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Marlene works for an employment agency called Top Girls, which slowly emerges as a symbol for the corruption and blind individualism of Thatcherism, as well as the rigged game of life under the patriarchy. The name of the agency, Top Girls, is cutesy and condescending. It points directly to the futility of trying to succeed as a woman in the cruel and misogynistic corporate world—even if a woman makes it to the pinnacle of her profession, she is only a “Top Girl.” She is infantilized, patronized, and she will inevitably hit the glass ceiling—the unofficial but universally acknowledged barrier to advancement which women, minorities, and other marginalized groups unfortunately but inevitably face even in today’s corporate world, and especially in the conservative, Thatcherist word of 1980s England.
The fact that Top Girls is an employment agency rather than a bank, a law firm, or a medical practice is also significant symbolically. The agency has ostensibly feminist goals and an apparent focus on women’s achievements, as the whole point of Top Girls is to place women in the workforce. In oiling the wheels of capitalism and inserting more and more women into the workforce, where they will be pressured to prioritize labor over family, individualism over collectivism, and financial gain over emotional or moral improvement, Top Girls actually perpetuates the structures that allow women to be abused at worst and underestimated at best as they pursue success within the constricting, unfair confines of patriarchy and capitalism alike.
Top Girls Employment Agency Quotes in Top Girls
The Top Girls quotes below all refer to the symbol of Top Girls Employment Agency. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Act One, Scene One Quotes
MARLENE: Magnificent all of you. We need some more wine, please, two bottles I think, Griselda isn’t even here yet, and I want to drink a toast to you all.
ISABELLA: To yourself surely, we’re here to celebrate your success.
NIJO: Yes, Marlene.
JOAN: Yes, what is it exactly, Marlene?
MARLENE: Well it’s not Pope but it is managing director.
JOAN: And you find work for people.
MARLENE: Yes, an employment agency.
NIJO: Over all the women you work with. And the men.
ISABELLA: And very well deserved too. I’m sure it’s just the beginning of something extraordinary.
MARLENE: Well it’s worth a party.
ISABELLA: To Marlene.
MARLENE: And all of us.
JOAN: Marlene.
NIJO: Marlene.
GRET: Marlene.
MARLENE: We’ve all come a long way. To our courage and the way we changed our lives and our extraordinary achievements. (They laugh and drink a toast.)
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In the play’s opening scene, Marlene—who has just secured an important promotion at her place of business, the Top Girls Employment Agency—gathers a group together for a dinner party at a chic London restaurant. The guests are not friends, family, or coworkers, but rather female figures from history, myth, and art. As the dinner party progresses, the women clamor to share the stories of their lives, seemingly desperate for the chance to connect with each other and commiserate over the pain they have suffered. As the night goes on and the women drink and eat to excess, Marlene converses with Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum volu
Act Two, Scene One Quotes
NELL: Howard thinks because he’s a fella the job was his as of right. Our Marlene’s got far more balls than Howard and that’s that.
WIN: Poor little bugger.
NELL: He’ll live.
WIN: He’ll move on.
NELL: I wouldn’t mind a change of air myself.
WIN: Serious?
NELL: I’ve never been a staying-put lady. Pastures new.
WIN: So who’s the pirate?
NELL: There’s nothing definite.
WIN: Inquiries?
NELL: There’s always inquiries. I’d think I’d got bad breath if there stopped being inquiries. Most of them can’t afford me. Or you.
WIN: I’m all right for the time being. Unless I go to Australia.
NELL: There’s not a lot of room upward.
WIN: Marlene’s filled it up.
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At the Top Girls Employment Agency the Monday after Marlene’s promotion, her gossipy coworkers Win and Nell discuss how Marlene beat out a man named Howard for the job. This foreshadows the conflict Marlene will have with others who feel that she, as a woman, did not deserve the promotion over a man, and also allows the women to vent their contradictory feelings about Marlene’s success. Nell goes on to brag about the constant offers of employment she is receiving from other agencies and businesses; she clearly values herself as a worker, but at the same time would give herself Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recu
WIN: So I take it the job itself no longer satisfies you. Is it the money?
LOUISE: It’s partly the money. It’s not so much the money.
[…]
WIN: So why are you making a change?
LOUISE: Other people make changes.
WIN: But why are you, now, after spending most of your life in the one place?
LOUISE: There you are, I’ve lived for that company, I’ve given my life really you could say because I haven’t had a great deal of social life, I’ve worked in the evenings. […] I had management status from the age of twenty-seven and you’ll appreciate what that means. I’ve built up a department. And there it is I, it works extremely well, and I feel I’m stuck there. I’ve spent twenty years in middle management. I’ve seen young men who I trained go on, in my own company or elsewhere, to higher things. Nobody notices me, I don’t expect it, I don’t attract attention by making mistakes, everybody takes it for granted that my work is perfect. They will notice me when I go, they will be sorry I think to lose me, they will offer me more money of course, I will refuse. They will see when I’ve gone what I was doing for them.
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As Win interviews Louise, Churchill explores feelings of frustration which have arisen in the latter woman as a result of years of being overlooked. Having toiled in a male-dominated office setting for years, Louise has never been noticed for her efforts, and has in fact sat back while others have been promoted over her—mainly men. Louise has had enough—she has given up everything, including a healthy social life, to succeed on the terms the patriarchy has dictated, and has wound up with little to show for it. These anxieties and frustrations represent a new kind of story within the world Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Und
ANGIE: This is where you work is it?
MARLENE: It’s where I have been working the last two years but I’m going to move into another office.
ANGIE: It’s lovely.
MARLENE: My new office is nicer than this. There’s just the one big desk in it for me.
ANGIE: Can I see it?
MARLENE: Not now, no, there’s someone else in it now. But he’s leaving at the end of next week and I’m going to do his job.
ANGIE: This is where you work is it?
MARLENE: It’s where I have been working the last two years but I’m going to move into another office.
ANGIE: It’s lovely.
MARLENE: My new office is nicer than this. There’s just the one big desk in it for me.
ANGIE: Can I see it?
MARLENE: Not now, no, there’s someone else in it now. But he’s leaving at the end of next week and I’m going to do his job.
ANGIE: Is that good?
MARLENE: Yes, it’s very good.
ANGIE: Are you going to be in charge?
MARLENE: Yes I am.
ANGIE: I knew you would be.
MARLENE: How did you know?
ANGIE: I knew you’d be in charge of everything.
MARLENE: Not quite everything.
ANGIE: You will be.
MARLENE: Well we’ll see.
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In this scene, Angie has just arrived—unannounced—to visit Marlene at work in London. She is beyond impressed by Marlene’s life; she sees Marlene’s office and job as glamorous and exciting. Angie, who comes from a working-class home in a working-class town, has been more or less ignorant that this kind of world even exists; as she sees Marlene’s life up-close for the first time, she is filled with joy and admiration. Marlene, meanwhile, takes the opportunity to brag about the triumph of her recent promotion, and the fact that she will soon be unseating a man from his position. Angie Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis con
MARLENE: Don’t you have to go home?
ANGIE: No.
MARLENE: Why not?
ANGIE: It’s all right.
MARLENE: Is it all right?
ANGIE: Yes, don’t worry about it.
MARLENE: Does Joyce know where you are?
ANGIE: Yes of course she does.
MARLENE: Well does she?
ANGIE: Don’t worry about it.
MARLENE: How long are you planning to stay with me then?
ANGIE: You know when you came to see us last year?
MARLENE: Yes, that was nice wasn’t it.
ANGIE: That was the best day of my whole life.
MARLENE: So how long are you planning to stay?
ANGIE: Don’t you want me?
MARLENE: Yes yes, I just wondered.
ANGIE: I won’t stay if you don’t want me.
MARLENE: No, of course you can stay.
ANGIE: I’ll sleep on the floor. I won’t be any bother.
MARLENE: Don’t get upset.
ANGIE: I’m not, I’m not. Don’t worry about it.
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This passage is mysterious both logistically and emotionally. When Angie announces that she wants to stay with Marlene, Marlene is confused—she doesn’t understand why Angie, who is only sixteen is no longer beholden to Joyce’s rules. Given that the last time we saw Angie, she was speaking of her desire to kill her mother, and had gone so far as to don a special dress and pick up a brick to use as a weapon, Churchill raises the possibility that Angie has actually done the deed in order to free herself from her stifling home and neighborhood. On the other Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accu
MRS. KIDD: Howard’s not in today.
MARLENE: Isn’t he?
MRS KIDD: He’s feeling poorly.
MARLENE: I didn’t know. I’m sorry to hear that.
MRS KIDD: The fact is he’s in a state of shock. About what’s happened.
MARLENE: What has happened?
MRS KIDD: You should know if anyone. I’m referring to you been appointed managing director instead of Howard. He hasn’t been at all well all weekend. He hasn’t slept for three nights. I haven’t slept.
MARLENE: I’m sorry to hear that, Mrs. Kidd. Has he thought of taking sleeping pills?
MRS KIDD: It’s very hard when someone has worked all these years.
MARLENE: Business life is full of little setbacks. I’m sure Howard knows that. He’ll bounce back in a day or two. We all bounce back.
MRS KIDD: If you could see him you’d know what I’m talking about. What’s it going to do to him working for a woman? I think if it was a man he’d get over it as something normal.
MARLENE: I think he’s going to have to get over it.
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Mrs. Kidd—Howard’s wife—comes to visit Marlene in order to indict her as being complicit in Howard’s pain and humiliation. Mrs. Kidd has internalized the constraints of the patriarchy so deeply that she has become a misogynist herself—she believes that Marlene has less of a right to the promotion than Howard simply because she is a woman. Mrs. Kidd states outright that it will be humiliating and soul-crushing for Howard to have to work underneath a woman. The irony in all of this is that the sleeplessness, misery, and fragility Mrs. Kidd is describing in her husband as a result of Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor
MARLENE: Are you suggesting I give up the job to him then?
MRS KIDD: It had crossed my mind if you were unavailable for some reason, he would be the natural second choice I think, don’t you? I’m not asking.
MARLENE: Good.
MRS KIDD: You mustn’t tell him I came. He’s very proud.
MARLENE: If she doesn’t like what’s happening here he can go and work somewhere else.
MRS KIDD: Is that a threat?
MARLENE: I’m sorry but I do have some work to do.
MRS KIDD: It’s not easy, a man of Howard’s age. You don’t care. I thought he was going too far but he’s right. You’re one of those ball breakers, that’s what you
MARLENE: I’m sorry but I do have some work to do.
MRS KIDD: are. You’ll end up miserable and lonely. You’re not natural.
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This passage shows Mrs. Kidd no longer just hinting at what she wants (Marlene to step down so Howard can receive the promotion), but actively asking for it—and yet denying that she is doing so. She wants for Marlene to forfeit the promotion to make Mrs. Kidd’s own life—and Howard’s life—easier. When Marlene refuses, Mrs. Kidd resorts to cruel nicknames and threatening, hateful language, angry that the “natural” order which she has been striving so hard her whole life to fit into is being disrupted. Mrs. Kidd values her husband’s sense of pride more than Marlene’s chance at success—she is Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. P
NELL: You find it easy to get the initial interest do you?
SHONA: Oh yeh, I get plenty of initial interest.
NELL: And what about closing?
SHONA: I close, don’t I?
NELL: Because that’s what an employer is going to have doubts about with a lady as I needn’t tell you, whether she’s got the guts to push through to a closing situation. They think we’re too nice. They think we listen to the buyer’s doubts. They think we consider his needs and feelings.
SHONA: I never consider people’s feelings.
NELL: I was selling for six years, I can sell anything, I’ve sold in three continents, and I’m jolly as they come but I’m not very nice.
SHONA: I’m not very nice.
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As Nell interviews Shona, she informs the girl of how important it is to be able to close a deal. Such aggressive business tactics are usually seen as the domain of men—in today’s world, though, women must prove that they too have what it takes to “push through,” even if it means shirking the nice, polite personas they have been trained to present no matter the situation. This is a bleak passage, as it implies that women must “never consider people’s feelings” in order to succeed within the patriarchy. Considering people’s feelings should not be an expressly feminine trait, and Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor aspe
MARLENE: Is she asleep?
WIN: She wants to work here.
MARLENE: Packer in Tesco more like.
WIN: She’s a nice kid. Isn’t she?
MARLENE: She’s a bit thick. She’s a bit funny.
WIN: She thinks you’re wonderful.
MARLENE: She’s not going to make it.
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After Marlene returns from an afternoon of meetings, she finds that Angie has fallen asleep in her office. As Win and Marlene stand over the girl, discussing her, Marlene reveals that she sees Angie not in the tender light a mother—or at the very least, an aunt—might be expected to. The individualism of the corporate world has warped Marlene so much that she can only evaluate Angie in terms of what the girl might one day bring to the workforce. Having dismissed Angie out of hand as someone who could only ever aspire to be a bagger in a grocery Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a.
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Top Girls Employment Agency Symbol Timeline in Top Girls
The timeline below shows where the symbol Top Girls Employment Agency appears in Top Girls. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Act One, Scene One
...made Pope, she has been made managing director of her firm, an employment agency called Top Girls . Nijo admires Marlene for being promoted “over all the women [at the firm,] and...
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Act One, Scene Two
It is Monday morning at the Top Girls Employment Agency . Marlene is meeting with a woman named Jeanine. She asks her about her education...
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Act Two, Scene One
It is Monday morning at the Top Girls Employment Agency . Win and Nell arrive for work. Nell prepares coffee while Win talks about her...
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...offers Angie some food, but Angie declines. Angie asks Win how long she’s worked at Top Girls , and Win says she was headhunted from another office some time ago. Angie asks...
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...is in prison, and she hardly ever sees him. She has found peace working at Top Girls , though, because she is able to offer her clients “hope.”
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...calls Howard a “poor sod.” Win tells Marlene that Angie wants to come work at Top Girls ; Marlene says Angie could only ever be a packer in a grocery store. Win...
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