Cultural Identity and Gender Stereotypes in Christina Reid's plays Joyriders and Clowns

Thesis abstract The thirty-year conflict in Northern Ireland, also known as the Troubles, has inspired many works written and set in this period. The Northern Irish playwright Christina Reid wrote several plays depicting life in the centre of the Troubles. However, contrary to the trend in Northern Irish literature, she focused on characters who lived on the margins of the historical narrative. She regularly portrayed characters who broke cultural and gender stereotypes, thus created a space for cultivating equality in Northern Ireland. This thesis examines two of her plays, Joyriders and its sequel Clowns, in a socio-cultural context. These two plays were chosen because they have not received as much attention in the critical conversation as her other plays, and they provide a clear insight into many aspects of cultural conflict and gender issues. This thesis focuses on arguing that Christina Reid breaks gender and cultural stereotypes in her plays through the addition of characters, that were not common in the Northern Irish literary canon, to the historical narratives, showing the real representation of the area. Structurally, the thesis has five chapters including the introduction and conclusion. The second chapter examines the socio-cultural context of Northern Ireland, traditional cultural identities..