Top Girls by Caryl Churchill Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Top Girls by Caryl Churchill - Essay Example Act 1 is set up in a fashionable restaurant in London. Marlene is celebrating with five women her promotion to the position of managing director. This scene is somehow bizarre, as all the five women have existed in varied historical epochs either real or imaginary. Somehow, all of them portray women’s struggle against oppression and patriarchy. For instance, Lady Nijo is married off to the Empire of Japan at age 14 (Churchil, 12). Eventually, she ends up being a Buddhist nun. Throughout act one, all these women save for Marlene, talk of their children, and former lovers; their stories depict a sense of success, loss and destiny. Act 2 is set up at Marlene workplace. She is interviewing Jeanine for a position. Jeanine portrays the character traits of a traditional woman; her needs to marry young, and have children are despised by Marlene. In the second scene of act 2, Angie and Kit are having a discussion in Joyce’s backyard. They speak of going to watch an x-rated film and Angie’s desire to kill Joyce (her mother). Eventually, in Act 3, it is established that Angie’s biological mother is not Joyce but Marlene. The third scene of act 2 is set up at Top Girls employment agency on a Monday morning (Churchil, 13). Two women Win and Nell are discussing their sexual encounters with men. On arrival of Marlene, they congratulate her on accounts that she has managed to secure the position of managing director position over Howard. In act 3, Marlene ends up fighting with her sister Joyce. Joyce feels that Angie’s future is gloom as long as England is run by the likes of Marlene and Margret Thatcher the then Prime Minister. Joyce believes that women like Marlene have misplaced priorities. Eventually, Marlene apologizes but Joyce will have none of that. Top Girl commences in a 1980 London background of an up market restaurant. Props used on the restaurant depict elegance that can only a successful career woman can afford. In its illusory