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SÜFRAJ HAREKETİNİN İNGİLİZ TİYATROSUNDAKİ YANKILARINA BİR ÖRNEK: ELIZABETH ROBINS VE VOTES FOR WOMEN! (1907)

İngiltere'de 20. yüzyıl başlarında ortaya çıkan ve Süfraj hareketi olarak bilinen kadınların oy hakkı davası, kadınların toplumsal ve siyasal hayatta erkeklerle eşit haklara sahip olabilmek adına vermiş oldukları bir mücadeledir. Süfrajetler olarak adlandırılan oy hakkı davası savunucusu kadınlar davalarına dikkat çekebilmek uğruna stratejik amaçlı şiddete başvurmuşlar ve o zamandan beri ağırlıklı olarak bu yönleriyle anılmışlardır. Ne var ki, stratejik de olsa şiddetle özdeşleştirilmiş olan süfraj savunucusu kadınların 20. yüzyıl başlarında İngiliz tiyatrosuna daha önce benzeri görülmemiş şekilde bir 'kadın tiyatrosu' olgusunu kazandırdıkları ve bu sayede 'süfraj tiyatrosu' olarak isimlendirilen yeni bir tiyatro türünün de oluşmasını sağladıkları gerçeği çoğunlukla göz ardı edilmiştir. Bu noktadan hareketle, bu çalışmanın amacı İngiltere'nin birinci dalga feminist tiyatrosu olarak kabul edilen Süfraj tiyatrosunu ele almak ve örnekleme amacıyla İngiliz tiyatrosunda Süfraj hareketinin yankılarının duyulmasını sağlayan Elizabeth Robins'in öncü süfraj oyunu Votes for Women! (1907) üzerine bir inceleme sunmaktır.

AN EXAMPLE FOR THE ECHOES OF THE SUFFRAGE MOVEMENT IN BRITISH THEATRE: ELIZABETH ROBINS AND VOTES FOR WOMEN! (1907)

Women's ght for the right to vote, which started in England in the early 20th century and is known as the suffrage movement, was a struggle they took up for having equal rights with men in social and political life. Called the suffragettes, the women advocating for women's right to vote had strategically resorted to violence in order to be able to draw attention to their cause and since then they have predominantly been mentioned in relation to this aspect. However, the fact that these female supporters of the suffrage cause associated with violence had earned British theatre in the beginning of the 20th century a conception of women's theatre in a way unprecedented before, and thus had given way to the development of a new form of theatre labelled 'suffrage theatre', has largely been overlooked. Starting out with this viewpoint, the aim of the present study is to explore suffrage theatre, which is accepted as Britain's 'rst wave of feminist theatre'. As an illustration, an analysis of Votes for Women! (1907), Elizabeth Robins' pioneering suffrage play, which made the echoes of the suffrage movement heard in British theatre, will be presented.

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