Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 2005 This ointment disappointment: Caryl Churchill's The skriker and the struggle against patriarchy Ruthellen Cunnally Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Part of the English Language and Literature Commons Recommended Citation Cunnally, Ruthellen, "This ointment disappointment: Caryl Churchill's The skriker and the struggle against patriarchy" (2005). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 14453. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/14453 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. "This ointment disappointment": Caryl Churchill's TheSkriker and the struggle against patriarchy by Ruthellen Cunnally A thesis submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS Major: English (Literature) Program ofStudy Committee: Susan Carlson, Major Professor Kathy Hickok Madeleine Henry Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2005 u Graduate College Iowa State University This is to certify that the master's thesis of Ruthellen Cunnally has met the thesis requirements ofIowa State University Signatures have been redacted for privacy Ill Table ofContents Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Chapter 2: The Evolutionary Development of Churchill's Plays 3 Chapter 3: Who or Whatis The Skriker? 21 Chapter4: The Skrikerand the Failure of the Ethic of Caring 35 AppendixA: Comparison of Patriarchal and Matriarchal Systems 64 Appendix B: Matriarchal Point ofView 67 Works Cited 72 Chapter 1: Introduction "Achieving things isn't necessarily good, it matters what you achieve" (Churchill interview, Betsko and Koenig, 78).