Fall 2023 Honors Seminar ~ Topics/Histories
WOMEN WHO KILL
Professor Carol Martin
cm7@nyu.edu
THEA_UT 801.003
Tuesdays 2:00-4:45
Not only who, how, and why do women kill, but the circumstances, motives, and even punishment for their murders are from those of men. The limited legal rights of women along with sociology, psychology, and feminism all offer explanations of women who kill. What contribution can theatre make to our understanding of female protagonists who kill their husbands, lovers, and children? Dramatic literature in different periods is populated with female protagonists who murder. Reading this literature along with some sexy and enlightening theatre theory, we will examine the legal circumstances of women who kill, the historical moment of the authorship of the plays, the circumstances in which the protagonists find themselves, and the reasoning that informs their choices. Plays may include Medea, Clytemnestra, The Bacchae, Arden of Faversham, Phaedra, Trifles, Machinal, Kokoro (True Heart), Tea, My Sister in This House, and Night Mother among others.