Abstract
This thesis focuses on women and aggression through different types of verbal abuse and some physical abuse. Within Western Culture physical abuse is examined more closely due to unawareness and difficulty proving verbal abuse. Additionally, the trait of aggression has been focused on male to female abuse. Using two plays written by women with all women characters moves the idea of aggression from a male problem to a human one to include female aggression in the equation. The first chapter begins with social and psychological theories that coincide with verbal and physically abusive behaviors. Top Girls by Caryl Churchill is used to illustrate how verbal abuse is used particularly within the family dynamic. Control and manipulation are discussed as a form of verbal abuse using Fefu and Her Friends by Maria Irene Fornes. The last play That Pretty, Pretty, or; The Rape Play by Sheila Callaghan examines violence between the genders focusing on aggression in women.