Student Essay on Character Sketches of Woman in Act I of "Top Girls"

Character Sketches of Woman in Act I of "Top Girls"

Summary:   Character sketches of the five powerful women introduced in Act I of "Top Girls" by Caryl Churchill are Isabella Bird, Lady Nijo, Dull Gret, Pope Joan and Patient Griselda. The first act introduces feminist themse, such as the universal female experience.

The first act of the play Top Girls by Caryl Churchill clearly introduces feminist themes. Marlene, the host and the main character, hosts a dinner party in a restaurant in London to celebrate her promotion to Managing Director of an Employment Agency called 'Top Girls'. Her five guests are powerful women from the past which are Isabella Bird, Lady Nijo, Dull Gret, Pope Joan and Patient Griselda. Throughout the party, the guests narrate their individual life stories, constantly interrupting and overlapping each other.

This Act clearly describes the universal female experience. The beauty of the Act lies in the fact that Caryl Churchill combines women from the past with the Modern World to signify and demonstrate the condition of women throughout the ages. This Act also displays the power of men and how women had to imitate men to become successful. For instance, Pope Joan disguises herself as a man to become Pope as "women, children and lunatics can't be Pope." Lady Nijo is forced to live a life of a maiden on the orders of The Emperor. Griselda sacrifices the lives of her Children on the orders of her husband. Act 1 gives the reader a clear picture of the struggle of women to reach on top and out do their male counterparts. The irony in this Act is that the reader gets to know an awful lot about the five guests. However much has been left unsaid about the main character, Marlene.

Isabella Bird

She's one of the guests invited to the party. She is the daughter of a clergyman who moved to live in Scotland. Being a clergyman's daughter she tried to please her father by engaging in feminine work such as music, needlework and charitable schemes. She travelled to Australia but was unable to set up and shifted to Sandwich Islands. The love of her life was her sister, Hennie. Dr. John Bishop was her husband. She never left her husband but she disliked all the domestic and social work that she was required to do.

She loved to travel and travelled to several places between the ages of 70 to 90. At 90, she visited Morocco and was the first woman to meet the Emperor. She hated being a woman and leading the life of a woman. During the Act, she comments

"I cannot and will not live the life of a lady....... Why should I?"

This clearly shows her struggle to live the life she wants in a world where men are still more powerful.

Lady Nijo

Lady Nijo was first at court but later became a Buddhist nun. At the age of fourteen, she was sent to The Emperor as a maiden. She was brought up for this and she respected the Emperor. Her father was a poet and a religious person. He told her to be loyal to the Emperor and if she lost his favours, she should enter holy orders. As a nun, Nijo travelled

Japan on foot for twenty years. Nijo also talks about getting pregnant in the Act. She talks about the four children that she had. Her first child was the Emperor's but it died. Her second child was Akebono's, her lover. Her other two children were those of Ariake the priest.

Nijo's life is also one of constant struggle. She is always forced to listen to men and act accordingly. From the narration of her story we get to know that Nijo has suffered great loss throughout her life. She feels depressed when she remembers the death of her father and the Emperor. She cries at the loss of her children. The reader also gets to know about Nijo's interest in gowns and dresses.

Dull Gret

Dull Gret is the subject of a Brueghel painting in which a woman in an armour leads several women charging through hell and fighting the Devils. This character has very little to say until the end of the Act. Her character is that of a very harsh and strong woman who acts crudely. Her interjections are quite amusing and harsh. Her story is quite inspirational for all the other ladies as she showed a lot of courage. She was surrounded by devils and she fought with them and beat them up along with the other women. Gret had also lost her eldest son and her baby who had been killed by soldiers during the Spanish Invasion. All these events made her brave and strong.

Pope Joan

She has a very different story to tell. She ran away at the age of 12, disguised as a boy because as she was a female she was not allowed access to the Library. She decided to lead the life of a man and devote her life to learning. When Pope Leo died she was elected as pope.

She greatly enjoyed the life of a Pope. She was finally exposed as a woman when she had a baby. She was unaware of her pregnancy as she was not aware of the changes in a woman's body because she had lived all her life being a man. Her baby was born during the Roman clergy on Rogation Day. She started experiencing labour pains. All the people thought that the Pope was ill however the baby slid out.

All the people were enraged. As a result, Joan was dragged out of town and stoned to death. Her baby was killed as well.

Pope Joan's story has a very tragic end and clearly demonstrates the struggle of a woman to imitate men so as to fulfil her aspirations.

Griselda

Griselda is the last guest of the party and finds all the guests to be drunk. Her story talks about her marriage and how she sacrificed the life of her children on the commands of her husband. Griselda was married to Walter, who was the ruling marquis. However she had to promise that she would always obey her husband. When her first child was born Walter asked her to give up her child. She obediently gave it up. After 4 years she had a son and, again her husband asked her to give up the baby. She did exactly as she was told. After about twelve years, she was tested again by her husband. Walter decided to get married to another girl and sent her back to her father.

Quite soon, she was called again to prepare his wedding. When the guests entered Walter remained behind and kissed Griselda instead. He then showed her the two children and all of them lived happily.

All the guests in the party feel totally amazed at her story and feel that it, s just like a fairy tale. Marlene, however, criticises Walter for being so heartless and inconsiderate. At the end of it all, Griselda begins to wonder that it would have been so much better if Walter hadn't done anything.

Feelings of joy, humour, terror, horror and dismay are expressed throughout the Act as the characters narrate their stories and comment on the other stories.

At the end of the Act, all the ladies end up getting completely drunk.