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Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls

Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls. Big Questions What does a sister “owe” her sister? What are the duties/responsibilities of sisterhood? What is women’s history? Is it men’s history + women characters? How do women gain a sense of other women’s accomplishments over time?

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Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls

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  1. Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls Big Questions • What does a sister “owe” her sister? What are the duties/responsibilities of sisterhood? • What is women’s history? Is it men’s history + women characters? How do women gain a sense of other women’s accomplishments over time? • How do women move up the social class ladder and improve their position in the world: marriage? Job? Avoiding motherhood?

  2. Top Girls: Who’s who at dinner • Marlene: whose promotion they’re celebrating • Pope Joan: who’s lived as a man • Lady Nijo: who’s concerned with clothes and shows of wealth • Patient Griselda: whose husband tested her • Dull Gret: who made war on Hell • Isabella Bird: who traveled away from the sister she loved and felt guilty about it • Waitress: who says nothing

  3. Top Girls: Who’s who in London • Marlene: runs an employment agency • Joyce: Marlene’s sister • Angie: Joyce’s daughter and Marlene’s niece • Kit: Angie’s young friend • Howard: Marlene beats him out for the promotion; never on stage • Mrs. Kidd: Howard’s wife • Win & Nell: work for Marlene in agency • Louise, Jeanine & Shona: clients at agency

  4. England, 1982: Economy The play is set during an economic recession. Jobs are hard to come by, and working class families are hurting. The rhetoric is still that anyone with ambition can get ahead, but reality is more like Joyce’s life: her husband leaves her for a 22 year old and she’s working four part-time jobs to feed her child. Margaret Thatcher, a conservative, is Britain’s first woman prime minister, and out of touch with most working class people.

  5. Marlene economic success series of casual sex partners travel two abortions loneliness abandons family of origin Joyce stays home with child marriage raises Angie tries to support family of origin Marlene and Joyce:opposite choices

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