Abstract :
Set in the late nineteenth- century, 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 gender- based treatment. In the play, the cast included neurologist Professor and governor of the Salpetriere hospital, Jean- Martin 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 all- male 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 male- dominated society is achieved through her escape in male attire. This paper investigates how the mental hospital under the control of misogynist Charcot and male- oriented language system converts Augustine into a voiceless sexual object.
NaturalLanguageKeyword :
Sexism , Medical Community , Woman , Furse , Augustine ( Big Hysteria).
