A Study of Female Identity Crisis in Caryl Churchill’s Vinegar Tom

Abstract

The British playwright Caryl Churchill is a well-known figure in the field of gender studies. She has made a mark by exposing gender subjugation, sexual politics, patriarchy, and objectification. Vinegar Tom is an interesting modern play that imports the epic theatre technique into a setting dating back to seventeenth-century Europe. The play revolves around the tribulations of the mother-daughter duo Alice and Joan in a small rural village. Vinegar Tom (1976) tackles the issues faced by a spinster and a widower in a patriarchal society, the fragile nature of the male ego, the recurring themes of witchcraft, and the holistic act of female subjugation throughout the discourse of history. The play reveals the social unease with female autonomy by highlighting how single and independent women are frequently labelled or accused of witchcraft. It challenges the brittleness of the masculine ego through its story, which often manifests as animosity and oppression toward women who don't fit the definition of traditional gender roles. The recurrent ideas of witchcraft are also woven throughout the play, although not as a supernatural component, but rather as a historical instrument of punishment and control over women. This paper seeks to discuss the psychology of patriarchal society, protest against the malignant victimisation of female characters, and thus analyse the identity of various female characters as presented in the play, Vinegar Tom, with the aid of intersectional feminism.