Feminist Analysis of Cloud Nine
In 1979, Caryl Churchill wrote a feminist play entitled Cloud Nine. It was the result of a workshop for the Joint Stock Theatre Group and was intended to be about sexual politics. Within the writing she included a myriad of different themes ranging from homosexuality and homophobia to female objectification and oppression. “Churchill clearly intended to raise questions of gender, sexual orientation, and race as ideological issues; she accomplished this largely by cross-dressing and role-doubling the actors, thereby alienating them from the characters they play.” (Worthen, 807) The play takes part in two acts; in the first we see Clive, his family, friends, and servants in a Victorian British Colony in Africa; the second act takes place in 1979 London, but only twenty-five years have passed for the family. The choice to contrast the Victorian and Modern era becomes vitally important when analyzing this text from a materialist feminist view; materialist feminism relies heavily on history. Cloud Nine is a materialist feminist play; within it one can find examples that support all the tenets of materialist feminism as outlined in the Feminism handout (Bryant-Bertail, 1).
The system of patriarchy allies itself to economic power (Bryant-Bertail, 1). In the first act of the play, several references are made that allude to the economic power being held by the men. The play opens with the line “Come gather, sons of England, come gather in your pride” (Churchill, 810) and in Clive’s opening speech he makes several fatherly references; “I am father to the natives here, and father to my family so dear” (810). In the next song the line “The forge of war shall weld the chains of brotherhood secure” (810) can be found. It is interesting to also note that intermixed with these lines are references to Queen Victoria’s sovereignty. Several lines such as, “we serve the queen wherever we may roam” and “O’er countless numbers she, our Queen, Victoria reigns supreme” (810) can be found. The author intended these lines to be ironic and humorous. Even though the male characters are the ones saying them, they really don’t have any respect for her as a person, just as a figure.
Women are hierarchized into classes (Bryant-Bertail, 2). In this story many of the women are in separate classes. I...
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...up psychology is not isolated, but considered in relation to larger institutions (Bryant-Bertail, 2). The entire play is aimed directly at this tenet. In Act One, all of the characters think one way and act another. For example while Ellen may actually be a lesbian in love with Betty, she goes ahead and marries Harry because it is “the right thing to do”. However, in Act Two, the characters no longer feel the need to hide what they are from each other. Overall we are left to compare these competing mindsets not just to each other but to the larger institutional psychology; Act One is blatantly Victorian and Act Two is set in the 1970’s. The author purposefully chose these two eras because they so heavily contrast each other. The rigidity of Victorianism and the liberation of the late 70’s when compared with the characters show us that times may change but what people think doesn’t.
Works Cited
Barry, Peter. Beginning Theory An Introduction to Literary and Cultural Theory. Manchester:
Manchester University Press, 1995
Churchill, Caryl In Worthen, W. B. ed. The Harcourt Brace Anthology of Drama. Fortworth:
Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 2000.
Companies and factories were expanding and women and children were able to join the workforce. The Knights of Labor, led by Powderly, attracted both skilled and unskilled workers. They participated in many of the major events due to the Knights of Labor such as the Haymarket Riot and the great railroad strike. Another big labor union was the American Federation of Labor (AFof L), led by Samuel Gompers. While the Knights of Labor allowed skilled and unskilled workers, the American Federation of Labor only allowed skilled workers. Gompers argued and demanded for “a reduction of the hours of labor” and for better wages (Doc 6). Many laborers joined these labor unions to fight against the big
Epstein, Robert, Mayuri Pandit, and Mansi Thakar. "How Love Emerges In Arranged Marriages: Two Cross-Cultural Studies." Journal Of Comparative Family Studies 44.3 (2013): 341-360. Academic Search Complete. Web. 31 Mar. 2014
The Knights of Labor was a secret union formed in 1869 by Uriah P. Stevens and James L. Wright, this was the largest labor organization in the 19th century, hitting 700,000 members at its highest point. They promoted the social and cultural rise of the working man, rejected socialism and radicalism, demanded the eight-hour day, and promoted the idea of republicanism. (Manser). The American Federation of Labor founded in 1886 by Peter J. McGuire and Samuel Gompers. (Difference Between Knights of Labor and AFL). They had
The biggest irony of this book is not that the women described here fail, or remain at the bottom--sex discrimination within societal structure has already been doing that since the beginning of time. The most
Beginning in the late 1700’s and growing rapidly even today, labor unions form the backbone for the American workforce and continue to fight for the common interests of workers around the country. As we look at the history of these unions, we see powerful individuals such as Terrence Powderly, Samuel Gompers, and Eugene Debs rise up as leaders in a newfound movement that protected the rights of the common worker and ensured better wages, more reasonable hours, and safer working conditions for those people (History). The rise of these labor unions also warranted new legislation that would protect against child labor in factories and give health benefits to workers who were either retired or injured, but everyone was not on board with the idea of foundations working to protect the interests of the common worker. Conflict with their industries lead to many strikes across the country in the coal, steel, and railroad industries, and several of these would ultimately end up leading to bloodshed. However, the existence of labor unions in the United States and their influence on their respective industries still resonates today, and many of our modern ideals that we have today carry over from what these labor unions fought for during through the Industrial Revolution.
...ee elements. This can be seen as materialistic goods as well as the desire to minimize work by hiring others are ignored within the community. Our souls however, do not have this balance since the constant craving of materialistic things consumes our everyday thoughts and actions. Our appetites grow stronger by the day, enabling us to realize that we can never be rich enough to possess all the goods we want in life. Our wants seem to be unlimited, meaning that we can never fully reach the wealth, sense of freedom, and internal security that enable the Amish to embrace the highest level of happiness in life. Therefore, based on Plato’s account of the just person, the Amish are seen as people that are more just than we are since they do not possess an internal conflict within their soul, a conflict that has influenced our selfish thoughts and actions for years.
In 1886, Samuel Gompers combined small unions specific to one craft into the American Federation of Labor, which included all skilled workers. He did not unite the entire working class; skilled laborers were in higher demand, and keeping the AF of L exclusive to them gave them more leverage. Knowing that the radical nature of the Knights of Labor led to its downfall, the AF of L chose to keep their demands simple, only asking for higher wages and better working conditions. These changes were unanimously wanted, and kept the organization united, with the AF of L being the biggest labor union up until the Great Depression.
Kraybill (2014) note that one of the techniques the Amish use to preserve their cultural separation is that they steadfastly elude urban life and area, living only in rural settlements that provided seclusion and exclude them from any temptations. The distance created has empowered them to evade extreme obsession with buying material goods, household furnishings, vacation, clothing and the crazes of widely held values and beliefs. Moreover, they have successfully cloistered themselves from social movements, such as feminism, pluralism, and multiculturalism that would dramatically transform their lives in many ways (Kraybill 2014).
...present powerful characters, while females represent unimportant characters. Unaware of the influence of society’s perception of the importance of sexes, literature and culture go unchanged. Although fairytales such as Sleeping Beauty produce charming entertainment for children, their remains a didactic message that lays hidden beneath the surface; teaching future generations to be submissive to the inequalities of their gender. Feminist critic the works of former literature, highlighting sexual discriminations, and broadcasting their own versions of former works, that paints a composite image of women’s oppression (Feminist Theory and Criticism). Women of the twenty-first century serge forward investigating, and highlighting the inequalities of their race in effort to organize a better social life for women of the future (Feminist Theory and Criticism).
A great place to begin is by investigating when and where or even how did our society, the United States, become socialized to the point where roles and expectations are defined by gender. How have theorists or researchers expla...
A young girl growing up in 21st century America has a much better chance of achieving a high-paying, high-prestige, management level job than most all of her predecessors in the early, middle and late 20th century. Despite this, however, women who have such a position, depending on the field of course, are likely to find themselves as the token woman among men, which puts her in a tricky position (Conley 311). A woman that asserts herself in a way seen as “masculine” would likely be negatively received by her male counterparts, making her job harder than it would be without such pressures (Conley 311). Should the woman fail at coping with this and fail at some aspect of her job, it becomes ammunition for her aggrieved male coworkers who see this as justification that women cannot handle such positions (Conley 311).
Women have been considered the weaker gender since the beginning of time. The distinctions between men and women, such as roles within the family, have prevented women from achieving societal progress as men. Gender inequality and the Glass Wall Effect are known inhibiting factors in upward mobility within the workplace. Men experience professional upward movement, both in wages and position, while women are trapped by glass ceilings and glass walls. Education and professional achievements are not deciding factors and women who assert themselves can also be seen as bossy. History tells a story of progression and a continual struggle for women to be seen and considered as equals.
Since the 19th century, the women's movement has made fantastic strides toward obtaining civil rights for women in America. Woman suffrage has been abolished, and they are no longer viewed as second-class citizens. Unfortunately, the issue of gender inequality still echoes in today's society. The fight to change a society shaped predominately by men continues, and will likely pursue for decades to come. Whether it be social, political, or economic rights, the main idea is equality for all genders, man or woman. In modern society, it seems that such a simple concept should be accepted globally by everyone – so why do women still face the daily toils of demanding the privileges that should available to all? No matter the class of woman, it is likely they will suffer from inequality and stereotypes at some point in their life. We see this in the workplace, where women have been shown to earn less then men. Some women also face the dangers of sexual violence, and are left victimized for such crimes.
The role women play in today’s society is a drastic change from the previous role. Women used to be confined to the superiority of the man. Physically, mentally, and emotionally abused, belittled, embarrassed, and silenced. These are just a few examples of the emotion from the isolated treatment of the past. A woman’s role in today’s society is more valued than ever before.
arose in response to the changing role of women in society (Rich and Walker 1.)