How do Sue Glover and Rona Munro use myth and folklore as a means of challenging gender representation and exploring gender experience within contemporary Scottish society?

Abstract

It is commonly agreed that stories act as a reflection of the society they grow from, and offer an insight to the social conditions. Structured rules and expectations are passed down to us through historical and mythic stories and embedded into our language. It is therefore not uncommon for contemporary life to be portrayed on stage to an audience through the re-telling of myths and folk/fairy tales. Within Scottish literature the challenging of identity is a common theme, whether looking through a national or personal lense. It is a trend within the Scottish writing community, particularly Scottish female playwrights, to challenge the boundaries of identity and gender. This study will look at Sue Glover's The Seal Wife (2008) as a primary example, and The Last Witch (2009) by Rona Munro, and discuss their use of common myths and folklore aids in outlining the society's gender structures and redefining a woman's experience. The texts explored within the following work examine themes and issues still relevant of 2017, in a society deep in rape culture, victim blaming, toxic masculinity and the fight against the patriarchy. Through the use of textual analysis, of the work of two female writers, and a discussion of the theories presented by Julia Kristeva (1941- ) and Judith Butler (1956- ) on gender and identity, Lacanian language theory and the Symbolic Order, this dissertation demonstrates how these texts are relevant and critical of twenty-first century society, and highlights the importance of re-telling existing problematic narratives.