Travel opens their eyes and imaginations to new possibilities. The play suggests that travel allows women to develop independent ways of thinking and experiencing the world that social duties and familial obligations often prevent. Later, Marlene and Win both speak of having spent time abroad as part of their journeys towards fulfilling careers. Lady Nijo likewise speaks about the second half of her life as a Buddhist nun, traveling Japan on foot as a way of healing after her time as the Emperor's concubine. Isabella Bird speaks constantly of her travels across the globe and attaches great value to those experiences, whereas she associates the demands of societal life in England with disappointment and a frustrating obligation to her husband. Several of the independently minded women in Act 1 are avid travelers. What is the role of travel in the play, and in the lives of the various women who discuss their experiences of it? In Top Girls, Caryl Churchill uses these characters to elucidate important contradictions in the social and professional demands placed upon women in contemporary British society. However, despite her efforts, Joyce's family is still unhappy - her husband has left her and her adopted daughter hates her. She has no time for personal issues, and her character represents the choice that many women in 1970s Britain were struggling with - should they have to sacrifice a private life in order to succeed in their careers? Meanwhile, Joyce is the archetypal bitter housewife - confined to the drudgery and difficulties of caring for family. We first see Marlene celebrating her promotion to a managerial position, and later we observe her hyper- professional, no nonsense demeanor while she is at work. Marlene and Joyce are sisters who serve as foils as the play unfolds. Discuss the key differences between these characters and what they mean for Churchill’s play. Marlene and Joyce seem to represent different ideas of what modern women can and ought to do with their lives. The play suggests that the price that Marlene has paid for her success is extreme, and that women being forced to chose between having a successful career and a fulfilling private life is a form of social injustice. Marlene is the central character, and her career ambitions have depended upon her leaving her daughter, Angie, to be raised by her sister Joyce. Win, Nell, and especially Marlene have made great strides in their careers, they have all done done so by making sacrifices in their private lives in order to focus on their work. Top Girls critically examines the relationship between work and marriage through its depictions of the sacrifices made by successful women at the London employment agency. How does Churchill’s play explore the tensions between work and private life?
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