Caryl Churchill's play Top Girls contains many social observations about the modern woman. This is done mainly by great characterization. In the play Top Girls we come to know many women, both modern and historical, who appear to be extremely successful. At the time this play was written, in 1982, feminism, and the successes of the modern "business women" was an earthshaking movement that had an extreme effected on society. This feminist movement is the backbone that shapes all of the characters in the play Top Girls.

The characters in Act I, Scene I (p. 1604) of Top Girls, stand as symbols of successful women in various times and places through out the past 1200 years. In this scene Marlene, who has been recently promoted to head of the Top Girls Employment Agency, is hosting a dinner party for other successful women in history to celebrate with her. The guest include; Pope Joan of the 9th Century; Isabella's Bird, a well traveled Scottish woman of the 19th Century; Lady Nijo, a 13th Century courtesan to the Japanese emperor and later a Buddhist nun; Dull Gret, a hearty peasant woman pictured battling the devils in hell in a 16th Century painting; and Patient Griselda, a d

Marlene also displays characteristics that show that she has a disillusion about her self-needs as well. Marlene leads an unstable life, dealing with many lovers, abortions and alcohol all for the pursuit of professionalism. Her life resembles that of a male bachelor businessman. Marlene feels that she has to assume these roles in order to succeed in society. This assuming of a manly role is also seen in Joan in the first Act. Joan's character has taken this to the extreme. She has actually taken on the role of a man, by posing as a man in, order to succeed. Joan was successful until her femininity took over and she took on a lover, and then became pregnant.

evoted wife who appears as a character in Geoffrey Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales". Each of these women share a common thread; they succeeded in a male dominated world by ignoring

Behind Marlene's professional exterior, is a personal life that bares the scars of her success. By portraying Marlene's character as she does in Top Girls, Churchill is getting across her socialists views. Churchill is actually attacking feminism by showing that the idea of women taking on manly roles in order to succeed does not always lead to success in every way possible.

I feel that this first Act does a lot to shape the characterization of the characters. In the first scene Churchill introduces you to the fact that more than one character is talking at once, the characters are often times interrupted by other characters. This helps to show that the characters are self absorbed, what they have to say is so important that it can't wait until the other person is done talking. This self-absorption is a trait that we se continue on through the play with many of the other characters. Also, at the dinner each woman seems to be boosting about herself and how great she is. This seems very similar to the

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Approximate Word count = 1258
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)