Lecture Notes: The Cost of Companionship in Timberlake Wertenbaker's Theatre

Introduction: The Cost of Companionship

• Main Argument: Female companionship in Wertenbaker’s theatre acts as a parasitical force that sacrifices, commodifies, and transforms women’s bodies.
• Key Concept: 'Trading bodies' refers to the exploitation of women's bodies for personal gain.
• Wertenbaker’s Perspective: Her characters survive within patriarchal structures by betraying or exploiting other women, making female companionship transactional.
• Plays Discussed:
  • The Grace of Mary Traverse (1985)
  • Our Country’s Good (1988)
  • The Love of the Nightingale (1988)
• Feminist Framework: The study uses a feminist framework, referencing bell hooks and Robin Morgan, focusing on collective struggle and sisterhood.

Chapter One: "Private Sacrifices for the Good of the Whole"

• Theme: How female companionship involves trading of lives for selfish motivations.
• Case Study: The Grace of Mary Traverse.
  • Characters: Mary Traverse and Mrs. Temptwell.
  • Dynamic: Mrs. Temptwell manipulates Mary under the guise of liberation.
  • Outcome: Mary's life is controlled by Temptwell, depicting female complicity in patriarchy.
• Secondary Play: Our Country’s Good
  • Relationship: Dabby Bryant and Mary Brenham.
  • Philosophy: Dabby prioritizes self-preservation over solidarity.

Chapter Two: "A Man’s Word for a Woman’s Body"

• Theme: The body as a sexual commodity.
• Main Focus: Our Country’s Good
  • Scenario: Dabby Bryant coerces Mary Brenham into sexual transactions for survival.
  • Critique: Survival tactics align with patriarchal structures rather than resisting them.
• Other Plays:
  • The Grace of Mary Traverse (Mary's descent into prostitution)
  • The Love of the Nightingale (Philomele's rape)

Chapter Three: "Swallows Don’t Sing"

• Theme: Transformation of women’s bodies due to betrayal.
• Main Focus: The Love of the Nightingale
  • Outcome: Philomele becomes a nightingale, Procne a swallow.
• Other Transformations:
  • Mary Traverse's pregnancy in The Grace of Mary Traverse.
  • Mary Brenham’s transformation in Our Country’s Good.

Conclusion: Sisterhood or Survival?

• Central Question: Can women survive within patriarchy?
• Answer: Survival often comes at the expense of another woman's body.
• Critique: Challenges the assumption that Wertenbaker's work is inherently feminist.
• Key Insight: Wertenbaker’s plays explore the tension between female agency and patriarchal oppression, questioning the possibility of female solidarity.

References and Further Reading

• Primary Texts: Plays by Timberlake Wertenbaker.
• Secondary Texts: Critical analyses and feminist theories from various scholars including bell hooks and Sue-Ellen Case.