How I Learned to Drive

I learned to drive when I was sixteen, and had no sexual issues surrounding those lessons. This was not the case with Li'l Bits. Even more so the historical context of the play makes sexuality an even more prominent issue. The coming of age of the baby boomers lead to extensive societal changes from mid sets, to laws and cultural norms. Sexuality was one of the issues that changed in the 1960s and 70s. The push for women's rights lead to more divorce and speaking up about sexual abuse, both current and in the past. This trend continued throughout the latter half of the twentieth century as the negative connotations with being abused began to wane and people were encouraged to share their troubled pasts. How I Learned to Drive goes a great job of shedding light on these issues with out having Li'l Bits and Peck actually sleeping together. Similar to the environment that Churchill created in Top Girls, Paula Vogel is able to bring up controversial issues in a way that the audience can focus on them with out hating, or associating them with a specific character in a way that prohibits the audience from looking at them objectively. Vogel does a phenomenal job with the character Peck, making him the scape goat for sexual abuse, yet still forcing the audience to side with him as he stands up for and supports Li'l Bits.

Top Girls

This week I will touch on two topics, the structure of the text and feminism.

I completely disliked Churchill’s choice to use /’s to break up lines of interruption. I do not think it added anything to the meaning or flow of the play, only made it more confusing to the reader. There are more clear ways of showing interruption in text, such as Shakespeare’s using multiple characters to complete a line of iambic pentameter. Also simple dashes are very effective, as well as indenting the person interrupting. This play took me a lot longer to read than it should have simply because my mind would start to wander every time I saw a / and looked to see what should be read next.

The theme of feminism is very apparent in Top Girls. The five historical women who dine with Marlene each share some aspect of their life they had to give up in order to achieve, or attempt to achieve success. The women make it very clear that they are living, or lived in a male dominated society, making remarks that show even they would prefer to be male. Nijo on 352 “It was only a girl but I was still sorry to lose it.” And on 355 “Ah a boy. / So it all ended happily” Griselda on 354 “But of course a wife must obey her husband.” Feminism in the workplace is discussed in the second act when Mrs. Kidd tells Marlene about Howard’s disappointment to losing out to a woman and now having to work under her. Sexism in the workplace is likely to never disappear as the conflict of bearing a child and an uninterrupted career will loom for eternity. This debate has lots of economic fall out, as firms will often pay women less as they have the possibility of leaving to raise a child. Marlene knows all about this as she gave her daughter to Joyce to pursuit her career.