Feminist Mothers and Daughters in Top Girls and Yerma

Year 2023, Volume: 1 Issue: 1, 52 - 68, 30.03.2023

Florentina Gümüş

Abstract

Through feminist theories of motherhood, this essay discusses the mother-daughter relationship, a dominant feature of two British plays, Top Girls (1982/1991) by Caryl Churchill and Yerma (2017) by Simon Stone, the latter being an adaptation of Federico Garcia Lorca’s (1934/1968) play with the same title. The mothers on which this essay focuses present certain characteristics and express certain views that lead the readers/audience to identify them as feminists, though they do not declare themselves as such. What this essay argues is that the portrayal of these mothers, and particularly through the attitude of people around them, reproduces the traditional incompatibility between female empowerment and motherhood, between having a successful career and being a mother. The mother in the contemporary play Yerma can be regarded as belonging to the same generation with Marlene, the protagonist from Top Girls whose problematic relationship with her daughter is mirrored in Helen’s experience of motherhood, few decades later. Both mothers are empowered women, yet their empowerment does not come though motherhood and moreover, they do not pass it on to their daughters.

Keywords

feminism, motherhood, British theatre, mother-daughter relationship

Top Girls ve Yerma Adlı Oyunlarda Feminist Anneler ve Kızlar

Abstract

Bu çalışma, Caryl Churchill'in Top Girls (1982/1991) ve Simon Stone'un Yerma (2017) adlı oyunlarını feminist annelik kuramları aracılığıyla ele almaktadır. Bu iki oyunun baskın özelliği anne-kız ilişkisini işlemesidir. Yerma adlı oyun Federico Garcia Lorca’nın (1934/1968) aynı adlı oyunundan uyarlanmıştır. Çalışmada incelenen anneler, açıkça feminist olduklarını ifade etmeseler de okurların/izleyicilerin onları feminist olarak tanımlamalarına sebep olabilecek birtakım özellikler arz etmektedir. Annelerin ve özellikle de çevrelerindeki kişilerin tasvirinden hareketle bu makale, güçlü kadın ve başarılı bir kariyer ile annelik arasındaki geleneksel uyuşmazlığın yeniden üretildiğini iddia etmektedir. Çağdaş bir oyun olan Yerma’daki anne Helen, Top Girls'ün kahramanı Marlene ile aynı kuşağa ait olarak kabul edilebilir. Marlene’in kızıyla sorunlu ilişkisi, birkaç on yıl sonra Helen’in annelik deneyimine yansımıştır. Her iki anne de güçlü kadındır fakat güçlerinin kaynağı annelikleri değildir ve bu güç, kızlarına intikal etmez.

Keywords

feminism, motherhood, British theatre, mother-daughter relationship

References

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