Gender politics can be defined as the discussion and interaction of opposing viewpoints regarding gender. It is one of the most commonly discussed issues in politics today. Recently, western society has been asking itself to re-evaluate its views of heteronormativity and societal expectations on men and women. The portrayal of male and female characters in literature asks audiences to create their own definitions masculinity and femininity. This is a gateway to political discussion within oneself and with others. Works such as ‘The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock’ and Cloud 9 have characters that do not fit in with society’s current view of masculinity and femininity. This then, makes these works political. T.S. Eliot’s ‘The Love Song of
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T.S. Eliot had a very peculiar relationship with women, having an unhappy marriage with his first wife and reportedly having difficulty with sexual intimacy throughout his relationships. Though it all being speculative, many believe that Eliot’s issues with women stem from his fear of them and their empowerment. In a letter written to his father, Eliot wrote, ‘I distrust the Feminine in literature, and also, once a woman has had anything printed in your paper, it is very difficult to make her see why you should not print everything she sends in’ (Eliot 228). Eliot’s “distrust” of the female role in literature is a clear indication of his insecurities regarding women. On Eliot’s view of women, Loris Mirella writes: ‘Freedom, for Eliot, is always determined by, and rests on, an ambiguous relationship to independence, And, independent women are unanchored, unattached, and without a set social role which would define freedom in terms of responsibility’ (Mirella 105). These “independent women” were free of the restraints of gender roles …show more content…
Cloud 9 tells the story of a British family in Africa during the Victorian era, and their lives 25 years later back in the English 1970s. In Africa, Clive, the man of the house, is played by a woman, his wife Betty by a man, their son Edward by a woman, and their daughter Victoria by a ventriloquist dummy. Surprisingly, the reason for the change in gender was not to question the gender of the characters. ‘This reversal of traditional gender roles was done, according to Churchill, to give focus to the politics of the plot, not to the gender of the characters. Had the greedy property owner been male, the idea of the play could have been easily accepted as ordinary’ (Simons). Simons explains that Churchill chose to change the gender of the characters to have the audience focus on the plays “politics”. When the characters are played by their opposite gender but do as the gender of the character is expected to, Churchill is hoping it will cause the audience to question the actions of the character, and look within themselves to understand why they believe in those specific gender roles. This idea is backed up by Elin Diamond, who says, ‘The male playing Betty, the female playing her son Edward, foreground the ways in which culture, through its custodians in the family, discipline the body, force
T.S. Eliot had a very peculiar relationship with women, having an unhappy marriage with his first wife and reportedly having difficulty with sexual intimacy throughout his relationships. Though it all being speculative, many believe that Eliot’s issues with women stem from his fear of them and their empowerment. In a letter written to his father, Eliot wrote, ‘I distrust the Feminine in literature, and also, once a woman has had anything printed in your paper, it is very difficult to make her see why you should not print everything she sends in’ (Eliot 228). Eliot’s “distrust” of the female role in literature is a clear indication of his insecurities regarding women. On Eliot’s view of women, Loris Mirella writes: ‘Freedom, for Eliot, is always determined by, and rests on, an ambiguous relationship to independence, And, independent women are unanchored, unattached, and without a set social role which would define freedom in terms of responsibility’ (Mirella 105). These “independent women” were free of the restraints of gender roles …show more content…
Cloud 9 tells the story of a British family in Africa during the Victorian era, and their lives 25 years later back in the English 1970s. In Africa, Clive, the man of the house, is played by a woman, his wife Betty by a man, their son Edward by a woman, and their daughter Victoria by a ventriloquist dummy. Surprisingly, the reason for the change in gender was not to question the gender of the characters. ‘This reversal of traditional gender roles was done, according to Churchill, to give focus to the politics of the plot, not to the gender of the characters. Had the greedy property owner been male, the idea of the play could have been easily accepted as ordinary’ (Simons). Simons explains that Churchill chose to change the gender of the characters to have the audience focus on the plays “politics”. When the characters are played by their opposite gender but do as the gender of the character is expected to, Churchill is hoping it will cause the audience to question the actions of the character, and look within themselves to understand why they believe in those specific gender roles. This idea is backed up by Elin Diamond, who says, ‘The male playing Betty, the female playing her son Edward, foreground the ways in which culture, through its custodians in the family, discipline the body, force