist Plays. Selçuk Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, 42, 21-34. https://doi.org/10.21497/sefad.674996
AMA
1.Ülker B. A Socialist Feminist Reading of Thatcherite Women in British Feminist Plays. SEFAD. 2019;(42):21-34. doi:10.21497/sefad.674996
Chicago
Ülker, Berna. 2019. “A Socialist Feminist Reading of Thatcherite Women in British Feminist Plays”. Selçuk Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, nos. 42: 21-34. https://doi.org/10.21497/sefad.674996.
EndNote
Ülker B (December 1, 2019) A Socialist Feminist Reading of Thatcherite Women in British Feminist Plays. Selçuk Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi 42 21–34.
IEEE
[1]B. Ülker, “A Socialist Feminist Reading of Thatcherite Women in British Feminist Plays”, SEFAD, no. 42, pp. 21–34, Dec. 2019, doi: 10.21497/sefad.674996.
ISNAD
Ülker, Berna. “A Socialist Feminist Reading of Thatcherite Women in British Feminist Plays”. Selçuk Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi. 42 (December 1, 2019): 21-34. https://doi.org/10.21497/sefad.674996.
JAMA
1.Ülker B. A Socialist Feminist Reading of Thatcherite Women in British Feminist Plays. SEFAD. 2019;:21–34.
MLA
Ülker, Berna. “A Socialist Feminist Reading of Thatcherite Women in British Feminist Plays”. Selçuk Üniversitesi Edebiyat Fakültesi Dergisi, no. 42, Dec. 2019, pp. 21-34, doi:10.21497/sefad.674996.
Vancouver
1.Berna Ülker. A Socialist Feminist Reading of Thatcherite Women in British Feminist Plays. SEFAD. 2019 Dec. 1;(42):21-34. doi:10.21497/sefad.674996

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