US Support for the State of Israel Essay - 1421 Words

**It is perfectly acceptable to criticize Israel’s policies. Israelis do it all the time in blistering debates, but criticism turns into classic anti-Semitism, according to Stand with Us and Christians United for Israel in the magazine Israel 101, when it exhibits the Three Ds of anti-Semitism Delegitimization, Double Standards, and Demonization. â€Å"Delegitimization: The Jewish State has no right to exist. Israelis do not belong in the Middle East. Double Standards: Israel is condemned harshly for self-defense measures and social problems that are seen as acceptable or inevitable in other nations. Demonization: Through distortions and lies, Israel is depicted as the world’s most evil and dangerous country, and the claim is made that if the†¦show more content†¦The final verdict of the movement was that Israel was no longer â€Å"repudiated† by God, rather, they were still blessed by and special to God. This new view of Israel caused for the church t o join together and form a political lobbying group representing the fundamental values of Christians called the Moral Majority in the late 1970’s explains Daniel Friedman in Christian Zionism and its Impact on Foreign Policy. One belief that became a core issue for the Moral Majority was the State of Israel. Even though the Moral Majority had to close down, they were the pioneers to the creating of Christian Zionist groups today with the same core ideology. Currently, there are multiple organizations that Support the State of Israel. Most are Christian organizations or have biblical roots. First there Christians United For Israel commonly referred to as CUFI. The purpose of CUFI is to â€Å"provide a national association through which every pro-Israel church, organization, ministry or individual in America can speak and act with one voice in support of Israel in matters related to Biblical issues† (CUFI). Then there is AIPAC, American Israeli Public Affairs Committee. The mission of AIPAC is to â€Å"strengthen, protect and promote the U.S.-Israel relationship in ways that enhance the security of Israel and the United States† (AIPAC). Stand With Us’ mission is â€Å"support Israel around the world† (Standwithus.com). The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews’ mission is to â€Å"promoteShow MoreRelatedSuper Power Involvement in the Middle East1401 Words   |  6 PagesThe superpowers, namel y the USSR and US were in engaged in a war by proxy, which is very easy to identify if you analyze the conflicts in the Middle East from 1948 until, and including, the Yom Kippur War of 1978. The superpowers would employ tactics such as supplying their various ‘allies’ in the Middle East with weapons and finances which would afford them the ability to engage in the many conflicts that took place in that period such as the Suez Crisis, Six Day War and the Yom Kippur War. 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Social And Justice Issues Involving The Jewish Community

â€Å"Shir Tikvah is a Kehillah kedosha (holy community) joyfully revealing the intersections of Talmud Torah (lifelong Torah study), t filah (prayer), tzedakah (justice), and hachnasat orchim (radical hospitality)†. Shir Tikvah meaning â€Å"Song of Hope† is a Reform Jewish Temple located on Minnehaha Parkway in Minneapolis. The congregation was established in 1988 when Stacy Offner, first woman Rabbi in MN, resigned from Mount Zion Temple after a disagreement over her homosexuality. Offner and six of her supporters joined together as they shared a mutual vision of starting a synagogue with more of a liberal approach to Judaism. They desired to have a synagogue that was welcoming and personal: encouraging people with varying Jewish lifestyles to be active in the study of the Torah, as well social and justice issues involving the Jewish community. About a month later, the small group held an informal meeting to discuss their ambitions with people who they thought would be interested. More than 200 people attended this meeting. The first Shabbat service, led by Rabbi Offner, was held in May of 1988 at the St. Paul Jewish Community Center. Shir Tikvah’s members agreed that all decisions would be made democratically. Early in 1990 they decided to join the Reform movement. The congregation also came up with a policy that there will be no discrimination basis of race, gender, age, or sexual orientation. Shir Tikvah was the first synagogue in the MN to perform same-sex weddingShow MoreRelatedSocial And Justice Issues Involving The Jewish Community1008 Words   |  5 Pages â€Å"Shir Tikvah is a kehillah kedosha (holy community) joyfully revealing the intersections of Talmud torah (lifelong Torah study), t filah (prayer), tzedakah (justice), and hachnasat orchim (radical hospitality)†. Shir Tikvah meaning â€Å"Song of Hope† is a Reform Jewish Temple located on Minnehaha Parkway in Minneapolis. The congregation was established in 1988 when Stacy Offner, first woman Rabbi in MN, resigned from Mount Zion Temple after a disagreement over her homosexuality. Her and a six supportersRead MoreEssay on Social Phenomenon1288 Words   |  6 Pages Social phenomena nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The occurrences of modern Black social phenomena’s reflect Black people’s history in America; they are byproducts of a social system that has neglected their equality, liberty, justice, and needs. Most Black social phenomena are ironically misunderstood by the very system that help creates them. Along with being misunderstood, Black social phenomena’s are also blamed for many of society’s ills. 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Healthcare Management and Leadership Permissive Leadership and Manage

Question: Discuss about theHealthcare Management and Leadership for Permissive Leadership and Management Style. Answer: Introduction Leadership is considered as the judgement of the behaviour while driving the activities to accomplish the similar goals. The leadership roles signify the involvement of the group activities that influence other individuals in keeping pace with the repetitive change. In health care setting, the leadership style is needed to be more efficient and decisive (Grol et al., 2013). However, it is noted that most of information in leadership aspect is based on the organisational context. There are very less information sourced for health care contexts. However, leadership in a health care setting is implying the improvements of the patient care system in health care scenario. This study will discuss the Permissive leadership and management style in the health care centres. The theoretical analysis of the leadership style and the health care environment will provide the enriched idea about the subject matter in this study. Discussion The National Health Service (NHS) has provided a responsive and dynamic health care system in order to cope with the diversified and repetitive organisational change. In order to accomplish such determined initiatives, NHS needs to keep the focus on the proper clinicians and effective management styles (Barr Dowding 2015). The effective leadership skill is the proper component for all level of health care provisions. In the previous time, the paternalistic management style was followed by the health care associates. However, in this current time, the repeated changes and the emergence of innovative techniques have changed the entire organisational scenario. It is important to explore the underlying concepts of the leadership management in the heath care setting. Burgess and Radnor (2013) defined that a good leader is characterised as the person who is capable of exploring the personal and team motives for accomplishing the perceived organisational goals. A skilful leadership style i s focusing on the ability to critically evaluate the process and outcome of the teams efforts for achieving the determined goals. The constant fine tuning of the self and individual needs is encouraged by the efficient leadership style. On the other hand, the effective management style is also much necessary. The organisational functionalities are needed to be maintained in a sequential way. It is needless to say that the efficient leaders can structure such functionalities that are helpful enough in organising the relevant management process (Reeves et al., 2013). Moreover, the associated workforce is receiving the proper motivation if there is the presence of skilful leadership and management style. The leadership style is classified in different divisions that are representing the diversified characteristics of the associated leaders. In the previous time, the health care scenario was mostly driven by the paternalistic concept that signifies the application of the autocratic leadership style. In this leadership styles, the leaders take the autocratic decisions which were needed to be followed by the other health care associates. However, it is also noticed that many of the associates could not cope with such one- sided decision making process that hampers their morality. However, the emergence of the innovativeness in the different organisational scenario, it is noted that the management of health care centres have been looking forward to adopt several beneficial changes. It was noticed that the permissive style is gathering the other associates before taking any organisational decision (Huber, 2013). The participative leadership style is encouraging the other associates to bring innovative ideas that help in improving the internal management scenario in a significant way. Moreover, it is needless to mention that the participative leaders can motivate the employees more specifically to bring the effective performance attributes (Hillage et al., 2015). The associates even feel that their sharing values are fruitful for the organisation. However, it is also important to note that the leaders have to take the proper responsibilities to motivate the employees and structuring the organisational functionalities with the proper implication of the leadership and management styles. It is to be indicated that the major roles and responsibilities of the managers and leaders signify the supportive and cooperative attitudes within the internal scenario. The maintenance of the cooperative values while working together in the heath care centre is important to enhance the quality of the patient care. Wong Laschinger (2013) implied that management is generally symbolised as the comprised of social and technical functionalities structured for accomplishing the organisational goals. Especially, in a health care centre, the service-users become much reliable to the personnel for quality treatment. Hence, the managers and the leaders associated in the health care setting need to keep the focus on the quality improvement factors in the internal scenario (Cummings Worley, 2014). The efficient contribution of the employees performance would be much helpful for achieving such purposes. There are some of the set of responsibilities that the managers and the leaders have to ma intain during the improvisation of the internal organisational scenario. In the health care scenario, the major responsibility of the leaders is to promote the quality and safety of care that is depended on many factors. A proper cultural atmosphere is essential to improve safety and quality (Fitzgerald Dufour, 2013). The leaders in the health care sector have to take the responsibility to initiate the planning process by using proper tangible and intangible resources. The leaders control the internal functionalities to improve the performance attributes of the associated workforce. There are three types of the functionalities that the leaders need to concentrate, Firstly, the informational process, which determines the performance monitoring factors. The leaders need to communicate with the health care staffs and gather the relevant information to organise the necessary functionalities. On the other hand, the transmission of the information to the external environment is another major responsibility of the leaders in this process. The next major responsibility of the healthcare leaders is the maintenance of interpersonal factors. The leaders need to pay the attention on the legal duties and social requirements. In such cases, the leaders act as the representatives of the health care scenario. A leader is the emblem of the influencing character that inspires the associated employees by directing, motivating and providing proper training to the subordinates along with creating the liaison between them. Another focus of the health care leaders is concentrating on the decisional process. This process includes the entrepreneurship that helps in identifying the innovative ideas to improve the service quality (Mitchell et al., 2012). In such process, the leaders pay the attention towards the conflict management process as well. Whenever the leaders find any problem or disputes in the organisational practices, it is their responsibility to resolve those conflicts as soon as possible. The proactive actions taken by the leaders against such conflicting scenario improve the quality of the services provided by the health care centres. The resource allocation is another major responsibility that the leaders need to concentrate on while organising the organisational functionalities (West et al. 2014). In such regards, it can be mentioned that the participative leadership style is much fruitful. It helps in gathering the ideas of the associated workforce and with the help of their association the organisation can improve the quality parameter of the provided services. The leaders need to keep their focus on the guiding principles that are fruitful enough in improving the healthcare scenario more specifically. The leaders are considered as the driving forces for improving the patient care services and internal organisational scenario in the health care setting. First, the principle of accountability is needed to be maintained by the leaders in a significant way. In this principle, the leaders need to establish the information governance structure, which helps in development and implementation of the necessary programmes. The leaders need to suitable designated person to execute such planning. It is even important to document the policies applied by the government. The re-identification of the underlying issues is also much necessary accordingly. The leaders need to maintain the principles of transparency, which signifies the re-structuring of the organisational activities and processes in relation with the information governance. In maintaining suc h principles, the leaders need to document the principles and processes for governing the programmes (Laschinger et al., 2014). It is necessary to record the activities accurately for implementing the functionalities in a significant manner. The leaders need to maintain the communicational transparency in order to make the associates aware of the changed scenario. It is important to mention that when the associates can communicate regarding their concerns, it enhances the sense of reliability and keeps them motivated towards fulfilling the organisational goals. Another major principle that the leaders need to adopt is the principle of integrity, which depicts the construction of the governance programme that enhances authenticity and reliability. In maintaining such principles, the leaders need to consider the adherence to the organisational procedures and policies. The information that will be divided among the associated members is needed to be much reliable. Principle of protection determines the security assurance received from the leaders. The leaders need to keep the focus on the possibilities of information or privacy breaching aspects. Paying attention towards such principles improves the internal scenario as a whole, which helps in creating significant impact on the external environment. Hence, the guiding principles are necessary for each of leaders associated in the health care centres. The health care centres pay much attention towards the development of the deserved members as the leaders. The focus of developing the leaders is structured in a sequential process. First, the health care centres keep the focus on the development of talents. The identification of the integrating traditional activities is effective enough in ensuring the talent management required for establishing the proper leadership programme (Cummings Worley, 2014). Second, the healthcare centre needs to maintain the transparency in sharing important information with the associated leaders. Once the leaders are aware of the proper governance based information, it becomes easier for them to drive the functionalities more specifically. Third, the health care centre monitors the performance parameter of the leaders to initiate the changes within the internal scenario. The recognition of the performance helps the leaders in improving the organisational scenario and initiating the fruitful plans for f urther improvements. Fourth, the health care centres concentrate on engaging the associated leaders for the continual improvement. The leaders have to be much efficient in communicating with the higher authority and the associated members. The leaders need to communicate with the higher authority to ensure the relevant government rules and regulations applied on the health care centres. After deriving the enriched knowledge about the applied rules and regulations, the leaders have the major responsibility to make the associated members aware of these principles. The establishment of the communication transparency is necessary. When the employees can raise their concern, it helps the leaders in understanding the requirement of the organisation. Accordingly, planning, controlling, and executing the process for improving the quality of the services provided to the patients. Managing the entire organisational welfare is one of the major focuses of the efficient leaders. Moreover, the leaders influence the associated members to accomplish the determined goals that serve the purpose of improving the entire organisatio nal scenario. Hence, it can be inferred that the presence of good leadership style and the contribution of the health care management can improve the entire healthcare service. Conclusion The study is focusing on the leadership attributes maintained in the health care centre. It is noted that the leadership approaches in the heath care centres contain much lesser information. However, after paying attention to the entire management functionalities that promote the efficient leadership programme, it can be stated that the permissive leadership style will be beneficial for the health care organisation. In this leadership style, the associated members can participate in the decision making process my providing the insightful and innovative ideas about the improvement. The leaders even need to maintain the proper roles and responsibilities to initiate the idea and making the members aware of the imposed rules and regulations on health care centres. However, the proper guiding principles are also needed to be maintained by the leaders. The contribution of the health care centre is also necessary to make the leaders more efficient. References Barr, J., Dowding, L. (2015).Leadership in health care. Sage. Burgess, N. and Radnor, Z., 2013. Evaluating Lean in healthcare.International journal of health care quality assurance,26(3), pp.220-235. Cummings, T. G., Worley, C. G. (2014).Organization development and change. Cengage learning. Fitzgerald, L., Dufour, Y. (2013). Clinical management as boundary management.Journal of Management in Medicine. Grol, R., Wensing, M., Eccles, M., Davis, D. (Eds.). (2013).Improving patient care: the implementation of change in health care. John Wiley Sons. Hillage, J., Holmes, J., Rickard, C., Marvell, R., Taskila, T., Bajorek, Z., ... Brine, J. (2015). Workplace policy and management practices to improve the health of employees Evidence Review 3. Huber, D. (2013).Leadership and nursing care management. Elsevier Health Sciences. Laschinger, H. K. S., Wong, C. A., Cummings, G. G., Grau, A. L. (2014). Resonant leadership and workplace empowerment: The value of positive organizational cultures in reducing workplace incivility.Nursing economics,32(1), 5. Mitchell, P., Wynia, M., Golden, R., McNellis, B., Okun, S., Webb, C. E., ... Von Kohorn, I. (2012). Core principles values of effective team-based health care.Washington, DC: Institute of Medicine. Reeves, S., Perrier, L., Goldman, J., Freeth, D., Zwarenstein, M. (2013). Interprofessional education: effects on professional practice and healthcare outcomes (update).Cochrane Database Syst Rev,3(3). West, M., Eckert, R., Steward, K., Pasmore, B. (2014). Developing collective leadership for health care.London: The Kings Fund. Wong, C. A., Laschinger, H. K. (2013). Authentic leadership, performance, and job satisfaction: the mediating role of empowerment.Journal of advanced nursing,69(4), 947-959.

Irony in Short Stories Essay Example

Irony in Short Stories Essay The uses of irony can easily captivate or excite us. Many times in order to understand the morals or theme of a story you need to be able to recognise the irony. In the short stories, â€Å"Lamb to the Slaughter† by Roald Dahl, â€Å"The Gift of the Magi† by O Henry and â€Å"The Suit† by Can Themba various forms of irony are present. These forms of irony include: verbal, situational and dramatic irony. The first story â€Å"Lamb to the Slaughter† is about Mary Meloney, a devoted caring wife that ends up killing her much loved husband after he tells her something drastically upsetting one evening.The murder weapon is the frozen leg of lamb she was planning to prepare for dinner. She sneakily covers up her actions so not to get caught. Dramatic Irony Plays its role when Mary went to the store after killing her husband. She acted as if nothing happened and gave the grocery clerk the idea that everything was fine. This is ironic because the clerk thinks Mr Me loney is at home waiting for his dinner, but we know he is dead. Another example is when the policemen are eating the leg of lamb and one refers to the murder weapon as probably right under their very noses.This is ironic because it is in fact right under their noses. â€Å"Lamb to the Slaughter† usually refers to an innocent, naive person led to danger. In this story, a leg of lamb is literally used to slaughter Mr Meloney and deducting from Marys reaction after he spoke to her, he was not innocent. This is situational irony. Verbal irony occurs when Mary learns that Patrick is leaving her. He ends up having the lamb Mary offered, but certainly not in the way she first intended. The Suit is about a highly affectionate husband,Philemon, that learns his dearest wife, Matilda is unfaithful.He walks into the scene of crime causing the â€Å"other man† to run away, leaving his suit behind. As her punishment she has to treat the suit like a third member in the family. Verba l irony is present in Philemons tone and choice of words when he finds his wife commiting adultery. He sarcastically speaks to her cheerfully as if she had done nothing wrong. He does not display any anger as one would expect. He loves his wife so dearly, but treats her cruelly towards the end. He is hostile towards her, yet wants him in his life.His aim is to embarrass her, but he doesnt want the world to know why. This is an example of situational irony. In the beginning of the story Matilda is loving and caring towards him while ironically cheating on him. The story ends with Matilda dying of a broken heart and throughout the tale she was embarrassed by Philemon, when in actual fact he is the one thats heart got broken and was humiliated. The gift of the magi is about Delia and Jim Young a young married couple with very little money.Delia sells her much loved hair in order to to by Jim a Christmas gift and Jim does the same by selling his most precious possession, his gold watch. Delia buys Jim a platinum watch chain and Jim buys Delia a set of combs for her hair. They cannot use each others gifts. The ultimate irony portrayed in the story is the situational irony that occurs at the end of the tale. We realise that because Jim and Delia both sold what they love most in order to buy each other a gift, they now cannot use their gifts.In the end the greatest gift given is the knowledge that they were both willing to make this sacrifice on behalf of each others happiness. Thus Jim and Delia , although apparently â€Å"foolish† in the eyes of the world, ironically come closest to the original spirit of present giving. In conclusion it is evident that irony plays a significant role in the mentioned short stories. The uses of irony can easily captivate or excite us. Many times in order to understand the morals or theme of a story you need to be able to recognise the irony.In the short stories, â€Å"Lamb to the Slaughter† by Roald Dahl, â€Å"The Gi ft of the Magi† by O Henry and â€Å"The Suit† by Can Themba various forms of irony are present. These forms of irony include: verbal, situational and dramatic irony. | The first story â€Å"Lamb to the Slaughter† is about Mary Meloney, a devoted caring wife that ends up killing her much loved husband after he tells her something drastically upsetting one evening. The murder weapon is the frozen leg of lamb she was planning to prepare for dinner. She sneakily covers up her actions so not to get caught. Dramatic Irony Plays its role when Mary went to the store after killing her husband. She acted as if nothing happened and gave the grocery clerk the idea that everything was fine.This is ironic because the clerk thinks Mr Meloney is at home waiting for his dinner, but we know he is dead. | Another example is when the policemen are eating the leg of lamb and one refers to the murder weapon as probably right under their very noses. This is ironic because it is in fac t right under their noses. | â€Å"Lamb to the Slaughter† usually refers to an innocent, naive person led to danger. In this story, a leg of lamb is iterally used to slaughter Mr Meloney and deducting from Marys reaction after he spoke to her, he was not innocent. This is situational irony. | Verbal irony occurs when Mary learns that Patrick is leaving her. He ends up having the lamb Mary offered, but certainly not in the way she first intended. | The Suit is about a highly affectionate husband,Philemon, that learns his dearest wife, Matilda is unfaithful. He walks into the scene of crime causing the â€Å"other man† to run away, leaving his suit behind. As her punishment she has to treat the suit like a third member in the family. Verbal irony is present in Philemons tone and choice of words when he finds his wife commiting adultery. He sarcastically speaks to her cheerfully as if she had done nothing wrong. He does not display any anger as one would expect. | He love s his wife so dearly, but treats her cruelly towards the end. He is hostile towards her, yet wants him in his life.His aim is to embarrass her, but he doesnt want the world to know why. This is an example of situational irony. | In the beginning of the story Matilda is loving and caring towards him while ironically cheating on him. The story ends with Matilda dying of a broken heart and throughout the tale she was embarrassed by Philemon, this is dramatically ironic because in actual fact he is the one thats heart got broken and was humiliated. | The gift of the magi is about Delia and Jim Young a young married couple with very little money. Delia sells her much loved hair in order to to by Jim a Christmas gift and Jim does the same by selling his most precious possession, his gold watch. Delia buys Jim a platinum watch chain and Jim buys Delia a set of combs for her hair. They cannot use each others gifts. The ultimate irony portrayed in the story is the situational irony that occu rs at the end of the tale. We realise that because Jim and Delia both sold what they love most in order to buy each other a gift, they now cannot use their gifts. | In the end the greatest gift given is the knowledge that they were both willing to make this sacrifice on behalf of each others happiness. | Thus Jim and Delia , although apparently â€Å"foolish† in the eyes of the world, ironically come closest to the original spirit of present giving. | In conclusion it is evident that irony plays a significant role in the mentioned short stories. |

Its Development, Differences, and Relationship with other Psychological Fields Essay Example

Its Development, Differences, and Relationship with other Psychological Fields Essay Example Its Development, Differences, and Relationship with other Psychological Fields Paper Its Development, Differences, and Relationship with other Psychological Fields Paper Biological psychology studies the physiological basis of human behavior (Johnstone, 2003, p. 15). This evolved because of the need of the venue to further understand the behavior, no longer in the nurture aspect, but on the biological viewpoint. Henri Pieron was considered the leader of biological psychology in Europe, who had an interest in revealing mechanisms behind behavior in a more hard-core scientific way. American psychologists ignored this perspective, though there are available information of the relationship of that time animal behavior to their morphology and physiology (Archer, Hansen, and Larsson, 1991, p. 2). I was in the 19th century when the context of present societies was studied on their biological context, relating the characteristic behavior of the society as evolutionary (Shinobu and Cohen, 2007, p. 79). Thomas young, a physicist, was one of the leading scientists who contributed profoundly in the developments in psychology, specifically on the biological scene (Weiner, Freedheim, and Schinka, 2003, p. 51). The hormones, the genetic materials, the brain, and the central nervous system’s influences are given emphasis. Controversial questions are being raised towards the depth that biological psychology can penetrate. These questions depict psychology in many ways, and also act as a way of understanding what biological psychology is. For example is the suicidal tendency of a person, if it can be traced in the genes this kind of behavior. Biological psychology answers also the percentage of our behavior that we inherited from our parents. More importantly, if there is a connection of our mental state to the physical illnesses that we might experience. The nature vs. nurture and the endless debate on it is still up to now divides the view of psychologists, and basically, biological psychology resides with nature (Johnstone, 2003, p. 15). One of the focuses of biological psychology is the study of developments in medications that are successful in treating depression, anxiety, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorders. It has connected the mind and the body which is a crucial step in understanding, measuring, and conquering stress. With the help of biological psychologists, physiological components of illnesses were uncovered. Because of this, establishment of interrelatedness of the illness of the mind and illness of the body was made possible (Johnstone, 2003, p. 15). Theorists like Wolfgang Kohler, a German psychologist, supplied the missing link in understanding the evolutionary aspect of biological psychology, as pioneered by Charles Darwin. He supplemented the organic behavior of humans, and the evolutionary relationships in human development and behavior. On the other hand, in the time of Avicenna who lived in 980-1037 A.D., dated was the first study of biological psychology. According to the Canon Law of Medicine, physiological psychology was recognized in the treatment of emotional sickness, and developed an association with the inner feelings and the pulse rate. Avicenna had the concept of black bile that emanated from the brain causing melancholy or a sad feeling (Stein, Kupfer, and Schatzberg, 2005, p. 6).

Bone loss conditions, prevention and treatment essays

Bone loss conditions, prevention and treatment essays This essay will address several types of bone loss diseases and the pros and cons of treatment or prevention techniques. I will first explore what the characteristics of healthy bone are and what the loss of bone mass and density can mean to a person's health and well being. My sources will be from the internet, magazines, medical journals, several books, and the1998 Grolier Multimedia Encyclopedia. I have a personal interest in this subject because my paternal Grandmother and Grandfather suffered before they died with some of the debilitating symptoms of bone loss and weakening. This included spinal fractures and posture slumping. Some of the prevention methods I will mention are exercise, diet, and drugs. I will talk about the use of estrogen replacement therapy and vitamins in the prevention of osteoporosis and their possible benefits and side effects. I will discuss the difference between osteoporosis and osteoarthritis as well as touch on some conditions in which the pain can b e mistaken for them. My experience with a friend who has been crippled with arthritis since she was a child will open some topics for discussion. She has suffered several severe broken bone situations as a direct or indirect result of her disease and or treatments. An interview with her will be an informative and interesting addition to my sources on this subject. What is bone and why is healthy bone essential to your health? Bone is a type of skeletal tissue and contains living cells embedded in a hard matrix. This matrix consists mostly of calcium phosphate and other calcium minerals held together by collagen and other organic substances. Bone tissue renews itself throughout life, constantly tearing down and rebuilding its mineralized framework. The balance between bone resorption and formation is regulated by the immune system and by hormones. The single most important function of bones is to support softer body tissues. The action of voluntary muscle...

Comparison My Uncle Thomas and Theseus Research Paper - 1

Comparison My Uncle Thomas and Theseus - Research Paper Example My uncle Thomas is my real life hero. He is my mothers’ cousin and when he was young, there were several problems, he had to overcome. His father had to work far from his family in another country. Being the first son of the family, uncle Thomas, had to protect his family when the father was away. Later after his father came back and got a good position, Thomas has got great opportunities, he studied in the University and finally occupied a very good position in the local bank. Now he is the head of the office, moreover, he has his own business. Uncle Thomas has a good family, he a loving father and husband, at the same time he is a good specialist and has many friends. The paper talks about two bright personalities giving a comparative analysis between the two, in character attributes (â€Å"Greek Myths & Greek Mythology† Web). When Theseus gives out himself to go out and be sacrificed to the Minotaur monster, meets the daughter of the powerful leader who had threatened to destroy Athens if no young men are sacrificed to Minotaur. The paper talks about two sons of influential societal leaders giving a comparative analysis between the two, in character traits. Uncle Thomas, the real-life hero, overcame a monster of poverty and many difficulties he faced in his childhood when his father had to leave the family for a while. He made many friends among the enemies and acquired so much love and respect from them. Theseus also overcame the greatest threat- Minotaur that was unsettling his father’s peaceful rule. His father would forever be on the threat if this beast did not get killed.

Summary of the narrative life of frederick douglass, An american slave Essay

Summary of the narrative life of frederick douglass, An american slave - Essay Example His mother died without him knowing her well. At the age of seven, his mother's body was found dead in one of Frederick master's farm, near Lee's Mill. Having no slight intimation with his mother, he accepted her death like an ordinary death of a stranger, with no spark of pain in his heart. His first master was Captain Anthony. People by his time say that his master is his father by which he did not confirm to be a fact. Captain Anthony is a clerk and superintendent of Colonel Edward Lloyd. This man owns from three to four hundred slaves in his plantation. Every month the slaves receive their monthly allowance of food - eight pounds of pork or fish, and one bushel of corn. Aside from this, they also receive a yearly clothing of two coarse linen shirts and one pair of shoes. Just when he thought he is going to spend his entire life under the agony of slavery, suddenly hope came his way upon knowing that he was allowed by Captain Anthony to stay in Baltimore with Mr. Hugh Auld. He was between the age of seven and eight that time. By the time Frederick reached Mr. and Mrs. Auld's house, he had felt the warmest welcome he had ever experienced in his entire life. This was the first time he had ever seen the most pleasant faces of slaveholders. The city slave, unlike the slaves in the plantation, is almost a freeman. His stay to this place gave him the opportunity to learn the basics of English alphabet, through the help of Sophia Auld, his new mistress. But then, when her husband found out what she was doing, she had been forbidden to teach Frederick, for the reason that according to him, "learning would spoil the best nigger in the world." Frederick this time has to learn reading in his own perseverance, and to bring his dream into reality, he made friends with the white boys whom he encountered in the street that later on helped him succeed in learning to read. At the age of ten or eleven, he returned to his hometown, Holmes Hill Farm. This is because his master, Captain Anthony, died and all the slaves, including him have to be divided between his master's children, Mrs. Lucretia and Mr. Andrew. During this process, slaves were scrutinized before the division. No one wished to be a slave for Mr. Andrew for he is cruel and merciless like all other masters. Lucky enough, Frederick was chosen to be a slave for Mrs. Lucretia's and was sent back to Baltimore. Upon reaching the age when he could give dates, Frederick has left Baltimore to live with Master Thomas in March 1832. This time, he was sent to a guy named Mr. Covey. This guy claims to be religious, but has no heart for his slaves. He finds pleasures in whipping them all the time, and Frederick, being one of the slaves, did not escape this. He was beaten almost everyday until the time he thought it would be a benefit to take his own life. But the Ganadores 3 hope of freedom still lingers in his mind that stopped him from committing

Compare the ways in which Larkin and Abse write about love Essay Example for Free

Compare the ways in which Larkin and Abse write about love Essay Compare the ways in which Larkin and Abse write about Love, in your response you should write about at least two of Larkin’s poems Larkin’s general view on love and marriage is that both are a liability. This is seen throughout many poems including ‘Self’s the man’ where Larkin talks about a man being held back and worked to death by his wife. Abse’s views are somewhat contrary to Larkin’s. He has a much softer approach when talking about love and feels that it connects himself with his family, as seen in his poems ‘Postcard to his wife’ and ‘The Malham Bird’ where he expresses his love for his wife. Love as a theme is present in many of Larkin’s poems and ‘Self’s the man’ illustrates his stereotypical outlook on marriage and love. In the first stanza Larkin directly compares himself to his made up character of Arnold, who represents all the lower class men in a marriage. The first two lines ‘Oh, no one can deny/ That Arnold is less selfish than I’ have a humorous tone in with the use of a rhyming couplet, Larkin is patronising the reader. In the next line he writes how Arnold married a woman to ‘stop her getting away’. In comparison, the poem ‘The Malham Bird’ Abse writes of love in a different way ‘in love, you a Gentile’. His soft tone creates a slower pace to the poem which shows his love for his late wife. On the other hand Larkin doesn’t use the word love and he uses a faster matter-of-fact tone. Larkin is often viewed as sexist but here he could be seen as saying that women don’t get a chance to live their lives how they want to because men marry them ‘Now she’s there all day’. In the second stanza Larkin continues to paint women in a poor light ‘And the money he gets for wasting his life on work/ She takes as her perk’. The first line uses enjambment which makes the poem sound like a list of moans. She appears to be greedy by taking his money. Larkin displays an air of snobbery about the lower classes hard labour jobs. He describes the woman as interfering and domineering. Larkin then uses colloquial language to make fun of the lower classes and how they speak ‘To pay for the kiddies’ clobber and the drier/ and the electric fire’. He does not rate family life very highly. Larkin states that the roles have reversed in the third stanza. Arnold told his wife to marry him and she did and now she is telling him to work, to do the chores etc ‘Planning to have a read at the evening paper/ It’s Put a screw in this wall-‘. The fourth stanza uses colloquial language again and the fifth and uses a sarcastic and patronising tone. Larkin does not look upon  marriage favourably. Moving into the sixth stanza, the poet claims that Arnold, too, was just â€Å"out for his own ends† and â€Å"if it was such a mistake / He still did it for his own sake / Playing his own game.† He concludes that â€Å"he and I are the same† and both are selfish, but he is better â€Å"At knowing what I can stand / Without them sending a van†. The â€Å"van† is a mental institute’s mode of transportation, suggesting that Arnold is going mad in his situation. Much of this poem is unsympathetic towards Arnold’s situation. However at the end Larkin reveals an uncertainty. Suddenly the poet is faced with the reality of his own situation ‘But wait, not do fast/ Is there such a contrast?’ Has he realised the loneliness in his own life because he was too selfish to share. Another poem which presents love as a theme is ‘Talking in Bed’. In this poem Larkin describes a couple in a failing relationship because they are isolated and find it difficult to communicate. Themarital bed is used as a symbol for marriage; a haven for spouses to come together. The bed should be the place where a couple feel united, but in this poem, the bed makes the couples detachment from one another glaringly obvious. The word lying has an ambiguous meaning in this poem; on one hand it means that the couple in assuming a horizontal position together, and on the other hand, it appears there is some fabrication between them. Goes back so far also presents some ambiguity: first, the couple have been lying together in their bed for years which is an indication of a lengthy marriage; and second, they have been living a lie for many years. The couple are clearly unhappy with their marriage. This was a time when separation and divorce was frowned upon but couples stayed together unhappily because it was the right thing to do. There was a sense of accountability within the marriage contract and it was difficult for women in particular to walk away from their husbands. The second stanza describes the turmoil of their marriage metaphorically by using nature. The awful silence is deafening and an indication of the tense, nervous atmosphere between the two, worsening as they continue to remain silent. The out side is a reflection of the couple inside; the tension heightens between them, and is never relieved. The wind is turbulent, scattering the clouds across the sky. Builds and disperses could be a metaphor for an argument; the environment is fraught and situations cannot be resolved. Clouds have both a dark and threatening aspect, and can be difficult to see through. Metaphorically speaking, a clear sky would represent a marriage at peace, but in this case the clouds suggest a marriage at war with itself; these wars could potentially harm the marriage, so the clouds hide them, if you cant see something then it doesnt exist. Dark towns can be used to describe a number of different things: faults, disagreements, difficulties, isolation and pain. The contrast of their marriage to the tumultuous winds are a stark reminder of what their future holds. They have to try and work things out to arrive at an amicable solution. It is not understood why their marriage has failed; why at this unique distance (lying side-by-side) that they feel so isolated from each other. The husband cannot understand why communication between him and his wife have broken down. Words are not forthcoming and he is at a loss as to how the marriage appears to be irretrievable. Was he ever really in love with his wife? Did he ever feel a softness towards her? ‘It becomes mor e difficult to find/ Words at once true and kind’. He wonders if their marriage was based on a lie or was it inevitably going to fail. Dannie Abse’s approach to love is different in comparison to Larkin; Abse sees love as something to be treasured between him and his family. Where Larkin views love with a touch of cynicism, Abse’s poems demonstrate a purity and an equality. In The Malham Bird it did not matter that the couple are from different backgrounds ‘you a Gentile and I a Jew!’ Their relationship may have been unacceptable for the times but their love was all that mattered. The poem is littered with fond memories of when the couple first met ‘Dear wife, remember our first illicit/holiday, the rented room, the hidden beach’. Theirs was a romantic love. Abse’s couple are happy in contrast to the couples portrayed by Larkin in the above poems. Their shared history is full of warmth and mutual admiration. Where Larkin’s poems view love as a hindrance and something a man can do without, Abse firmly believes you need love above all else. In Postcard to his Wife, Abse’s portrayal is of a husband (himself) desperately missing his wife in her absence. He longs for them to spend the day together. He wishes she would ‘Make excuses’ so that she would be home with him. He loves her and enjoys her pre sence the opposite of Larkin’s idea of relationships. Abse feels there is a void in his life when his wife is not around and cannot bear the heartache. The contrast between Larkin and Abse’s views on love and relationships are polar opposites.

Descriptive Essay - New York City in the Morning -- Descriptive Essay,

A violin song pulls us out of sleep, dreams of trains and pineapples, like a silk rope. He notices the morning light come to the wall. In the city we left only a few days ago, we learned about waking up before dawn, not to the light, but to the stirring that moves the blood in our thighs and hands. The morning was ancient before the sun even rose. Rising early in New York City allows you to hear the birds on the street. When we emerged from the tight doorway leading out of the apartment, I saw that the color of the sidewalk and street matched the tone of the sky. A perfectly unassuming shade to provide backdrop for the yellow taxis and traffic signals. Scuff went out heels of our cowboy boots over the sparkling sidewalk. Sparkling with grit and cement. Maybe to combat the snobbery of c...

Notes for Top Girls

Top Girls by Caryl Churchill Copyright Notice  ©1998-2002;  ©2002 by Gale Cengage. Gale is a division of Cengage Learning. Gale and Gale Cengage are trademarks used herein under license. For complete copyright information on these eNotes please visit: http://www. enotes. com/top-girls/copyright eNotes: Table of Contents 1. Top Girls: Introduction 2. Summary  ¦ Act 1 Summary  ¦ Act 2 Summary 3. Caryl Churchill Biography 4. Characters 5. Themes 6. Style 7. Historical Context 8. Critical Overview 9.Essays and Criticism  ¦ The Importance of Angie in Top Girls  ¦ Feminist Drama: The Politics of the Self: Churchill and Keatley  ¦ De-realised Women: Performance and Identity in Top Girls 10. Compare and Contrast 11. Topics for Further Study 12. What Do I Read Next? 13. Bibliography and Further Reading Introduction Since its earliest productions, Caryl Churchill's Top Girls was regarded as a unique, if difficult, play about the challenges working women face in the contemporary b usiness world and society at large.Premiering on August 28, 1982, in the Royal Court Theatre in London before making its New York debut on December 28, 1982, in the Public Theatre, Top Girls won an Obie Award in 1983 and was the runner-up for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. The play is regularly performed around the world and has quickly become part of the canon of women's theater. Top Girls helped solidify Churchill's reputation as an important playwright. Critics praise Top Girls for a number of reasons.Churchill explores the price of success paid for by the central character, Marlene, while using unusual techniques including a nonlinear construction, an overlapping dialogue, and a mix of fantasy and reality. The last occurs at a dinner party celebrating Marlene's promotion, which is attended by five women from different times in history, literature, and art. The dinner party is the Top Girls 1 first scene of the play and, to many critics, the highlight of Top Girls. Churchill br ings up many tough questions over the course of the play, including what success is and if women's progress in the workplace has been a good or bad thing.While many critics compliment the play on its handling of such big ideas in such a singular fashion, some thought Top Girls was disjointed and its message muddled. As John Russell Taylor of Plays & Players wrote, â€Å"Like most of Churchill's work, it is about nothing simple and easily capsulated. † Summary Act 1 Summary Act 1, Scene 1 Top Girls opens in a restaurant where Marlene is hosting a dinner party for five friends. She has recently been promoted at work. The five guests are all women that are either long-dead or are fictional characters from literature or paintings.The first to come are Isabella Bird and Lady Nijo. Nijo and Isabella discuss their lives, including their families. Dull Gret and Pope Joan, who was elected to the papacy in the ninth century, appear. The conversation wanders between subjects, including religion and the love lives of Nijo and Isabella. Isabella goes on about her travel experiences. Joan talks about dressing and living as a male from the age of twelve so that she could further her education. Marlene proposes a toast to her guests. They, in turn, insist on toasting Marlene and her success. Joan relates her disturbing story.While she enjoyed being the pope, she also had a discreet affair with a chamberlain and became pregnant. In denial about her state, she gave birth to her child during a papal procession. Joan was stoned to death, and her child, she believes, was also killed. While Joan relates her story, Nijo talks about her four children being born, and only being able to see one of them after having given birth. Isabella talks about how she never had children. Marlene wonders why they are all so miserable. The final guest arrives. She is Patient Griselda, a character in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales.Griselda tells her story. Though she was a peasant gir l, she was asked to be the wife of a local prince, but only if she obeyed him without question. Griselda agreed, though it later meant losing the two children she bore him—they were taken from her as infants. Then Griselda was sent back to her father with nothing but a slip to wear. Her husband called her back to help him prepare for his next wedding to a girl from France. The girl was her daughter—all this was a test of her loyalty. He took Griselda back, and the family was reunited. Marlene is upset by Griselda's tale.Nijo is also perturbed because her children were never returned to her. Gret finally speaks up about her journey through hell, and how she beat the devils. The scene ends with Isabella talking about the last trip she took. Act 1, Scene 2 The scene opens in the Top Girls employment agency in London. Marlene is interviewing Jeanine for possible placement. Marlene tells Jeanine that if she is to be sent on a job with prospects, she must not tell them that she is getting married or might have children. Marlene evaluates Jeanine and suggests jobs based on her perception of Jeanine's future.Act 1, Scene 3 This scene takes place at night in Joyce's backyard in Suffolk. Joyce is Marlene's elder sister. Joyce's sixteen-year-old daughter Angie and her twelve-year-old friend Kit are playing in a shelter they built in the backyard. Joyce calls for Angie, but Angie and Kit ignore her until she goes back into the house. Angie says she wants to kill her mother. Introduction 2 Angie and Kit discuss going to the movies. Kit gets mad at Angie when she talks about dumb stuff. Angie desperately wants to leave home. Kit believes they should move to New Zealand in case of a war.Angie is indifferent because she has a big secret. She tells Kit she is going to London to see her aunt. Angie believes that Marlene is really her mother. Joyce sneaks up on them. Joyce will not let them go to the movies until Angie cleans her room. Angie leaves, and Kit informs Joyce that she wants to be a nuclear physicist. When Angie returns, she is wearing a nice dress that is a little too small for her. Joyce becomes angry because Angie has not cleaned her room. It starts to rain. Joyce and Kit go inside. Angie stays outside. When Kit returns to get her, Angie threatens to kill her mother again. Act 2 SummaryAct 2, Scene 1 It is Monday morning at Top Girls. Win and Nell, who work at the agency, are talking. Win tells Nell about her weekend that she spent at her married boyfriend's house while his wife was out of town. The conversation turns to office gossip. They consider changing jobs as Marlene has been promoted over them, limiting their prospects. Still, Nell and Win are glad Marlene got the job over another coworker, Howard. Marlene enters late. Win and Nell tell her that they are glad she got the promotion rather than Howard. Win interviews Louise, a forty-six-year-old woman who has been in the same job for twenty-one years.Louise has done everyt hing for her company, but has spent twenty years in middle management with no opportunities to go higher. Win believes there will be only limited openings for her. In the main office, Angie walks up to Marlene. Marlene does not recognize her at first. Angie has come to London on her own to see her aunt, and she intends to stay for a while. It is not clear if Joyce knows where Angie is. Angie becomes upset when Marlene does not seem like she wants her to stay. Their conversation is interrupted by the appearance of Mrs. Kidd, Howard's wife. Mrs.Kidd is upset because Howard cannot accept that Marlene got the promotion to managing director over him. In part, he is disturbed because she is a woman. Mrs. Kidd wants Marlene to turn down the promotion so that he can have it. Mrs. Kidd leaves in a huff when Marlene is rude to her. Angie is proud of her aunt's saucy attitude. In another interview, Nell talks to Shona, who claims to be twenty-nine and to have worked in sales on the road. As th e interview progresses, it becomes clear that Shona has been lying. She is only twenty-one and has no real work experience.In the main office, Win sits down and talks to Angie, who was left there by Marlene while she is working. Angie tells Win that she wants to work at Top Girls. Win begins to tell Angie her life story, but Angie falls asleep. Nell comes in and informs her that Howard has had a heart attack. When Marlene returns, Win tells her about Angie wanting to work at Top Girls. Marlene does not think Angie has much of a future there. Act 2, Scene 2 This scene takes place a year earlier in Joyce's kitchen. Marlene is passing out presents for Joyce and Angie. One of the gifts is the nice dress that Angie wore in act 1, scene 2.While Angie goes to her room to try it on, Joyce and Marlene are talking. Joyce had no idea that Marlene was coming. Marlene believed Joyce had invited her there. Angie made the arrangements, lying to both of them. Angie returns to show off the dress. Th ey chide her for her deception. Angie reminds her that the last time she visited was for her ninth birthday. Marlene learns that Joyce's husband left her three years ago. It is getting Act 1 Summary 3 late, and Angie is sent to bed. Marlene will sleep on the couch. After Angie leaves to get ready for bed, Joyce and Marlene continue their discussion about their lives.The sisters' conversation turns into an argument. Marlene believes that Joyce is jealous of her success. Joyce criticizes the decisions Marlene has made, including leaving her home and giving up her child, Angie. Marlene offers to send her money, but Joyce refuses. Marlene is excited about a future under the new prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, while Joyce cannot stand the prime minister. They talk about the horrid life their mother led with their alcoholic father. It becomes clear the sisters have very different views of the world. As Marlene nears sleep on the couch, Angie walks in, having had a bad dream. Frightenin g,† is all she says. Biography Churchill was born on September 3, 1938, in London, England, the daughter and only child of Robert Churchill and his wife. Churchill's father was a political cartoonist; her mother worked as a model, secretary, and actress. Churchill began writing stories and doing shows for her parents as a child. After spending her early childhood in London, the family moved to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in about 1949, where Churchill spent most of her formative years. Caryl Churchill In 1956, Churchill returned to England to enter Oxford University.While studying literature at Lady Margaret Hall, she began writing plays for student productions. Her first play was written as a favor for a friend. One of Churchill's student plays, Downstairs, won first prize at the National Student Drama Festival. Churchill graduated with her B. A. in 1960, intending to become a serious writer. Act 2 Summary 4 Family matters stymied her plans. In 1961, Churchill married David Har ter, a lawyer, and had three sons over the next decade. Still, she managed to write about thirty radio dramas, usually one act, throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, as well as some television plays in the early 1970s.Many of these early plays were related to her life experiences and were somewhat depressing, but they did garner Churchill some notice for her writing abilities. In the early 1970s, Churchill turned to theater, initially writing for fringe theater groups. Owners, a tragic farce, was her first major play, produced by a fringe group in London in 1972. This production led to her position as a resident playwright at the Royal Court Theatre from 1974 to 1975. Churchill began exploring feminist ideas with her first play for the Royal Court, Objections to Sex and Violence (1974).Churchill continued to explore feminism with Vinegar Tom (1976). She wrote the play both with the help of and for Monstrous Regiment, a feminist touring-theater company. Vinegar Tom and Light Shining in Buckinghamshire (1976) use historical settings to discuss repression. These plays garnered Churchill more attention and critical praise. In 1979, Churchill's Cloud Nine had its first production. This was her first big hit, and had a long run on both sides of the Atlantic. The Obie Award-winning play was set in the Victorian era, with the roles played by their physical opposites. For example, a man played an unhappy and unfulfilled wife.Critics enthusiastically praised Churchill's originality. Churchill followed this success with Top Girls (1982), a play about feminism and the price of success for women. Though some did not regard it as highly as Cloud Nine, the play cemented her reputation and won her another Obie. Churchill wrote plays on a variety of topics throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Fen (1983), which focused on female tenant farmers, won her the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. In 1986, she wrote Serious Money about the London stock exchange. Churchill used music and dialogue that rhymed in the play, which also won the Blackburn Prize and many other awards.She continued to experiment with technique in Mad Forest (1990) and The Skriker (1994), which incorporated music and dance. Though Churchill's output decreased in the late 1990s, she continues to push the limits of traditional dramatic forms using dance and music, and other unexpected constructions. Characters Angie Angie is the sixteen-year-old adopted daughter of Joyce. Angie is the biological daughter of Marlene, but was given up by her birth mother, who was only seventeen at the time and had career ambitions. In act 1 of Top Girls, Angie realizes that Marlene is her mother, though she has not been told directly.Both Marlene and Joyce do not think highly of Angie and believe her future is limited. She has already left high school with no qualifications. She was in remedial classes, and her best friend is Kit, who is four years younger. Angie is frustrated and wants to murder her mother. Instead, sh e runs away to visit her aunt in London and hopes to live with her. Previously, Angie tricked Marlene into visiting her and Joyce. Angie is Marlene's embarrassment, but she is also one of the things that links her to the women at the dinner party. Isabella Bird Isabella is one of Marlene's dinner party guests in act 1, scene 1.She is a Scottish woman who lived in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and who traveled extensively later in life. In Top Girls, Isabella is the first to arrive at the party and dominates the conversation in a self-absorbed manner. She talks on and on about her travels; her complex relationship with her sister, Hennie; her clergyman father, and husband; her illnesses; religion; and her lack of children. While Isabella does listen and respond to the others, she mostly tries to figure out her own life and what it meant. She could never be as good as her sister, but her adventures made Biography 5 er happy. Isabella is one of the characters who he lps Marlene define herself. Dull Gret Dull Gret is one of Marlene' s dinner guests in act 1, scene 1, and the third to arrive. Gret is the subject of a painting by Brueghel entitled â€Å"Dulle Griet. † In the painting, she wears an apron and armor and leads a group of women into hell to fight with devils. Gret is generally quiet through most of the dinner, answering questions only when directly asked and making a few comments on the side. Near the end of the scene, Gret makes a speech about her trip to hell and the fight with the devils.Like all the dinner guests, Gret's story reflects something about Marlene's life. Jeanine Marlene interviews Jeanine for placement by Top Girls in act 1. She is engaged and is saving money to get married. Marlene is not supportive of Jeanine's ambitions to work in advertising or in a job that might have some travel, but she categorizes her according to what Marlene believes she will be able to accomplish. Pope Joan Pope Joan is one of Marlene 's dinner party guests in act 1, scene 1, and the fourth to arrive. She is a woman from the ninth century who allegedly served as the pope from 854 to 856.Pope Joan is somewhat aloof, making relevant, intelligent declarations throughout the conversation. When the topic turns to religion, she cannot help but point out heresies—herself included—though she does not attempt to convert the others to her religion. Joan reveals some of her life. She began dressing as a boy at age twelve so she could continue to study; she lived the rest of her life as a man, though she had male lovers. Joan was eventually elected pope. She became pregnant by her chamberlain lover and delivered her baby during a papal procession. For this, Joan was stoned to death.At the end of the scene, Joan recites a passage in Latin. Like all the dinner guests, Joan's life and attitude reflects something about Marlene. Joyce Joyce is Marlene's elder sister and mother to Angie. Unlike her younger sister, Jo yce stayed in the same area and social class she grew up in. Joyce is unambitious and unhappy. She was married to Frank, but she told him to leave three years previously because he was having affairs with other women. She supports herself and Angie by cleaning houses. Because Joyce seemed to be unable to have children, she adopted Angie as an infant when Marlene decided to give her up.But Joyce soon got pregnant and miscarried the child because of the demands of raising Angie. Joyce resents both Angie and Marlene, in part because of her miscarriage. She calls Angie a lump and useless. Marlene is too ambitious and clever for Joyce. Yet Joyce has pride. She will not take Marlene's money, and she does not cater to her crying. Joyce maintains her working class loyalty and stands her ground when Marlene starts to sing the praises of Margaret Thatcher. Despite such differences, Marlene and Joyce are very much alike.They both believe they are right and do what they must to survive in their different worlds. Mrs. Kidd Mrs. Kidd is the wife of Howard, the man who got passed over in favor of Marlene for the managing director position at Top Girls. In act 2, Mrs. Kidd comes to the office and tries to get Marlene to turn down the position. Mrs. Kidd hopes Marlene will understand how much it would hurt Howard's pride and livelihood. Marlene is not impressed by her pleas, and Mrs. Kidd leaves after insulting Marlene for being a hard, working woman. Kit Kit is the twelve-year-old best friend of Angie.Unlike Angie, Kit is clever and plans on being a nuclear Characters 6 physicist. The girls have been friends for years, though Kit gets annoyed by Angie's limitations. In some ways, Kit is a younger version of Marlene. Louise Louise is interviewed by Win for placement by Top Girls in act 2. Louise is a forty-six-year-old woman stuck in middle management who believes she has been overlooked for promotion and underappreciated by her present firm. Win is not particularly supportive of Louise's desires to use her experience elsewhere and does not offer much hope for a better position.Like Marlene, Win categorizes Louise according to what she believes Louise will be able to accomplish. Marlene Marlene is the central character in Top Girls. She is a successful businesswoman who has recently been promoted to managing director of Top Girls, an employment agency. To celebrate, she has a dinner party at a restaurant with five guests, all of whom are women who are either dead or fictional characters from literature and paintings. Marlene's own life shares some parallels with these women. Marlene's adult life has been focused on her career, to the exclusion of nearly everything else.She previously worked in the United States and has done well for herself. Marlene has little to no contact with her family. Her alcoholic father is dead, and her long-suffering mother is in some sort of home. Marlene does not get along with her sister Joyce, who has remained part of the wo rking class and lives in the same neighborhood where they grew up. Marlene let Joyce raise her daughter, Angie. Marlene became pregnant at age seventeen, and because the then-married Joyce did not have a child, she allowed her to adopt the baby. Marlene has as little respect and interest in Angie as Joyce does.Like the women she interviews at Top Girls, Marlene believes Angie's future is limited. Yet Marlene's own life is just as circumscribed, but in different ways. Her success has come at a high price, costing her both her empathy and her relationships. Nell Nell is one of the employees at the Top Girls employment agency. She is happy that Marlene got the promotion over Howard, but she has her own career ambitions and might want to find a job with better prospects. In the meantime, her boyfriend, Derek, has asked her to marry him, but she does not know if she will accept.Her career seems more important to her than the marriage. During the play, Nell conducts an interview with Shon a, whom Nell believes might be good for Top Girls. Nell is disappointed to learn that Shona has lied about everything on her application. Lady Nijo Lady Nijo is one of Marlene's dinner party guests in act 1, scene 1, and the second to arrive. She is a thirteenth-century Japanese courtesan to the Emperor of Japan. She later became a Buddhist monk. Like Isabella, Nijo is somewhat self-absorbed, though not to the same degree.Nijo tells the others about her life, including information about her father, her lovers, her four children (only one of whom she ever saw), symbolic clothing, and her time as a traveling monk. But she also listens respectfully to the stories of others and acknowledges her limitations. Nijo liked her silk clothing and easy life with the Emperor. By the end of the scene, Nijo is in tears. Like all the dinner guests, Nijo's life reflects something about Marlene's. Patient Griselda Patient Griselda is one of Marlene's dinner guests in act 1, scene 1, and the last to a rrive.She is a fictional character, appearing in ‘‘The Clerk's Tale’’ in Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, among other stories. As soon as she arrives, Marlene has Griselda tell her story. Griselda was a peasant girl who was asked to marry a local prince, but only if she would obey him without question. She agreed and bore him two children who were taken away from her while they were still infants. She did not question the decision. Her Characters 7 husband sent Griselda back home with nothing more than a slip to wear. She went without question.He sent for her to help him plan his second marriage to a young French girl. Griselda came back. At a pre-wedding feast, he revealed that the girl and her page/brother were their children and all these incidents were tests of her loyalty. Like all the dinner guests, Griselda's story reflects an aspect of Marlene's life. Shona Shona is interviewed by Nell for placement by the Top Girls agency in the second act. Shona tries to pass herself off as a twenty-nine-year-old woman with sales experience, which Nell believes at first.As the interview progresses, it becomes clear that Shona has been making up a story. She is really twenty-one and has no job experience. Shona is certain that she could handle high-profile jobs, but Nell does not believe her. Win Win is one of the employees at the Top Girls employment agency. Like Nell, she is glad that Marlene got the promotion over Howard, but she has her own career ambitions and might move on. She is relatively well educated and has previously lived in several different countries. Win spent the previous weekend with her married boyfriend at his house, while his wife was out of town.During the course of the play, Win interviews Louise for a job; she shares Marlene's callous attitude toward Louise. Themes Choices and Consequences Nearly every character in Top Girls has made or is in the process of making life-changing decisions with important consequ ences. The dinner party in act 1, scene 1 exemplifies this. Each of the historical figures has made a hard choice. For example, Pope Joan chose to live like a boy, and then a man, in public. When she became pregnant by her secret lover, the stoning death of her and her baby were consequences of her chosen life.Joyce chose to adopt Angie, which led to a certain life path. Joyce believes that she miscarried her own child because of the demands of raising Angie. Marlene also made several hard choices. She became a career woman who spent some time working in the States. Marlene is estranged from her family, including her biological daughter, Angie, and does not seem to have many close friends, female or male. Her dinner party in celebration of her promotion consists of women who are dead or do not really exist, not with friends or family. She has no love relationship.Marlene is very much alone because of her life choices. While her daughter Angie has already made two life choices dropping out of school at the age of sixteen with no qualifications, and running away to London to live with her aunt/mother—the consequences of these actions in her life are unclear. Success and Failure Success is an important part of Marlene's life in Top Girls, defining who she is and whose company she enjoys. The dinner party is meant to celebrate her promotion to managing director as well as the successes of her guests. Joan became the pope. Isabella traveled the world.Gret fought the devils in hell. Griselda survived her husband's extraordinary tests of loyalty. Marlene sees these women as successful, though they are not in her real, everyday life. Marlene's personal life is a failure because of her success in business. She has no real friends in the play, and she has not seen her sister or biological daughter in seven years. At the dinner party, she moans at one point, ‘‘Oh God, why are we all so miserable? † Yet, Marlene believes that Joyce is mostl y a failure because she did not grow beyond her neighborhood; instead, she got married and raised a child.Joyce cleans houses for a living, and she is not impressed by Marlene's life. Joyce does not really see her world in the same terms of success or failure. She does what is necessary to survive and to rear Angie. However, both sisters agree that Angie has no chance of being a success in life. Angie has no education, no ambition, and is regarded as dumb. The best she might do is Themes 8 menial work and marry. While this describes Joyce's life, both Joyce and Marlene perceive that Angie might not be able to take care of herself. This would be the ultimate failure in their eyes. They agree that one should support oneself.Class Conflict Marlene and Joyce's differing definitions of success stem in part from a class conflict. Marlene has moved beyond her working-class roots to a middle-class life by education and persistence. She holds a management position in a demanding field, an em ployment agency. She even lived and worked in the United States for several years. Marlene supports the political agenda of Great Britain's female prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, even though she is perceived as anti-working class. Joyce remains firmly working class, leading a life only slightly better than her parents.She works as a cleaning lady to support Angie. Unlike Joyce and Marlene's mother, who stayed with her alcoholic husband and had nothing, Joyce told her husband to leave when she could no longer take his controlling nature and numerous affairs. Joyce regards Thatcher as evil, comparing her to Adolf Hitler for her attitudes towards working-class people. Joyce believes that Marlene thinks she is too good for her. Marlene says she does not like working-class people, but she does not really include her sister as one of them. The pair never come to an understanding on class.Sex Roles and Sexism Throughout the text of Top Girls is an implicit discussion of what society exp ects women to be. Each of the guests at the dinner party defines womanhood in a particular era, either by what they are or by what they are not. Isabella, for example, could not live up to the standards of femininity defined by her sister, Hennie. Yet Isabella was a traveler who saw more of the world than most men. Marlene also breaks out of the traditional roles for women, by virtue of her career. While Marlene has benefited economically from her career, her disregard for sex roles has its problems.She is not married, and it does not seem like she is in a long-term relationship. Joyce does not really like her. Mrs. Kidd, the wife of the man who was passed over for the promotion that Marlene got, begs her to not take it. Mrs. Kidd believes that the upset Howard should not have to work for a woman. Further, Mrs. Kidd hopes that Marlene will give up the promotion because Howard has to support his family. Mrs. Kidd calls Marlene â€Å"unnatural† for her uncompromising stand on t he promotion and her attachment to her job. Marlene does not give in, but such sexism does not make her life and choices any easier.Style Setting Top Girls is a feminist drama/fantasy set in contemporary times. The action is confined to two places in England, London and Suffolk. The realistic action takes place in two settings. One is the Top Girls employment agency, where Marlene works. There, potential clients are interviewed, and Angie shows up, hoping to stay with Marlene. The other is Joyce's home and backyard, where Marlene visits and Angie and Kit scheme. The fantasy dinner party that opens Top Girls also takes place in London. (In many productions, the restaurant is called La Prima Donna. Though the dinner is clearly a fantasy because all the guests are dead or fictional, the setting is very real. Fantasy versus Reality In act 1, scene 1, Marlene hosts a dinner party with guests both long dead (Pope Joan, Lady Nijo, and Isabella Bird) and fictional (Dull Gret and Patient Gri selda). While Marlene listens to and guides the conversation—injecting only bits about herself—these five women share their stories. The party is ostensibly to celebrate Marlene's promotion at work, but she intends it to be a celebration of all their successes. Though Style 9 hese women have each achieved something they are proud of, success has come at a large price in their lives. The dinner party itself shows the tensions between fantasy and reality because the guests are not â€Å"real† to the rest of the characters in Top Girls, only to Marlene. Yet the ideas and problems brought up by the fantasy women are very real. These issues echo in the plot and dialogue of the rest of the text, adding another dimension to the tension between fantasy and reality. Time Top Girls is not a linear play, but one in which time is used in an unusual fashion. The last scene of the lay, act 2, scene 2, is the only part that takes place at a specific time in the story, about a year earlier than the other events. This flashback ties up some of the loose ends created by the story. The rest of the scenes, even the action within act 2, scene 1, do not have to take place in the order presented, though all are set in the present. The events are linked thematically, but not by a specific sequence of time. In addition, the idea of time is toyed with at the dinner party in act 1, scene 1. None of the guests can really exist at the same time, yet they share many of the same concerns.Multiple Casting Often when Top Girls is performed—including its premieres in England and the United States— several parts are played by the same actresses. Only the actress who plays Marlene, the central character in the play, has only one role. Thus guests at the dinner party are played by actresses who also play contemporary characters. Such casting decisions create visual links between seemingly disparate women. In the original production, for example, the same actress played Dull Gret and Angie, implying that these characters might have something in common.Similarly, another actress took on the roles of Pope Joan and Louise, drawing another parallel. This casting technique further emphasizes how alike the concerns of the historical characters and contemporary characters really are. Historical Context In the early 1980s, Great Britain was ruled by women. Though Queen Elizabeth II was only a royal figurehead, real political power was held by Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. A member of the Conservative Party, Thatcher had been elected on May 3, 1979, and proceeded to put her own stamp on British life over the next decade or so.She was reelected in 1983 and 1987, and held office until late 1990, when she received a vote of no confidence and was replaced by fellow Conservative John Major. Thatcher had been the longest-serving prime minister in Great Britain since the nineteenth century. To improve the British economy, Thatcher dismantled the social ist practices that were put in place in the post-World War II era. She privatized major industries, like coal mining and telecommunications, which had been run by the British government, and she cut down on the power of trade unions.Because Thatcher's revolution benefited the middle- and upper-classes and seemed to hurt the working- and lower-classes, she was very unpopular among the latter groups. Unemployment continued to rise, and by 1982, over three and a quarter million people were unemployed. With cuts in both welfare and other social programs, such people's lives were becoming much harder. Though the economy was strong and interest rates and inflation were down, real living standards had been falling slightly for several years; international trade was also down. In 1982, Thatcher and the Conservative party had some popularity problems among the general population.National morale was not particularly high until the Falklands War broke out. The Falkland Islands were a British p ossession in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Argentina. The group of islands are small and only about 1,800 people were living there. The territory was at the center of a dispute between Argentina and Great Britain for a number of years, and the two countries were in negotiations over them. In the spring of 1982, Argentina became impatient and invaded the Falklands. Great Britain responded and reclaimed the islands before Argentina quickly surrendered.Though there were approximately 243 British casualties, the victory Historical Context 10 improved national morale and the repute of Thatcher and the Conservatives. The popularity of the Labour party went down. Thatcher was but one symbol in the 1980s of powerful women. There was a concrete change in the position of working women. In Great Britain in the early 1980s, women made up forty percent of the labor force, and over sixty percent of women aged twenty to sixty-four were working. Marriage rates fell in the 1980s, after having remained stable for many years.Before that decade nearly every adult woman was married at some point. Those that did marry gave up working after having a child, although sometimes they went back to work after their children went to school or reached adulthood. Most women who worked were employed in poorly paid white-collar, service, and industrial occupations. Approximately seventy-five percent of women did personal services work, clerical work, retail work, or health, education, or welfare work. The number of professional women was still small, but more women were becoming lawyers than ever before.These professional women often had equal pay for equal work, but working-class women did not. Despite the success of Thatcher, many British women were anti-Conservative, though they did not necessarily support Labour either. To these women, Thatcher may have shared their gender, but her political prominence did not necessarily make her their heroine. Critical Overview Most critics agree t hat Top Girls is an intricate play; generally, they find much to praise in its themes, attitudes, and text. The play's depiction of women and feminism is particularly interesting to critics.Writing about the original London production, Bryan Robertson of The Spectator argued, â€Å"her play is brilliantly conceived with considerable wit to illuminate the underlying deep human seriousness of her theme. The play is feminist, all right, but it is an entertaining, sometimes painful and often funny play and not a mere tract. † Expanding on this idea, Benedict Nightingale of the New Statesman wrote, â€Å"What use is female emancipation, Churchill asks, if it transforms the clever women into predators and does nothing for the stupid, weak and helpless?Does freedom, and feminism, consist of aggressively adopting the very values that have for centuries oppressed your sex? † A scene from the 1991 production of Top Girls at London's Royal Court Theatre Writing about the same pro duction, John Russell Taylor of Plays & Players is one of several critics over the years who believed that the rest of Top Girls did not live up to the promise of the dinner party scene. He found the play disjointed, arguing that â€Å"the pieces in the puzzle remain determinedly separate, never quite adding up to more than, well, so many fascinating pieces in a fascinating puzzle. Critical Overview 11 When Top Girls opened in the United States a short time later, a few critics were dismissive of the play and Churchill's potential appeal to American audiences. Calling the play â€Å"confused,† Douglas Watt of the Daily News proclaimed, â€Å"Churchill can write touchingly and with a good ear for everyday speech about middle-class Londoners today. But while concern for ugly ducklings may be universal †¦ Top Girls is a genre piece likely to arouse even less interest here than Alan Ayckbourn's equally tricky, but infinitely more amusing, works about the English middle cla ss. Edith Oliver of the New Yorker was perplexed by certain aspects of the play. She wrote â€Å"Top Girls †¦ is witty and original, with considerable dramatized feeling, yet somehow never got to me, and I was never certain whether she was making one point with the whole play or a lot of points in its separate segments. † Later in her review, Oliver emphasized that â€Å"[d]espite my admiration of Miss Churchill's ingenuity, I was disappointed and at times puzzled—never quite certain, for example, whether the historical characters of the first scene were meant to be the prototypes of modern characters. † A majority of American critics commented on the uniqueness of certain aspects of Top Girls, but they were most concerned with its feminist theme and social meanings. For example, John Beaufort of the Christian Science Monitor called Top Girls â€Å"a theatrical oddity in which the long view of what has been happening to womankind's ‘top girls' combin es with a sharp look at contemporary women achievers and a compassionate glance at the plight of an underclass underachiever who will never know the meaning of room at the top. Apart from one cheap shock effect, Miss Churchill has written a thoughtful and imaginative theater piece. Along similar lines, T. E. Kalem of Time asks in his review, â€Å"Is the future to be divided between a smart, scrambling upper class of no-holds-barred individualists and a permanent underclass of poor souls who are unfit for the survival of the fittest? † An unnamed reviewer in Variety added, â€Å"If it's about male manipulation, Top Girls also pointedly involves the conditioned mentality of the sisterhood itself, with its inherited sense of role in a masculine or at least male-dominated world. The play seems to be saying that women historically have had themselves as well as sexist pigs for enemies. John Simon of New York believes the ideas in Top Girls have universal applicability. â€Å"Th is is not easy theater, but funny, fiercely serious, and greatly worth thinking about. Its aporias [insoluble contradictions] are not only pertinent to women, they also concern the entire, always incomplete, human condition. † Top Girls has continued to be performed regularly over the years. Most critics believe the play has withstood the test of time, despite specific references to British prime minster Margaret Thatcher and attitudes specific to the early 1980s.Of a 1991 revival in London, Paul Taylor in The Independent argued, â€Å"What continues to distinguish Top Girls is its cool, objective manner. The scenes in the job agency are almost too cleverly efficient in the way they expose the heartlessness the women have had to assume along with their crisp power-outfits. Churchill permits you to identify with the tricky plight of these characters but she does not ask you to like them. † Similarly, Alastair Macaulay of the Financial Times believes, â€Å"Both as theat re and as politics, Top Girls is exciting and irritating.The dialectic of its final scene, between the Thatcherite Marlene and her socialist sister Joyce rings true as you listen. The terms in which the sisters argue about Thatcherite politics have not dated. † Essays and Criticism The Importance of Angie in Top Girls Many critics who have commented on Caryl Churchill's Top Girls have focused their praise on the interesting characters and complexities of the scene that opens the play, act 1, scene 1's dinner party. The party is hosted by Top Girls' central character, Marlene, and is attended by five guests, all obscure figures from history, literature, and art.Ostensibly, the party is to celebrate the success of Marlene, who has recently been Essays and Criticism 12 promoted to managing director of Top Girls employment agency. The scene also defines many of the play's themes and dramatic tensions. There are a number of critics who share the opinion of Lianne Stevens of the Los Angeles Times. Reviewing a 1986 production of Top Girls in San Diego, California, Stevens writes, ‘‘outstanding performances †¦ cannot rectify the main defect in Churchill's play: Nothing that comes after is as interesting as having dinner with Pope Joan, Dull Gret, Lady Nijo, Patient Griselda and Isabella Bird. ’ There are, in fact, several aspects of the rest of Top Girls that are as interesting, mostly because of what has been laid out in the dinner party scene. One is the character of Angie, Marlene's sixteen-year-old daughter, whom she allowed her sister Joyce to adopt at birth. Angie plays as pivotal a role in the play as any of the dinner party guests. While there is no doubt that Marlene is at the center of Top Girls, and that her character presents hard and conflicted ideas about women, success, power, and employment in the early 1980s, Angie and the dinner guests help to define Marlene as much as Marlene's own actions and comments do.However, the d inner guests were chosen by Marlene, while Angie was an accident Marlene has chosen to have very little contact with and is dismissive of. Each of the dinner guests is an adult woman, though they are fantastic characters who do not really exist in the modern world inhabited by Marlene and the rest of the characters in the play. Marlene turns to them, not to any of the ‘‘real† people depicted in the play, when she wants to celebrate her promotion. While the guests are successful in their own, though not always obvious, ways, their success has come at a price.Lady Nijo suffered many degradations including not being allowed to raise her own children. Marlene is deeply troubled by the story of Patient Griselda, who was humiliated by her husband as a test of her loyalty to him, mostly because she was of a lower class. To get an education, Pope Joan led a life of deception as a male. Though she later became pope, it was her womanhood—her ability to get pregnant an d give birth to a child at an inopportune moment—that led to the murder which ended her life. Marlene's choice of guests reveals much about her.First, she does not have anyone in her real life to share her promotion with, suggesting an alienation from real women. Second, the loss of her child still weighs on her, either in her conscious, subconscious, or both. Lady Nijo, Pope Joan, and Patient Griselda all suffer the loss of children. Only Joan is rather indifferent to the death of her infant. Marlene inquires about Dull Gret' s children, clearly expressing her interest in the subject. Marlene's question after the one to Gret is rhetorical: â€Å"Oh God, why are we all so miserable? ’ There is a link between unhappiness and the idea of children and loss. Third, Marlene has no real interest in her own daughter, Angie, though they have more in common than Marlene does with her chosen guests. To understand the importance of Angie, Marlene's character must be better under stood. Marlene grew up in an unstable home. Her father worked in the fields, and had a problem with alcohol. Her mother suffered at the hands of her husband, often going hungry and being beaten. Her sister Joyce was older, and did not share either Marlene's need to escape or her intelligence.Despite her background, Marlene managed to create a good life for herself by working hard and apparently acquiring a decent education. She even lived in the United States for several years. The only flaw, the only thing that could have held her back, was when Marlene got pregnant at the age of seventeen. The situation was stressful, and Marlene was in denial for part of the pregnancy. Rather than allow Marlene to give the baby up to strangers, Joyce insisted on adopting Angie, in part because she had no children of her own.This is a long-standing point of contention between the sisters, though Joyce makes it clear that she would not have approved of any choice Marlene made in the situation excep t to have had an abortion early on or raise the child herself and not have tried to have a better life. Angie and related petty jealousies are at the heart of their conflict and thus at the center of Top Girls. Yet, Angie is a reviled character. Everyone around Angie dismisses her and believes she has no future. Joyce, her adopted mother, calls her ‘‘a big lump. ’ She believes Angie will have a hard time getting a job and her best bet in life is to get married, though she cannot imagine who would marry her. Joyce does admit at one point, ‘‘She's clever in her own way. ’’ Labeling her ‘‘thick,’’ Marlene, Angie's birth mother, tells one of The Importance of Angie in Top Girls 13 her coworkers, ‘‘She's not going to make it. ’’ She believes Angie's future career will be as a ‘‘Packer in Tesco,’’ nothing as accomplished as working at the employment agency run by Marl ene. Kit, her only friend and a twelve-year-old, says to Angie at one point, â€Å"Stupid f—ing cow, I hate you. She later tells Angie that she is not sure she even likes her. Kit amends that attitude by telling Joyce â€Å"I love Angie. † The way those around Angie talk about her, it seems like she is useless and incompetent. Joyce especially seems to hammer this idea home directly to Angie. Angie is definitely immature. She talks about being able to move objects with her thoughts, hearing a long-dead kitten in the backyard, and has only one friend, Kit, who is four years younger than her. She has ended her education in remedial classes at the age of sixteen.Yet Angie accomplishes much over the course of Top Girls, more than expected considering how she is talked about. Angie has her own equivalent of the dinner party in act 1, scene 3. She and Kit hide in a shelter that they probably made in Joyce's backyard. Kit, however, is a real person, unlike the unreal guests at Marlene's. Angie and Kit have a real, if tense, friendship. They make tentative plans to go to the movies. Angie expresses her frustrations to Kit, saying she wants to kill her mother. She tells Kit about her secret, that she believes Marlene is her mother.Angie also says that she will go to London to see her aunt. Kit does not really believe her, though, underscoring that Angie is constantly underestimated by those around her. Another success of Angie’s is going to London from Suffolk on the bus, and finding her way to Marlene’s work place in act 2, scene 1. Joyce and Kit do not think Angie could do such a thing on her own. But Angie wants to escape her life with Joyce and become a success. To that end, she goes to her aunt/mother and hopes to stay with her. Angie has the gumption to ask her aunt for help.She will even sleep on the floor of Marlene’s home to have this different, better life, like her aunt/mother. It also creates a situation where Marlene get s her child back, a key point brought up in the dinner party. Angie wants to be with Marlene, to be Marlene, and does what she can to make that happen. Angie wants to be a top girl. Angie’s first success, though the last in the play since it takes place in act 2, scene 2, is getting Marlene to visit her in the first place. The last scene takes place a year before the rest of the Top Girls.Angie lied to Marlene to get her to visit her and Joyce in Suffolk. She has not seen her aunt/mother since her ninth birthday party. Angie knows that Marlene has had good jobs and has lived in America, and she admires her tremendously. Angie appreciates that Marlene has escaped their neighborhood and become successful, just as Marlene admired that about her fantasy dinner guests. Angie may not have the education or the intelligence that Marlene has, but she wants to do something like what Marlene has done. In this scene, Marlene reveals the key to her success. She proclaims, ‘‘Ià ¢â‚¬â„¢m not clever, just pushy. ’ Angie has shown that she can be pushy as well over the course of the play, implying that she might have a better future than anyone imagined. In writing about a 1998 production of Top Girls in Los Angeles, California, Don Shirley of the Los Angeles Times argues, ‘‘Churchill painted a stark picture of Margaret Thatcher's Britain as a place where women could end up in either a cushy but heartless career or a dreary life in domestic servitude. This may sound broadly feminist, but the play finally emerges as a more specific attack on Thatcherite insensitivities towards the girls who ren't on ‘top. ’† Shirley includes Angie as one who is not on top, but does not see that she could be. Angie is a younger—perhaps dumber but no less ambitious—Marlene. Source: Annette Petrusso, in an essay for Drama for Students, Gale Group, 2001. Feminist Drama: The Politics of the Self: Churchill and Keatley Caryl Church ill's Top Girls (1983) and Charlotte Keatley's My Mother Said I Never Should (1987) are plays with an all women cast. Men, though present in the stories, are absent from the stage. They occupy emotional space but not physical space.At the very outset there is a defining of space, a creation of a feminist world. Feminist Drama: The Politics of the Self: Churchill and Keatley 14 Keatley deliberately kept the men offstage to provide a space for the women to interact among themselves, ‘‘to show the way women use language, silence and subtext when alone together’’; Churchill apparently does it for the purposes of sharing, for as Adrienne Rich has pointed out that unless women are prepared to share their ‘‘private and sometimes painful personal experience’’ it may not be possible to create a ‘‘collective description’’ of what is truly a woman's world.In both plays women from different generations and backgrounds meet together to share and to interact but with two major differences. Keatley's characters in the child-scenes are child characters and represent the same lineage whereas Churchill's characters represent several centuries, from the ninth to the present and have altogether different backgrounds.The moment women are placed centre-stage they begin to interact and introspect, to analyze and to criticize; they cease to look at themselves through the male gaze, instead they begin to problematize their conflicts and the involuntary processes of their bodies. By defining space in female terms, women are transformed from objects into subjects and their passive acceptance of gendered roles is turned into an analysis of socially imposed codes of behaviour. Plays by women need not be feminist, just as plays about women are not always so.But plays which concern themselves with women as subjects and explore their emotional realities acquire a feminist perspective. The sixties and the seventies witnessed the rise of women's theatre groups and collectives and a consciousness about women's roles. This was the beginning of a feminist theatre with, as already stated, overtly political aims. Women through exploring and talking about their experiences opened out their role confines, created female traditions and entered areas hitherto forbidden to them.Several all-women plays were also written. Megan Terry's Calm Down, Mother (1965) was a transformation exercise for women and hailed by Helene Keyssar as the first real feminist play, while her later Babes in the Bighouse (1974) was about women prisoners and closed spaces where violence became a natural inhabitant. Eve Merriam' s Out of Our Fathers' House (1975) was a projection of the struggles of exceptional women, while Wendy Wasserstein's Uncommon Women and Others (1977) examined the role conflicts in a lighter vein.Maria Irene Fornes's Fefu and Her Friends (1977) is located in the thirties and is a powerful statement about th e violence implicit in heterosexual relationships; it is as Schuler has pointed out ‘‘impossible to ignore that explicit critique of patriarchy’’ (226) present in the play. Marsha Norman's ‘night, Mother, coming out the same year as Top Girls (1983), is a tense kitchen drama about a mother and a daughter with the daughter at the end committing suicide behind a locked door. Plays with an all-women cast make a specific statement even before they put this female space to different and individual use.They discard supportive roles for women and provide them with the freedom to relate directly to each other rather than through sons and husbands, ‘‘Language, space and the body are loci for the woman playwright to dramatically challenge the images of women determined in dominant discourse’’ (Hart), Memory, history, the past are evoked for different reasons. Time too becomes an important factor, often being projected non-chronological ly. Both Top Girls and My Mother create hypothetical situations which are historically not possible but are rendered so spatially and proceed to become emotional questionings.Both are 3-act plays but while Churchill after an initial juxtaposition of the past and the present moves on, Keatley keeps on coming back to the childhood scene which is a conjunction of 1905, 1941, 1961 and 1979. Top Girls in the first act evokes the past, somewhat like Eve Merriam's Out of Our Fathers' House where six women are presented together in a ‘‘hypothetical conversation. † They act out both for themselves and each other the stories of their lives. It is a journey into selfhood, and at each step they need reassurance from their own elves. They belong to the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries, Caryl Churchill, however, builds on a wider canvas and the dramatic purpose of the bringing together of six women from different backgrounds and periods is very different. The first act of Top Girls is in the nature of a prologue where Marlene, a top executive in an employment agency is hosting a dinner for five other women, three of whom are from the Feminist Drama: The Politics of the Self: Churchill and Keatley 15 pages of history, and two from the world of male imagination.Pope Joan, a ninth century Pope who achieved this through cross-gendering, Lady Nijo an emperor's concubine and later a Buddhist nun, and Isabella Bird, a nineteenth century explorer are the three â€Å"real† women. Dull Gret, a woman from Breughel's 16th century painting and Patient Griselda from the pages of Petrarch, Boccaccio and Chaucer are the two others (Note the words ‘‘dull† and ‘‘patient’’). Each one of them—except Griselda—has in some way violated the social code as imposed upon them. Joan learnt Latin, ran away from home disguised as a boy and later became a pope.But yielding to passion, she conceives and is detected during chil dbirth. Male priests have fathered children, but she has never learnt to understand or live with her body, thus alienated from this most fundamental space she might own, she pays for it with death. Lady Nijo on the other hand accepts the code but renders it hollow by creating space for herself. Handed over to the Emperor as his concubine, she takes lovers to fulfill her emotional needs. Out of favour with the Emperor she takes holy orders as directed by her father, but instead of being confined in a convent, she walks the breadth and length of Japan.But she does this at the price of motherhood. Isabella Bird also has to sacrifice marriage and family life in search of adventure. Because she is a woman, she finds it difficult to accept the idea of living for herself alone and therefore occupies herself with good causes. As contrasted with these women from real life, who have individually made space for themselves, questioned patriarchal structures like religion, ownership, love and mo therhood, the two women from the world of imagination are limited in their projections.Griselda's life reads like a fairytale—a peasant woman married into the aristocracy, and children whom she had given up for dead restored to her later. The price of her marriage is unquestioning obedience to her husband's command which is first the taking away of her son and her daughter and later being turned out of her house. Griselda does not question her husband's right over her, nor does she resist his orders. Her case, like Nijo's, is one where motherhood has been reduced to an â€Å"institution’’ under male control (Rich). Dull Gret is also single minded like Griselda. If for Griselda it is surrender, for Gret it is anger.These five women have got together to celebrate Marlene's success and as they share experiences they question patriarchal structures either directly like Joan and Isabelle, or obliquely like Nijo, or silently through victimization like Griselda. Trave l is a major theme for Joan, Nijo and Isabella. They travel in their different dresses, Joan in her papal robes, Nijo in her silkgowns and later her nun's habit, and Isabella in her full blue trousers and great brass spurs. (Dress also specifies space. Masculine dress does not constrain the women's private space, though, in the long run, there is no social recognition of that space. Travel opens out new worlds and spaces. Their coming together in the first act provides â€Å"a dramatic genealogy of Marlene's historical community’’ (Keyssar). The second act is the in-between act with 3 scenes. The first and the third are located in Marlene's office, the second in Joyce, her sister's, backyard. The office scenes have two interviews inbuilt into them, one with Jeanine and the other with Louise, Marlene's two clients; a competitive scene between Nell and Win and Marlene's interactions with Angie and with Mrs. Kidd.The themes of these two scenes are a replay of the themes introduced in Act One—Jeanine who is torn between marriage and a career, Louise who at the end of twenty years finds herself sidetracked by younger men, Nell and Win who wish to go places both literally and figuratively but Marlene has occupied the place at the top and Mrs. Kidd who has come to plead for her husband who has been superseded by Marlene. Mrs. Kidd tells Marlene: â€Å"What's it going to do to him working for a woman? I think if it was a man he'd get over it as something normal. It's me that bears the brunt. †¦ I put him first every inch of the way. †¦ It had crossed my mind if you were unavailable after all for some reason, he would be the natural second choice I think, don't you? ’’ (58-59) In her view Marlene is abnormal in her determination to be at the top and she'll end up lonely and miserable. Feminist Drama: The Politics of the Self: Churchill and Keatley 16 The backdrop of the office room is confined and provides limited space wh ere competition and aggression and violation of territorial rights go hand in hand.The middle scene sandwiched between these two office scenes is in a backyard in a â€Å"shelter made of junk’’ by children. It is a hiding place, away from the taboos and restrictions of the adult world. Kit and Angie talk about running away from home, they talk about travel, about the reality of their menstrual blood which flows from hidden spaces and their love-hate relationship to the adult world. Later Kit seeks shelter from rain within the precincts of her friend's house while Angie herself is left outside with a feeling of rejection. The third act moves backwards in time. It takes place a year earlier than the second act.It is a confrontation scene between Marlene and her sister Joyce. They open out their past, the suppressed, sibling rivalry, Marlene's need to escape from her background, Joyce's support, the birth of Marlene's daughter Angie, and her adoption by Joyce, Joyce's mi scarriage, and her separation from her husband Frank. Women sacrifice their motherhood for a career; but at times they also have to sacrifice their marriage for their motherhood. Joyce is denied space within her marriage while Marlene is aware that men want her to turn into ‘‘the little woman’’ which she is not prepared to do.In all this it is Angie who feels confused and dispossessed. Keatley's play is also a three-act play with the first act having ten scenes and moving between 1905 and 1979. The second act is one uninterrupted scene located in 1982, and the third act is placed in 1987 diving back, towards the end, to 1923. There are five child-scenes spread over the play—Act I sc. 1, sc. 3 and sc. 8, and Act III sc. 3 and sc. 6 which act like a conjunction of events, like a voice from the past, like an abandonment of the chronological process. The movement of the play can be seen from the graph.The conjunction scene is shown as a circle with four different time streams flowing together. Covering four generations, it covers several