Female Identity In Caryl Churahill’s Top Girls

Labeled as one of the most important female playwrights on the modern British stage, Caryl Churchill has made considerable contribution to the theatrical performance and appealed to international audiences. The study has focused on her masterpiece of 1982, Top Girls, in which the main characters are all women. Previous researches have thrown light on the unique theatrical techniques, while in China, only a small number of critics have concentrated on Churchill’s feminist ideas. Based on the text, the study explores the female identity in Top Girls, in an attempt to uncover the obstacles and stimuli to the construction of female identity. The thesis examines Churchill’s criticism on traditional female images, and reveals women’s resentment evoked by the male sovereignty. Churchill shows the impediments to the construction of female selfhood could be seen in the patriarchal relationship between spouses and within families. Judith Butler has raised a question in her book Gender Trouble:what configuration of power constructs the woman? The thesis illustrates the powers of economy, education and language are crucial in the construction of female identity in Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls.