20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The price of success, July 27, 1999
By A Customer
This review is from: Top Girls (Open University Set Book) (Paperback)
Caryl Churchill's 'Top Girls'is a play about women who have defined their roles in life according to their individual perception of womanhood. As the play opens and we see women from ages past sit around celebrating Marlene's promotion, this anomaly is lost in the dynamism of the conversation. Are these women really successful? Has Marlene really risen to become a 'top girl'? These questions are debated in the following scenes where the reader meets various women who have pursued their profession at the expense of a personal life. Marlene is no exception, as she has given up a daughter to drive across the USA and live in the 'fast lane' while her sister cared for the child. Unlike Marlene, she has given up options in life to take care of her sister's daughter and maintains the family bonds by visiting her aged mother. Marlene, however, is still the favored one by both daughter and mother; has she earned this praise?
This is not only about women and feminism. It is about labour and class, about sacrifice, and most of all, about human imperfections. I enjoyed not just reading the play, but the stimulating debates that arise out of discussions inspired by the text. It is not a traightforward contrast between right and wrong, old and modern, feminine and masculine but it examines the gray areas in between which take into account human fallacies and individual priorities.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Feminism through the ages?, April 29, 2000
I read Top Girls in my dramatic literature class in college. Reading the play can be very helpful if you plan to attend a performance. Characters are constantly interrupting each other mid-sentence and an audience can miss much of the dialouge. The concept for the play is wonderful. It examines women's lives throughout history- from Joan of Arc to women in a temp agency- all sitting down to dinner. The dialogue is exceptional and the each woman's story can fill a play in itself. However, this is definately a play you will want to see acted on stage. It's also a fun play to read/ act out loud with girlfriends because it raises many issues which concern contemporary women.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Feminism through the ages?, April 29, 2000
I read Top Girls in my dramatic literature class in college. Reading the play can be very helpful if you plan to attend a performance. Characters are constantly interrupting each other mid-sentence and an audience can miss much of the dialouge. The concept for the play is wonderful. It examines women's lives throughout history- from Joan of Arc to women in a temp agency- all sitting down to dinner. The dialogue is exceptional and the each woman's story can fill a play in itself. However, this is definately a play you will want to see acted on stage. It's also a fun play to read/ act out loud with girlfriends because it raises many issues which concern contemporary women.
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