Feminisms in Pam Gems' Play Dusa, Fish, Stas and Vi

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine Pam Gems' Play Dusa, Fish, Stas and Vi (1977), which portrays the inner lives of four women, through a blend of three major feminist perspectives; namely liberal feminism, radical feminism, and socialist feminism. The play supports the "the personal is political" feminism as well, since the reason of the oppression of women is the political decisions of men that have great impact on the lives of each individual woman. The four title characters represent a spectrum of female experience and women narratives in a style of biographical theatre. The common foreground for them is their struggle to survive in a male-dominated society. The play depicts friendship as a bond intended for solving individual problems with men rather than collectives fight against patriarchal power. The unbalanced gap between the political and the personal life causes Fish's downfall when she realizes women have no complete liberation in the private life.