RESISTANCE TO SEXIST MEDICAL COMMUNITY WITH SEMIOTIC LANGUAGE IN AUGUSTINE (BIG HYSTERIA)

Abstract

Set in the late nineteenthcentury, Anna Furse’s play, Augustine (Big Hysteria) rewrites the real life woman, Augustine’s story, who was accused of madness, to demonstrate how the phallocentric medical community promotes genderbased treatment. In the play, the cast included neurologist Professor and governor of the Salpetriere hospital, JeanMartin Charcot and psychologist aspiring student Sigmund Freud exhibits intriguing case of Augustine to the all-male audience under the disguise of medical wisdom and discovery. Through her hysteric performance to allmale spectators, who are intentionally put into the role of voyeur, Augustine not only succeeds in acting out her rape scene and makes a critique of male-dominated society. In Furse’s feminist revision, Furse also deals with how Augustine’s semiotic language creates an alternative to the male –oriented language. Augustine’s final critical response to the maledominated society is achieved through her escape in male attire. This paper investigates how the mental hospital under the control of misogynist Charcot and maleoriented language system converts Augustine into a voiceless