%0 Journal Article 
%A Martín Amor, Marta
%T Into the spotlight : the construction and  representation of women in contemporary feminist drama : Caryl  Churchill’s "Top girls" and Marina Carr’s "The Mai"
%D 2020
%U http://hdl.handle.net/10017/50156
%X In spite of the significant role theatre has historically had in most cultures, women have been, one way or another, banned from it, whether in terms of authorship, on-stage 
presence, or complex characterisation. From legal prohibitions that forbid women from 
professionally acting, to the social pressure that prevented female dramatists from seeing their plays staged, it has not been until relatively recently that women have been allowed to occupy a more significant place within the theatrical arena. The almost total male domination of the theatrical sphere that existed both in England and Ireland has been defied in the last century by a new wave of female playwrights, who have drawn on often 
controversial topics that had never been tackled before on stage, or if they had, only from an exclusively male viewpoint. Contemporary dramatists, among them Caryl Churchill and Marina Carr, have taken the baton and have tried to expose, criticise, and even subvert the ever-present male bias when it comes to the representation of women and the female 
experience in drama. 
Through two of their more representative plays, "Top Girls" (1982) and "The Mai" (1994) respectively, the aim of this dissertation is to analyse the female theatrical tradition that has been influential in contemporary female-written drama. Moreover, it will explore the construction of the different female characters that appear in the aforementioned plays in depth, especially regarding the representation of the female experience from the perspective of these women, the way they appropriate and redefine traditionally male spaces, the depiction of motherhood and family dysfunctionality, and the influence of religious institutions in perpetuating oppression. Simultaneously, taking into account the historical framework provided, the goal is also to discuss the role of both Churchill and 
Carr in reshaping the previously established female figure in the dramatic tradition, rather 
archetypal and biased. Challenging gender roles instead, both playwrights allow their characters to reclaim their genuine voices and experiences, this time, from their own perspectives, finally stepping into the spotlight denied to them for so long.

%K Caryl Churchill
%K Marina Carr
%K feminist theatre
%K feminist criticism
%K female characterisation
%K teatro feminista
%K caracterización femenina
%K crítica feminista
%K Literatura
%K Literature
%K Filología
%K Philology
%~ Biblioteca Universidad de Alcala