Women Who Kill
Fall 2024 Honors Seminar ~ Topics/Histories
WOMEN WHO KILL
Professor Carol Martin
cm7@nyu.edu
THEA-UT 801.001
Tuesdays 2:00-4:45 pm
The prevalence of female murderers in drama questions gendered social norms within legal, social, and political notions of women's “aberrance” in relation to love, children, betrayal, and violence. Although male murderers far outnumber female murderers, the subject of women who kill is met with unique sensationalism. Who, how, and why do women kill? What are the circumstances, motives, and explanations for their murder? Are there recurring reasons that women kill? Do the plays about women who kill have a relationship with real murders by women? Are there common plot structures, characters, and styles? Looking at plays in different periods, we will examine the portrayal of women who kill including the historical moment of the authorship and setting of the play, the circumstances in which the protagonists find themselves, and the motives that inform their acts. Legal scholars, psychologists, scholars of feminism, and theatre scholars have all formulated explanations and we will read across these disciplines. Plays may include Medea, Clytemnestra, Trifles, Machinal, Kokoro (True Heart), Tea, By the Bog of the Cats, My Sister in This House, The Maids, Rites, and Horse Girls.
Request accommodations here.
Fall 2024 Honors Seminar ~ Topics/Histories
WOMEN WHO KILL
Professor Carol Martin
cm7@nyu.edu
THEA-UT 801.001
Tuesdays 2:00-4:45 pm
The prevalence of female murderers in drama questions gendered social norms within legal, social, and political notions of women's “aberrance” in relation to love, children, betrayal, and violence. Although male murderers far outnumber female murderers, the subject of women who kill is met with unique sensationalism. Who, how, and why do women kill? What are the circumstances, motives, and explanations for their murder? Are there recurring reasons that women kill? Do the plays about women who kill have a relationship with real murders by women? Are there common plot structures, characters, and styles? Looking at plays in different periods, we will examine the portrayal of women who kill including the historical moment of the authorship and setting of the play, the circumstances in which the protagonists find themselves, and the motives that inform their acts. Legal scholars, psychologists, scholars of feminism, and theatre scholars have all formulated explanations and we will read across these disciplines. Plays may include Medea, Clytemnestra, Trifles, Machinal, Kokoro (True Heart), Tea, By the Bog of the Cats, My Sister in This House, The Maids, Rites, and Horse Girls.
Request disability accommodations here.