55 pages • 1 hour read
Caryl ChurchillTop Girls
Fiction | Play | Adult | Published in 1982A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Act II, Scene 1Act Summaries & Analyses
Act II, Scene 1 Summary
Content Warning: This guide includes discussion of rape of girls and women, child brides, sex, childbirth, miscarriage, abortion, babies dying or being killed, taking children from their mothers, adoption, dead kittens, murder, and blood.
At the Top Girls Employment Agency, Marlene is meeting with Jeanine, who is played by the actor who plays Griselda. Marlene reviews her typing test results, which are mediocre. Jeanine is working as a secretary, but she wants a job with better pay and prospects for advancement. She is also trying to save money because she is planning a wedding. When she mentions the upcoming wedding, Marlene asks what kind of prospects she has in mind and whether she would leave her new job to start a family. They both agree that Jeanine shouldn’t mention her upcoming nuptials to any prospective employers. Jeanine says she wants to work for an advertising company, and Marlene comments that “they’re looking for something glossier” (31). Jeanine replies that she can dress differently, but Marlene explains that the glossiness refers to her resume rather than appearance. Marlene tells Jeanine about two jobs, one for a knitwear company and one for a company that makes lampshades.
Impulsively, Jeanine says that wants to travel, and Marlene questions whether her future husband also wants to travel. Jeanine seems unsure of herself and what she wants. Marlene mentions an assistant job with a multinational company but asks where Jeanine wants to be in 10 years. Jeanine replies, “I might not be alive in ten years” (32), to which Marlene replies that she’ll be alive to have children. Jeanine is still reluctant about the idea of planning 10 years in advance. Marlene tells her that her typing results aren’t fast enough for the multinational job anyway and encourages her to focus on the other two opportunities. She tells Jeanine that she wants her to get hired, advising her to go into the interview believing that she is the best fit for the job. Jeanine asks if Marlene believes that, and Marlene responds, “I think you could make me believe it if you put your mind to it” (33). Jeanine agrees.
Act II, Scene 1 Analysis
This scene gives the first picture of Marlene in her professional life as an important and successful woman. In doing so, it explores the theme of Feminism, Women, and Work. Marlene interviews Jeanine, who is played by the same actor the audience just saw as Griselda, the abused housewife who accepts that she is her husband’s property and that he is allowed to abuse her or kill her children if he chooses. Jeanine is engaged to be married, and she seems uncertain about her future but ready to commit to each step as it comes. For instance, she’s willing to keep quiet about her engagement, but if he gives her a ring, she won’t be willing to take it off to keep her job. Confronted with the reality that her professional ambitions are at odds with her personal life, Jeanine seeks to make compromises, unwilling or unable to consider that the choices she’s being offered are fundamentally unjust. She is at a crossroads, and she seems to express her desire to travel without considering any of the logistics. She feels the wanderlust that runs throughout most of the characters in the play. Marlene has an opportunity to help her by scheduling an interview for the job that would allow her to explore the world before deciding what she wants, but she doesn’t do it. Marlene assumes from the beginning that Jeanine isn’t worth investing in, because her engagement signifies that Jeanine will simply quit before long to get married and have babies. This assumption was common in workplaces well into the late 20th century and was frequently used to justify offering women lower pay and fewer opportunities for advancement. From this first glimpse of Marlene as a professional and a woman, it is clear that she has gained power at the expense of her solidarity with other women.
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By Caryl Churchill
