FROM MRS WARREN’S PROFESSION TO PRESS CUTTINGS: THE WOMAN QUESTION IN GEORGE BERNARD SHAW’S PLAYS

Year 2017, , 55 - 66, 22.06.2017

Banu Öğünç

https://doi.org/10.21497/sefad.328244

Cited By: 1

Abstract

George Bernard Shaw, who introduced social realism to
the British stage, is considered to be the most significant playwright of the
Victorian era. In his plays, he challenged the typical Victorian representation
of female characters and introduced a new woman type who stands as a powerful
and independent figure. Shaw’s female characters can be analysed in line with
the suffragette movement, the fight given by British women to gain their right
to vote. In this regard, Shaw’s play Mrs
Warren’s Profession exemplifies a
female character who can be considered as an advocate for female liberation and
power. On the other hand, his play Press
Cuttings, which was specifically written to support the suffragette
movement, neither exemplifies the new woman image presented by Shaw in his
plays nor contributes to the suffragette movement. Hence, this study aims to
discuss the theme of the rights of women and to focus on George Bernard Shaw’s Mrs Warren’s Profession and Press Cuttings by means of Shaw’s
involvement in and support for the suffragette movement from the Victorian to
the Edwardian era.

Keywords

George Bernard Shaw, Mrs Warren’s Profession, Press Cuttings, suffragette movement, women’s rights

MRS WARREN’S PROFESSION’DAN PRESS CUTTINGS’E: GEORGE BERNARD SHAW’UN OYUNLARINDA KADIN SORUSU

Abstract

Sosyal
gerçekçiliği Britanya sahnesine taşıyan George Bernard Shaw Viktorya döneminin
en önemli oyun yazarı olarak bilinmektedir. Oyunlarında geleneksel Viktorya
dönemi kadın imajına meydan okuyan Shaw, bağımsız ve güçlü tasvir edilen yeni
bir kadın imajını sahneye taşımıştır. Shaw’un kadın karakterleri Britanyalı
kadınların oy hakkı için savaş verdiği süfrajet hareketi çerçevesinde
incelenebilir. Bu bağlamda Shaw’un Mrs
Warren’s Profession adlı oyununun
kadın özgürlüğünü savunan bir kadın karakteri örneklendirdiği belirtilebilir.
Öte yandan süfrajet hareketini desteklemek amacıyla yazdığı Press Cuttings oyunu ne Shaw’un ortaya
koyduğu yeni kadın imajını örneklendirebilir ne de gerçek anlamda süfrajet
hareketini destekler. Bu çerçevede bu çalışma George Bernard Shaw’un
oyunlarındaki kadın hakları temasını incelemeyi ve Shaw’un Mrs Warren’s Profession ve Press
Cuttings adlı oyunlarına Shaw’un Viktorya döneminden Edward dönemine kadar
olan süreçte oy hakkı için verilen mücadeledeki rolü açısından odaklanmayı hedeflemektedir.

Keywords

George Bernard Shaw, Mrs Warren’s Profession, Press Cuttings, süfrajet hareketi, kadın hakları

References

• DELAP, Lucy (2005). “Feminist and Anti-Feminist Encounters in Edwardian Britain”. Historical Research (78): 377-399. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-2281.2005.00235.x/pdf [14.04.2017].
• GRECEO, Stephen (1967). “Vivie Warren's Profession: a new look at ‘Mrs. Warren's Profession’”. The Shaw Review 10 (3): 93-99. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40682482 [22.08.2016].
• HIRSHFIELD, Claire (1987). “The Suffragist as Playwright in Edwardian England”. Frontiers: A Journal of Women Studies 9 (2): 1-6. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3346180 [11.04.2016].
• HOLROYD, Michael (1979). “George Bernard Shaw: Women and the Body Politic”. Critical Inquiry 6 (1): 17-32. http://www.jstor.org/stable/1343083 [11.04.2016]. KENT, Susan Kingsley (1990). Sex and Suffrage in Britain, 1860-1914. London: Routledge.
• KORNHABER, David (2009). The Birth of Theatre from the Spirit of Philosophy: Friedrich Nietzsche and the Development of the Modern Drama. Dissertation. New York: Columbia University.
• LAURENCE, Dan H. (2004). “Victorians Unveiled: Some Thoughts on ‘Mrs. Warren’s Profession’”. Shaw (24): 38-45. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/173220 [22.08.2016].
• MARKER, Frederick Jr (1998). “Shaw’s Early Plays”. The Cambridge Companion to George Bernard Shaw. ed. Christopher Innes. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. 103-123.
• McFADDEN, Karen Doris (1976). “George Bernard Shaw and the Woman Question”. Diss. University of Toronto.
• PURDOM, C.B (1966). A Guide to the Plays of Bernard Shaw. London: Methuen.
• SHAW, George Bernard (1965). Mrs. Warren’s Profession. The Complete Plays of Bernard Shaw. London: Paul Hamlyn. 61-92.
• SHAW, George Bernard (1965). Press Cuttings. The Complete Plays of Bernard Shaw. London: Paul Hamlyn. 1089-1105.
• WATSON, Barbara Bellow (1964). A Shavian Guide to the Intelligent Woman. London: Chatto and Windus.