Frailty Thy Name is Woman A Theatrical Exploration of Motherhood and Masochistic Play.

Lacy Warner

Date of Award

2006

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Dimino, Andrea

Keywords

Theatre, Mootherhood, Feminism

Area of Concentration

British and American Literature

Abstract

This three part thesis considers the theoretical ideas both that motherhood is a compulsion and that society posits motherhood as an important indicator to the success of being a woman. Through the theatrical script I hope to provoke a dialogue not only about the truths of these assertions, but also about the importance of theatre as a tool for social progress. The fIrst chapter examines these questions with regard to Caryl Churchill's play, Cloud Nine; the second chapter is my own play, Our Little Deaths, and the last chapter is a dramaturgical discussion of the how the play in performance articulates these important issues of motherhood to the individual and collective audience. This thesis pairs feminist theatre criticism with a feminist dramatic text; by combining the critical and the creative I explore how theatre can and must reconceive its audience and the narratives it privileges in order to survive. Within Our Little Deaths I highlight culturally fragmented and marginalized perspectives; it is my desire that the play allow for a kind of practical blue print for revolutionizing contemporary feminist theatre.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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