This study focuses on Bandura's social learning theory by examining the theme of learned violence in Edward Bond's The Children. Albert Bandura, a Canadian-born American psychologist, studied behaviourist questions about individuals and developed what is now known as social learning theory. In response to the outdated belief that violent behaviour is the result of innate aggressive tendencies, he introduced the theory which is concerned with the interaction of the learner's mind and its surroundings. Bandura's theory emphasizes observing, modelling, and imitating the behaviour, attitudes, and emotional responses of others in a social circle. Edward Bond, on the other hand, has been one of the most controversial and prolific writers in contemporary British theatre. His twelve-scene short play The Children, which premiered in 2000, is considered one of his later works. By using young characters in his work, the playwright reflects on the effects of social environment on teenagers. The play is about Joe, a teenager who lives with his abusive mother. When compared to his mother, Joe becomes more violent over time because he burns down a building in which a child dies. Thus, Bond's play demonstrates how violence is learned in parallel with Bandura's theory.
Caryl Churchill's first professional play, Owners, is about ownership as its title implies. One of the highlighted themes in the play is misogyny which has been overlooked by scholars and critics who have commented on Owners.Thus, my aim in this study is to consider and disclose the reasons for misogyny, demonstrated by Churchill as a socio-political critique, through a feminist reading. As the play is generally examined within the context of themes of power, politics or possession, this article may contribute to correct this omission in the academic domain. In her dark comedy, Churchill emphasises how gender roles are culturally learned and transferred to succeeding generations. In Owners, the married couple Marion and Clegg are both misogynists, but endowed with opposing world views. Churchill, like a sociologist, has made this family the main subject of her play and used it as a point of reference when explaining the reasons for misogyny in a comic and exaggerated style. In this family, while Marion is equipped with bourgeois feminist and anti-patriarchal ideas, Clegg is a man supporting patriarchal principles. Churchill reveals in her play that Marion and Clegg hate women who do not fit into their ideal world views.
This article deals with the phenomenon of intertextuality by comparatively examining two contemporary British plays that were staged about fifty years apart. For the intertextual analysis in this study, Shelagh Delaney's A Taste of Honey and April De Angelis' Jumpy have been used as components. Interestingly enough, Jumpy was first staged a few months before Delaney died of breast cancer in 2011. Julia Kristeva's intertextuality theory as a poststructuralist literary criticism method has been applied for this study to examine the parallels between the two plays. As stated by Kristeva, every new work is a synthesis of older works, which she refers to as a mosaic of quotations. However, the main objective of this analysis is not to manifest or prove that De Angelis has utilized from Delaney's play. When two or more texts are analysed intertextually, the reader who is the author of this article, takes on the role of critic. In this context, since each reader has read different books before, they will find distinct similarities while reading a new work. Therefore, the reader gets involved in an entirely authentic practice of intertextual criticism. Consequently, the reader has noticed that De Angelis' perception of teenage pregnancy and daughter hatred for mother are parallel to Delaney's A Taste of Honey as well, which have been compared and discussed in the contexts of both plays. Besides, the characters and settings also display similarities in both plays.
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