The Self and the Institution Within Top Girls - "How Far We've Come"
How Far We’ve Come
Throughout history, women have been known to make innumerous sacrifices for their children. There’s no shortage of material, both fictional and historical, involving women laying down their lives for their kids. Because we are conditioned to see motherhood as saying goodbye to the notion of selfishness, it’s hard to then imagine a mother not feeling that sense of duty. Caryl Churchill’s Top Girls gives us a look into the psyche of a mother who has done much the opposite of fulfilling that duty, instead sacrificing motherhood for something that may seem inconsequential: her career. While it’s sometimes easy to point the finger at women who prioritize their jobs over their children, it’s more accurate and productive to investigate why women often have to choose one or the other while men can more easily manage both. It is the institution of work itself that has stifled the success of women in the workforce and, to this day, can adversely affect both their work and private lives.
Institutions are defined as “particular formal organizations of government and public services, identified by a social purpose to govern or control the behavior of a set of individuals within the community” (“Institution”). Institutions of work, heavily supported by a country’s government, aptly govern the lives of the men and women who live there. These institutions carry influence by often unknowingly affecting the behavior of the individuals that subscribe to them. This is referred to as institutionalized behavior, wherein “people fulfill specific roles within a group and enact what is expected of them” (“Institution”). In the case of Top Girls, the institution of work is shown to have particular influence over the role Marlene fulfills in her career. To understand the origin of the roles and behavior which the institution of work encourages in women, we must also consider that they are predated by institutions which have worked in tandem to subjugate women throughout history.
At the beginning of the novel we are treated to a fantasy of Marlene’s, wherein she celebrates a promotion at work by hosting a dinner party with several female historical figures. The women that Marlene invites to her congratulatory dinner allow the reader a comparative look at Marlene’s accomplishments and call into question what their respective positions in the timeline mean for women’s rights. While their individual stories detail several nuances involved with being women in male-dominated societies, one stands out as we later come to know its connection to Marlene’s story. It becomes clear toward the end of their dinner that several of them have shared a common sacrifice: children.
Patient Griselda, a character derived from European folklore dating back to roughly 1350 (“Griselda (folklore)”), displays that trademark patience as her husband puts her through a series of cruel and unreasonable tests. He marries her, convinces her that she must give up their children to be killed, divorces her, and later calls on her to serve him as he remarries. Many years have passed since she first gave up the children when he finally reveals that they are in fact alive and, lucky for her, he still wishes to be married to her. Patient Griselda is a testament to the subjugation of women in regards to ownership of their children. She is only allowed access to her children after proving herself completely obedient to her husband, which amounts to gatekeeping within the institution of marriage. Her tale seems intended to inspire women to unquestioningly put their roles as wives above their roles as mothers. In this way, institutions can at times be at odds, one having more power over the individual than another.
Pope Joan allegedly disguised herself as a man and became Pope around the year 855 (“Pope Joan”). For her character she was revered and even elected by the people, proving that the one and only thing making her unworthy of wielding power in this society’s institution of religion was her gender. The “miracle of childbirth” is almost universally believed, especially by the Christian faith, to be a blessing, yet when Pope Joan publicly gives birth and is discovered to be a man, she is stoned for it. This is because, in this case, the sin of being a woman in her position outweighs the blessing that is the creation of a life. Joan’s legend illustrates the truly barbaric repercussions of being a woman at one point in our history, but we’ve no doubt come a long way since. While it’s true that we have gained a more civil approach to apprehending crime and would most certainly not murder a woman who has just given birth, our society’s attitude toward women and the way they navigate motherhood is far from perfect.
Isabella Bird appears to have retained more of her sanity than some of the other dinner guests, but owes a lot of that to the freedom she received in her refusal to be tied down by marriage or motherhood. In 1831, Isabella, having long suffered from illness and depression, is recommended to travel by her doctor (“Isabella Bird”). With her father’s money, she visits North America and goes on to write several well-received books about her adventures abroad. Isabella is able to enjoy a healthy personal and later work life where her fellow women haven’t, but she mentions on a few occasions that it’s only due to her selfish nature. “Hennie and John were so good. I did no good in my life. I spent years in self gratification,” (Churchill 29) she admits. Indeed, it seems that being “selfish” is in many cases the only way for women to have a sense of personal identity beyond playing the role laid out in one institution or another. She seems to accept that there is no freedom within those institutions, and the only way to escape from the roles they would set up for her as a woman is in not participating at all. This is further proven by her brief marriage to John Bishop in 1881 (“Isabella Bird”). For a time, she returns to England and settles down with the doctor who had treated her now deceased sister, but her health issues and depression soon return. The marriage puts a stop to her travels up until his death a few years later, upon which she promptly sets out again, the excitement of traveling revitalizing her mental health (Churchill 24). Her subscription to the institution of marriage clearly gives her a responsibility which puts the rest of her life on hold until she is effectively released from said institution.
The dinner party soon devolves into the chaos of several women speaking, shouting, and even singing over one another, and the reader is awoken from Marlene’s fantasy. Marlene has just received a management position at the employment agency she works at. Her female coworkers have respect for her, and she seems poised to be a shining example of the strides women have made in the 20thcentury. On the surface, she appears to be handling the burden of womanhood much better than her predecessors, but we soon learn that she is all too familiar with her dinner guests’ sacrifice. It is revealed that Marlene is essentially alone: she has success, but nobody to share it with. Though her coworkers admire her, their relationship is competitive and professional rather than personal. Marlene’s parents are gone, and she’d despised them anyways. Her relationship with her sister Joyce is stifled, which we learn is largely due to the fact that the child Joyce has raised since birth is in fact Marlene’s. Marlene’s rejection of her own child seems a small price to pay to get out of her small, lower middle-class hometown. Was it really necessary to give up her child to pursue a career? Assuming Marlene’s story takes place in 1982, when the play premiered, were the two things still so mutually exclusive?
Although the Equal Pay Act was enacted in the United States in 1963 (“The Equal Pay Act of 1963”), ending wage disparity between men and women, there are tangible discrepancies between the treatment of men and women in the workforce even today. One such discrepancy is the huge gray area that is parenting. Motherhood makes working impossible at points in pregnancy and early childhood, with many countries mandating unrealistically short paid maternity leave. This often forces women out of an invaluable source of income, and can even leave them no choice but to quit their jobs and fulfill traditional roles as mothers. In addition, a working or even present father can be a luxury to new mothers, with single moms often having no choice but to work during the most crucial time in a child’s development. It is only since 2010 (Janta) that the U.K. has mandated a certain amount of free childcare. The United States government provides no such assistance, and American women, unsurprisingly, cite the high cost of full-time care as a major reason for dropping out of the labor force (Janta).
It becomes clear upon some investigation that the institution of work has never completely made room for women, but has simply agreed to accept those who present themselves as men: confident, competitive, and fully available. When the stakes get higher, a woman may very well find herself choosing between herself and her child. Is it equality then, to treat men and women exactly the same? This would seem a to be a case of equality of opportunity rather than outcome, where the unique needs of women aren’t a concern but we can still brand it “equality” because both women and men are denied sufficient maternity leave and childcare. There are plenty of victories for women to look back at and rejoice over, but with patriarchal institutions still serving as the foundation of our society, it seems there are battles yet to be won.
Works Cited
Churchill, Caryl. Top Girls. Samuel French, 1982.
“Griselda (Folklore).” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 3 Oct. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Griselda_(folklore).
“Institution.”Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 18 Nov. 2018, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institution.
"Isabella Bird." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 09 November 2018. <http://biography.yourdictionary.com/isabella-bird>.
Janta, Barbara. “Britain Just Expanded Free Child Care. The U.S. Should Follow Its Lead.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 26 Oct. 2017,
“Pope Joan.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 21 Sept. 2018, www.britannica.com/topic/Pope-Joan.
United States, Congress, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. “The Equal Pay Act of 1963.” The Equal Pay Act of 1963.