In Cloud Nine, playwright Caryl Churchill examines issues of gender identity, sexuality, and individual freedom as they exist within two traditional and oppressive ideological paradigms: colonial imperialism and male hegemony. By juxtaposing these worlds of political and sexual domination, Churchill draws a parallel between the paralysis demanded by both frameworks on the development and expression of a unique and authentic personality. Churchill dramatizes his argument in a surprising way by questioning the foundations of theatrical conventions. Specifically, it challenges standard methods of representation, as some of the main characters in Cloud Nine are played by actors who do not, in any physical or obvious way, resemble those characters. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get an original essayBy violating the viewer/reader's expectations so radically, the author runs the risk of alienating his audience. Because Churchill distorts and uproots norms of dramatic characterization so boldly, the staging of Cloud Nine can potentially border on the ridiculous or gimmicky. The audience is so upset that members might begin to disengage from the activity of the play and dismiss its theatrical experimentation as too blatant to be considered seriously, too exaggerated to be clever or provocative. However, if such an impression of Cloud Nine is recorded, I believe it is a failure not of the play but of an audience conditioned to ascribe fixed attributes to the characters (or the drama generically) in order to make them intelligible. Cloud Nine does not want to offer satisfaction in this rather prosaic way, nor to deliver to its audience this simple and usual process of understanding. By challenging her audience to reimagine what a “play” might look and sound like, Churchill simultaneously challenges them to reimagine the traditional ideologies she wishes to accommodate. Therefore, coherence in Cloud Nine, if not achieved through a collective recognition of “form” or “character,” paradoxically results from its lack of even superficial cohesion. It is through his style of fragmentation, redefinition and reversal of gender roles that Churchill is able to carefully examine his subject and construct a powerful polemic, his argument for feminism. of apparently disjointed elements) is multiple. At the most immediate level, Churchill attempts to deconstruct the concept of "gender", to separate it from an erroneously assumed organic origin or justification (i.e. "sex"), in order to support that gender is neither “essential” nor “biological.” Rather, it is a social construct reflecting and supported by a broader ideological framework. Therefore, Churchill must avoid treating his characters as independent, fully realized, self-realized “people,” and instead depict them as vessels for the articulation of accepted socio-sexual mores. She carries out this representation and lays the foundations of her main artistic and political argument, in the first act of her play. The first act of Cloud Nine literally and figuratively takes place in the male imperialist milieu: set in a British colony in Africa during the Victorian era (colonialism) and featuring main characters whose gender is fixed but true identity censored sexual relations (male hegemony). In this first act, Churchill engages his distinct dramatic approach, his fragmented "genre play", in order to depict thesexual confusion of his characters. Betty, the wife of the main patriarchal character, Clive, is played by a man. Edward, Clive's son who exhibits a significant – and therefore unacceptable by patriarchal standards – degree of effeminate behavior, is played by a woman. In addition to the overt (anti-)characteristic choices, the dialogue in the first act further attests to the idea that freedom of personal expression is stifled in a male-dominated social context. Specifically, the dialogue in this act seems highly artificial and controlled, as if filtered through the eyes, ears, and lips of patriarchal forces (i.e., Clive). The absence among the submissive characters, as a mark of their “slave” status, of a clear link between the speaker and the content of the speech. For example, Ellen, Edward's housekeeper, is one of the first sexually bold and progressive characters we meet. She harbors and attempts to express romantic feelings for Betty. When she tries to profess this love, the "Betty-as-man"/"Betty-as-Clive" figure seems completely unaware of both Ellen's insinuations and her more overt actions. In the second scene of the first act, Ellen very deliberately, without hesitation or ambiguity, kisses Betty. But Betty simply skirts around this surprising event; she does not directly question or address the potential meaning of the kiss. Instead, like a conditioned subject, Betty returns to the patriarchy storyline, discussing her adulterous – but more normative – feelings for Harry (Clive's friend, and also a symbol of male hegemony). She tells Ellen: "Everyone will hate me, but it's worth it for Harry... Harry says we shouldn't leave." But he adores me. Ellen then attempts to place herself in the “role” occupied by Harry, to present herself as Betty’s lover, by reproducing the form of his speech: “I adore you Betty,” she imitates. However, Betty cannot guess the depth of feeling behind these lines and mistakes Ellen's words for a simple affirmation of friendship. Later in the act, faced with Ellen's explicit admission that she loves Betty and would rather die than leave her, Betty rationalizes: "You don't feel what you think you feel." It's lonely here and the climate is very confusing. Come and have breakfast, dear Ellen, and I will forget. Certainly, I am reluctant to even personify Betty in this way, or to attribute any instance of self-guided thought or action to her “form.” This gives Betty a kind of distinct humanity or individuality that her lack of personal sexual awareness excludes. It is inevitable that Ellen will never speak or engage honestly with Betty, because the latter is not a genuine, free-thinking, organic-feeling "person." She is the product of an ideology, and the puppeteer who pulls the strings behind her every move – patriarchy – is undeniably omnipresent. Betty and similar submissive characters are disconnected from their authentic sexual identities, as evidenced (and emphasized) by Churchill's deconstructed style and mixed-gender casting. In the second act, Caryl Churchill continues her deliberate theatrical experimentation by further manipulating the physical form of her characters and altering her audience's expectations of coherence. More precisely, in this second act, she changes established roles, requesting that they be played by actors of the same sex (for example, Betty is played by a woman and an adult, Edward by a male actor). By making these changes and expanding his degree of stylistic fragmentation, Churchill suggests that his once oppressed figures have escaped the shacklesidentity of patriarchy. The characters now achieve a more complete reconciliation between mind and body, between words and feelings, marked by a more honest expression of sexual preferences. Individual beliefs are more accepted and owned. For example, the second act introduces the new character of Lin, an open lesbian who bluntly expresses her homosexual feelings for Victoria. She and Victoria have an exchange in scene two where the two women, rather than their respective manufactured "types", engage in active debate. Lin's personality seems to confuse Victoria, who at one point complains, "You're so inconsistent, Lin." » This line clearly demonstrates the differences between the worlds that Churchill captures in the different halves of his play. First, this piece of dialogue reveals that Lin is allowed the luxury of a mercurial nature in act two, which itself is the marker of a complex and unfixed identity. Second, the emotion and frustration that Victoria conveys would not have been possible in the first act, where the main characters' opinions were strictly and safely "colored within" the social context. Moreover, in the second act, Churchill grants him more outspoken homosexual characters, with strength of conviction and dominance of voice, thus rewarding their honesty and implying that their sexual alternative is the healthiest. For example, there are moments in this second half of Cloud Nine where Victoria expresses her lesbian feelings, thereby conveying liberation of thought, recognition of sexual identity, and transcendence in the face of the paralysis of patriarchal sludge. She asks Lin, with a kind of insecurity that testifies to the sincerity of her words: "Would you love me if I went on a climbing expedition to the Andes mountains?...Would you love me if my teeth fell out? ..Would you love me if I loved ten other people? However, she also hesitates, plagued by uncertainty. Although she hopes Lin will love her through these different scenarios, Victoria rejects Lin's invitation to come live with her. Lin, for his part, remains unfazed and responds: “Hell, don’t do it then. I'm not asking because I need to live with someone. I would appreciate it, that's all, we would both appreciate it. This lack of pretension reflects the authenticity of the character. Because she does not compromise her position, her desires, in the face of Victoria's criticisms and doubts, Lin emerges as the strongest and most fulfilled female character. However, to fully understand how Churchill skillfully achieves the great coherence of his work through careful fragmentation of style, one must consider the fact that Victoria expresses a certain reluctance to honor her true sexual desires. Compared to Lin's confident voice and fully aware, unapologetic figure, Victoria seems weak and even a little fake. Indeed, unlike Lin, she remains focused or interested in taking on any role and therefore invokes the conformist expectations of the status quo. For example, earlier in scene two, Lin very simply and brazenly asks Victoria, "Do you want to sleep with me?" To this request, Victoria responds ambivalently: “I don’t know what Martin [her husband] would say. Does this count as adultery with a woman? His thoughts continue to be bound and conditioned by patriarchy. Rather than focusing on her needs, interests, and desires sparked by Lin, Victoria focuses on her husband. She's more conflicted about the threat she might pose to the stability of their typical husband/wife dynamic than she is concerned about honoring her feelings for Lin. Victoria is not the only one to present thisa most interesting paradox, between asserting a sexual identity that defies tradition, and yet seeming to want to belong, or find its rightful place, within this same theoretical framework. Gerry, Edward's partner, also clings to conventions while claiming to reject them. Feeling suffocated and no longer wanting Edward, Gerry attacks him in a critical tone: You're becoming like the woman... stop it... stop playing the wounded woman, it's not funny... I'm not the husband, so you can't be. the woman. In these lines, Gerry plays, hoping to convince not only Edward, but also himself, of a disregard for traditional sexual paradigms that is fundamentally fraudulent. By so vehemently expressing his aversion to these outmoded concepts, he actually seems to subscribe to the norm even more than to the object of his attack (Edward). Why this apparent contradiction? Why does Churchill bother to reverse her initial casting, in order to vividly illustrate the dangers of male domination, if she only wants to continue portraying certain characters from the "better" world of Act Two as adhering to the patriarchal tradition? Does it undermine her own stylistic choices – for, if she does not move towards a greater, unifying goal, does the increased fragmentation of the piece remain relegated to the arena of pure invention? ? Perhaps – aside from that, the argument Churchill wishes to construct in Cloud Neuf goes beyond simple oppositional comparison. Churchill is not content to simply propose feminism as a preferable framework on the grounds that it contradicts patriarchal thinking. After all, the most radical and free-spirited characters in Cloud Nine are those who don't conform to a structure or follow a set of codified rules. Lin certainly falls into this category, as does the adult Edward in act two. Compared to Gerry, Edward, with his gentle, sober, and decidedly "undramatic" responses to his lover's criticisms, is the stronger and wiser of the two men. By his own admission, he sincerely wants to play the role of wife (“it doesn't bother me,” he says) and fulfill the domestic responsibilities that come with it. For example, he would really like to knit for Gerry. He usually cooks dinner, but wouldn't object to Gerry having his turn; Gerry is only a mediocre cook: “You can [cook dinner] if you want,” he assures Gerry. "You're just not good at it, that's all." Edward's goal is much more pragmatic and realistic; his words respond to his true needs and desires. However, he does not view these wishes or activities (like knitting and cooking) as mechanisms of a larger social pattern. It's just his personal preferences. By speaking in a “traditional” way, Edward is not perpetuating a patriarchal framework as Gerry wrongly assumes. Like Lin, Edward only follows the commands of his heart. “Everyone always tried to stop me from being feminine,” Edward protests, then asserts, “I’d rather be a woman.” In other words, Edward is not content to simply be an openly effeminate or gay man. Before he can fully express his sexual identity, Churchill suggests that Edward must completely purge himself of his external definition (his outward appearance as a "man") and assume (or adopt) an entirely different gender. This is the deepest and most provocative point. Churchill searched throughout his play for the most compelling and effective way in which his style of fragmentation works to frame his conclusion. Thanks to his systematic deconstruction of forms and characters, Churchill succeeds in separating the social notion of "gender" from the determination.