Dehumanization as a tool of power: The expendable individuals in Caryl Churchill's Vinegar Tom, Mad Forest and A Number

Caryl Churchill's drama is rich in her extensive range of topics, her evaluation of the contemporary issues of the time as well as the experimental methods she employed. Along with many issues she deals with, Churchill gives great importance and place to those who are treated poorly. Demonstrating background of the bad treatment of these individuals, Churchill's plays point to a connection between the perception and treatment of some individuals in a community, and the existing power relations. In accordance with this relation, in her plays Vinegar Tom (1994), Mad Forest (2014), and A Number (2008), there can be observed that some individuals are victimized and punished in the expense of their humanity due to their certain relation to the power holders. Such treatment will be dealt with the notion of dehumanization. In Vinegar Tom, patriarchal and religious power dehumanizes deviant women in the 17th century to reify the authority. In Mad Forest, the totalitarian power instrumentalizes the citizens and turns them into mechanic beings. In A Number, patriarchal power as well as capitalist economy dehumanize individuals through human copying. Thus, this thesis proposes that in Caryl Churchill's Vinegar Tom, Mad Forest and A Number, to reify their authority, power holders use dehumanization as a tool against certain individuals who are deemed as expendable.