Caryl Churchill’s Vinegar Tom: Beyond Feminism?

Abstract

Caryl Churchill’s Vinegar Tom is a critique of patriarchy (especially patriarchy fueled by religious extremity), given added scorn with implicit sallies on capitalist tendencies. The repression of women by patriarch standards is embodied in the victimization of a number of deviant females living in a village in 17th century England. However, there are also instances of self-victimization which do not fit into the patriarchal pattern of inhibition, but rather provoke apparently undecided questions, fulfilling Churchill’s expectation of playwrights in general who, according to her, “don’t give answers; they ask questions” (quoted in Aston, Diamond, 2009, p. 10). Following her own precept, Churchill mocks religious fanaticism harboring belief in witches and their association with the devil, while simultaneously asking unanswered questions implicit in the devilish behavior of her characters.