Grad Papers at Uni of Amsterdam (Chronological) by Serkan Kasapoğlu
Reading is an important skill and understanding how to effectively read and engage with texts is ... more Reading is an important skill and understanding how to effectively read and engage with texts is crucial for young scholars. In this research project, we investigate how the annotation style of one of the most prominent contemporary philosophers—Jacques Derrida—can provide insights into the effective reading strategies for young scholars across different fields.
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This research explores the dynamics of masculinity and the concept of the female gaze through the... more This research explores the dynamics of masculinity and the concept of the female gaze through the lens of the iconic Barbie and Ken relationship in Barbie (2023). Contrary to conventional narratives surrounding the male gaze, this study delves into the less-explored territory of the female gaze and its implications on men, as represented in the Barbie franchise. The premise centers around Barbie's perception of Ken's existence, arguing that initially his identity is intricately tied to her gaze. However, the female gaze analyzed here is a pressure that Ken's patriarchal mindset puts on himself. In the movie, Ken has to learn that his identity formation based upon the gaze of the subject of attraction essentially lacks a healthy coherence. This perspective offers a unique angle to dissect the power dynamics and implications of the female gaze on masculinity.
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Pray Tell, as the emcee in the ballroom culture depicted in POSE, emerges as a linguistic arbiter... more Pray Tell, as the emcee in the ballroom culture depicted in POSE, emerges as a linguistic arbiter whose discourse occupies a central position in the evaluative process. This linguistic authority operates within a broader framework of fashion hegemony, wherein Pray Tell's commentary establishes a normative fashion discourse. This discourse not only reflects but actively shapes prevailing notions of style and elegance within the ballroom, mirroring gender dynamics present in mainstream fashion discourse. Pray Tell's role extends beyond commentary to that of a gatekeeper, which closely aligns with mainstream fashion's reliance on authoritative figures—editors, designers, and critics—to validate and legitimize trends, styles, and looks. In this sense, Pray Tell's discursive evaluations mirror the broader mechanisms through which fashion legitimacy is constructed and maintained within mainstream.
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Frank Simon's seminal documentary, The Queen (1968), culminates in a poignant denouement where th... more Frank Simon's seminal documentary, The Queen (1968), culminates in a poignant denouement where the triumphant drag queen, Rachel Harlow, cradles her hard-won crown (Fig 1). The previous symbolic shot in which Harlow proudly carries and displays the crown to the environment, encapsulating victory and beauty, takes an unexpected turn as the camera intricately captures by zooming in the crown's descent from prominence to insignificance within the confines of a cramped space. Harlow, seemingly entranced by the object she believed would embody her aspirational ideal, grapples with its meaning, attempting to discern the elusive significance attached to the regal adornment. This interesting object in her hand, which once again confirms her beauty, seems to have deceived Harlow into thinking that it will provide the ideal she aspires to. The documentary meticulously captures Harlow's evolving emotions, transitioning from the determined pursuit of the crown to a detached realization that the coveted ideal remains elusive within this material object. This prompts a pivotal question: Where does this elusive ideal reside? In this exploration, drawing on Caroline Evans' insightful discourse in “The Ontology of the Fashion Model,” this paper posits that Harlow, once crowned, metamorphoses into the archetypal drag queen, poised to spawn myriad copies. However, the model she initially aspired to embodies a transformative essence beyond the confines of the "non-existent original" criteria imposed by an obscure group of male jurors.
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Authors, painters, or scriptwriters prioritize different temporal experiences of reality, and aca... more Authors, painters, or scriptwriters prioritize different temporal experiences of reality, and academics have contrasting opinions on which might be the best realist approach. Auerbach considers Woolfian depiction of Mrs. Ramsay the highest literary achievement in the representation of reality (Rancière 26) because it exemplifies the abolition of temporal conventions, or, the causal connection of events, through literary devices such as, among others, the abolition of punctuation conventions and of grammar (Auerbach 533). Also, Auerbach considers bringing forward the depiction of emotions and thoughts, and bracketing the actions, in other words, upending the literary hierarchy over the Cartesian duality of mind and body, but also of activity and passivity, comes closer to the representation of reality. For Lukács, on the other hand, “[t]here is a strict opposition between two times: the time of description which puts things beside one another like in a genre picture or a still life; and the time of action in which active characters interact with the movement of the social process” (Rancière 29-30). For Lukács, realist depiction is having political awareness and being part of social processes, and passively witnessing or describing the things as they look or are thought or felt is redundant. For Brecht, on the other hand, realistic means, “discovering the causal complexes of society / unmasking the prevailing view of things as the view of those who are in power / writing from the standpoint of the class which offers the broadest solutions for the pressing difficulties in which human society is caught up / emphasizing the element of development / making possible the concrete and making possible abstraction from it” (82). Brecht’s definition brings about a formal freedom to depict reality and gives more autonomy to the artist. Brecht would challenge Lukácsian strict formality and favor Woolf’s representation of Mrs. Ramsay’s reality. In this report, I will bring into conversation these different perspectives on the temporal experience and the representation of reality in literature, art, and on screen.
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The sexually marginalized status of partners of trans people goes without saying, although a sens... more The sexually marginalized status of partners of trans people goes without saying, although a sense of queer belonging is missing. In this critical response to Camila Sosa Villada's novel Las Malas, I would like to discuss the reason why the Headless Man is "headless" and come up with Berlantian and Freudian interpretations of headlessness. The Headless Man's main function in the novel is his relationship with Auntie Encarna, making his sexuality the focal point of the analysis. My argument is that the novel differentiates certain male characters as headless because they lack psychosexual belongings to any groups, normative nor non-normative.
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Revenge porn is the non-consensual preservation and the distribution of sexually explicit images ... more Revenge porn is the non-consensual preservation and the distribution of sexually explicit images or videos of individuals—also referred to as non-consensual pornography (NCP). The material may have been produced by the sexually exposed individual or by someone else with or without the individual’s knowledge. The individual may have experienced sexual violence during the production of the material, or they may be in a consensual intimacy. Nevertheless, the preservation and the distribution are non-consensual, and such acts may aim blackmailing the individual into performing other acts, defamation, or pure harm. The harm may be motivated by an anger over ending a relationship, the desire to devoice, or possible social, political, or financial gain. Another main reason for the non-consensual preservation of sexually explicit material is sexual arouse, or maybe even a feeling of nostalgia. Specifically, after the wake of civil lawsuits, the increasing number of incidents, and the popularity in media coverage over “Is Anyone Up?”, legislation has been passed in a number of countries and jurisdictions to outlaw revenge porn. In this paper, firstly, I will introduce the practice of revenge porn together with its political, social, and mental and sexual health implications for different groups; secondly, I will discuss the different motivations behind non-consensual preservation and distribution of explicit material; thirdly, I will exemplify the year-to-date legislative work against NCP. I will conclude by situating the practice within the overall porn studies and also the concept of ethical porn.
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According to Mieke Bal, cultural analysis is an approach towards the present aiming to understand... more According to Mieke Bal, cultural analysis is an approach towards the present aiming to understand it, and this approach has in itself “the most deeply held views and beliefs of a subject” (5). The subjectivity of cultural analysis is “an exposure of the self” because it derives from the “epistemic authority” of the analyst and makes analysis “self-reflexive” (6). Similarly, to romanticize is an act of attributing an embellished and subjective meaning to something. The attributed meaning does not essentially exist in the object, but it still increases the object's value. By seeing the romanticized object more meaningful, the romantic eye values its subjective attribution and self-reflection. The meaning is the product of a subjective archive, which can be strong enough to lure other people and be appreciated, or it can be as delusional as Don Quixote's fight against windmills: "’[D]o you not hear the neighing of the steeds, the sound of the trumpets, and rattling of the drums?' 'I hear nothing,' answered Sancho, 'but the bleating of the sheep and lambs'" (De Cervantes 130). The lack of certainty in this meaning-making is one of the core points of romanticisation. According to Les Back, rather than constructing false certainties, favouring the lack of certainty is essential for cultural analysis (15). For both the act of romanticisation and the practice of cultural analysis, even if the attributed meaning is seen, understood, enjoyed, believed, or appreciated by other people, it can never create objective criteria. In this paper, based on commonalities such as subjectivity, self-reflexivity, and lack of certainty, I argue that cultural analysis is a romantic endeavour.
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The famous drag queen Courtney Act’s music video for the song “Ugly” opens up a discussion ground... more The famous drag queen Courtney Act’s music video for the song “Ugly” opens up a discussion ground in the visual culture that troubles the idea that sexual orientation is towards gender identity. A vast amount of theory work arguing that sexual orientation is determined by gender identity has been done, and the whole terminology has been built upon it. But, what if a male gender identity, after a couple hours of shapeshifting work, looks indistinguishable from a cis woman? Would he not be an object of attraction for the male heterosexual even though his gender identity is still male? Probably he would. In this scenario that is also enacted in the music video, what changes is not the gender identity, which is an abstract social categorization; rather, the appearance, the expression changes. The expression of the male subject is manipulated and shifted towards an expression that has the potential to attract the male heterosexual. Critically analyzing the music video in light of recent debates in gender studies, I will argue that Courtney Act’s music video for the song “Ugly” rightfully raises the structurally transformative argument that the primal sexual orientation is towards gender expression, not gender identity.
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Undergrad Papers at Boğaziçi Uni (Chronological) by Serkan Kasapoğlu
Bachelor of Arts (BA) Dissertation, 2022
This research examines Virginia Woolf's use of the water imagery through two successive novels: O... more This research examines Virginia Woolf's use of the water imagery through two successive novels: Orlando: A Biography and The Waves. Water imagery has a vital place in Woolf's personal life and her works. By closely reading the water imageries, repetitive motifs, symbols, and puns, I examine how they support the idea that the self is an unstable, ever-changing phenomenon. Water is the descriptor for Orlando's fluid gendered identity and the central imagery of The Waves' mystification of the self. Including the metafictional references, which are abundant in both novels, within the scope of the research, I produce answers to the main question mark, Woolf's theory of the self. The social order exerts a power that expects a single self, but the (in)dividual is in a constant fluidity between multiple gendered, sexualized, purposeful, and emotional selves. In the moments when the social order disrupts the fluidity, the characters continue to search for new methods but develop a perspective toward life that creates the melancholic tone of the novels. Although neither the water imagery nor the multiplicity of the self in Virginia Woolf's novels is an unexplored topic, this research aims to contribute to the discussion with the notions of gender and sexuality fluidity.
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American Studies Certificate Dissertation, 2022
With a Foucaldian lens, this research analyzes monogamy as one of the main antagonists of Tony Ku... more With a Foucaldian lens, this research analyzes monogamy as one of the main antagonists of Tony Kushner's plays, namely Hydriotaphia or The Death of Dr. Browne, Angels in America,
and Homebody/Kabul. Monogamy is the socio-political design of marriage institutions and interpersonal relationships. Dr. Browne's existential crisis on his deathbed, Prior's mental issues after the end of his long-term relationship, Joe and Harper's marriage problems, and Homebody's escape from London and relocation to Kabul are the consequences of an artificially designed alliance and sexuality. By close-reading the characters and interpersonal relationships, this research seeks to produce answers to the main question mark, Kushner's perception of monogamy. In the plays, the characters regret having lived their relationship life within the boundaries drawn by the social order, involve in extramarital relationships, seek new relationship practices, or go completely out of the coupledom system. Tony Kushner shows that life outside the monogamous system can be more liberating and loving and that it is possible to go beyond relationship norms by involving in different romantic and sexual practices or avoiding them altogether. Analyzing Kushner's plays through Foucault's three main monogamous strategies
in The History of Sexuality—(1) socialization and regulation of procreative behavior, (2) specification of the perverted, and (3) hysterization of women—creates many parallels. So much so that Foucault's theories are embodied in Kushner's fiction.
Keywords: Monogamy, Tony Kushner, Michel Foucault, marriage, sexuality, romance
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Radical Moderns of 1930s American poetry have different aesthetic strategies to communicate and t... more Radical Moderns of 1930s American poetry have different aesthetic strategies to communicate and to move masses. There are different aesthetics not only among poets but also at different periods in a poet's life. Rexroth's poetry, for example, can be roughly divided into two periods: avant-garde beginning with cubist techniques and the change into lyrical poetry with clear, plainspoken, and direct language. This paper only deals with the lyric poems of Kenneth Rexroth. The drastic transition in Rexroth's aesthetics is a result of historical pressures rather than being a personal choice. With the loss of the Spanish Civil War, despair took the place of hope. Though both Hughes' and Rexroth's poetry has a simple and colloquial language, their intentions differ. Hughes' goal is to make something happen, to fuel hope, and to literally move the masses towards victory. Rexroth's goal, on the other hand, stems from the despair of the political tragedies that are taking place. Because of the intense sense of urgency, time is not convenient to experiment with aesthetic styles. His tone is clear and as loud and understandable as possible. In this paper, I will compare the aesthetic strategies of Hughes and Rexroth to suggest that while making naked invocations of hope in an age of despair makes poetry temporary, poems that commemorate losses or dream of alternative realities are perpetual.
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Gender equity has a central role both in the practice and study of American government. Supposed ... more Gender equity has a central role both in the practice and study of American government. Supposed gender diversity allows the legislation to be truly community-oriented and focused. According to Taylor Small, the first out trans person elected to the Vermont State Legislature and the fifth out trans state legislator in the nation, bringing “folks that have marginalized identities that are not typically seen in positions of power” is a crucial tool and outcome of democratic processes (Sprayregen 2020). Nevertheless, representing marginalized gender identities is not an objectively self-contained phenomena, but it is intersubjectively ‘imagined’. This essay proposes an approach to identity politics and American government that overcomes this shortcoming by bracketing the notion of “trans representation”. Currently serving transgender officials approach marginalized gender identities without any preconceived notion of “trans representation”. This concept, I propose, can be adapted to use by American politics by conceiving trans people as imagined transgender representation—which is not concerned with officials that have marginalized gender identities quantitively, with a preconceived idea that existing in number means being equal. Rather, it is concerned with the organic contribution of equal decision-making processes in the American democracy, downplaying gender identity and considering politics qualitatively. Seeing identity politics as an imagined trans representation can serve as a theoretical lens that enables us to analyze the relationship between marginalized gender identities and American government without objectifying either and further makes visible normative issues that will enrich debates about American democracy.
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Winterson’s subject in the novel is the love bond between people, “what forces draw tw... more Winterson’s subject in the novel is the love bond between people, “what forces draw two people together” (79), and its modern deteriorations such as “magazines and manual”. She suggests that there are plenty of theories; “astrology, chemistry, mutual need, biological drive” that explain the bond between two people but also satirically implies that approaches of dating agencies “scientifically” manipulate “the old music of romance” in their “modern digital ways”. She asks, then, “Why leave yourself to chance when you could leave yourself to science”. In the novel, there are two main approaches to love. The first one is the reigning approach in which people are drawn to follow manipulative, or so-called scientific, construction of monogamous love relationships and the clichés it brings (10). The other one is compassionate love, which illegitimate and brave decisions organically reveal in their spiritual progress: “Perhaps [material goods] are blocking my spiritual progress and my higher self continually chooses situations where I will be free of material burdens” (63). The novel’s narrator adapts, or in a quest of adopting this type of love but they is constantly interrupted by the construction and commodification of love. In “The History of Sexuality”, Foucault argues that “modern technologies of power” take life and body as their objective and invest in “what is most material” (152). This paper considers the modern capitalist world to be materializing sexuality and relationship. Any attempt of the novel’s narrator to break through the materialization of love goes no further than Don Quixote’s fight against the windmills.
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Modernism is a complex literary style as fiction intends to represent the new agonies ... more Modernism is a complex literary style as fiction intends to represent the new agonies of modern life. The fact that the chaotic structure of the modern world is inured makes literary representation even more difficult. In the novel, the speaker at the Lions Club meeting thinks that “Americans had no choice but to keep fighting in Vietnam” (Vonnegut 30), which describes the inured continuity of the war among common people. Vonnegut’s framing of events, him being a veteran of World War II and his son being a sergeant in the Vietnam War (31), suggests an inability to learn from past mistakes. By aggressively passing pro-war opinions, common people legitimize not wanting a ceasefire. With all due respects, the narrator is left without anybody to turn to: Politicians, citizens, and the media (“The photographer wanted something more lively…” [29]), all exemplify how things are out of control and without any possibility to make a rationale out of them. So, the challenge of narrating war is closely tied with the general perspective towards it, which creates the meta-aspect of the novel. Vonnegut frankly states how hard it was for him to recall “the destruction” (5). One reason for blocking out memories of traumas is learned helplessness, in other words, escaping to determinism. Vonnegut, by alienating the chaotic nature of the modern world with a determinist philosophy, allows the reader to marvel at its passive tone in front of crimes against humanity.
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In H. G. Wells's The Time Machine and Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, power is exercised for ... more In H. G. Wells's The Time Machine and Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, power is exercised for its own sake and in the name of “civilization”. The split of society in The Time Machine presents how it would look like in the future if the class problems would prevail. Rich segments of society using their power for power's sake further pushed the poor classes underground, both metaphorically and literally. Inequality shaped the evolution of these two classes in strikingly different ways. The Heart of Darkness, on the other hand, presents a fraction of human history to exemplify the terrific consequences of a mindset that would exercise his power on anything just because he can. One can consider Wells’ novel to be a prophetic result of Conrad’s civilization concept. In both novels, the ways of exercising power are excused by misunderstood concepts of "civilization" and wronged the paths the human race should have taken.
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The modern world is volatile, and all the certainties are evaporated. Stephen Dedalus, the modern... more The modern world is volatile, and all the certainties are evaporated. Stephen Dedalus, the modern protagonist of A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, James Joyce’s literary alter ego, begins learning to function amid complexities at a very young age. He develops an ability to live into uncertainties and to process opposite ideas—such as Catholicism-Protestantism, religion-nation, Aristoteles-Aquinas, and so on. In any case, he fails to choose one side. His romantic individualism compels him to utilize various external stimuli for his inner processes. He has a strong tendency to idealize certain concepts. Notwithstanding, surrounding ambiguity feeds into his negative capability. The more he romanticizes, the harsher he fails. The pursuit of meaning is in contrast with the internalized volatility. Stephen attributes unrealistic meanings to things so that he can negate himself because he derives artistic inspiration from failure.
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Edith Warton's The Custom of the Country is about the effects of the rising business world and pr... more Edith Warton's The Custom of the Country is about the effects of the rising business world and profit-seeking mindset on the children of rich families. The novel's anti-heroine Undine Spragg is presented as the main outcome of the patriarchal capitalist order and the fulfillment of endless material wishes. Throughout the novel, Undine's many expectations have been met, and various ways have been used to meet them. Nevertheless, even though she "had everything she wanted", she still felt "that there were other things she might want if she knew about them" (844). In the end, the novel touches upon the unhappiness caused by the lack of unmaterial pleasures. However, the expectation for this realization to come fails when Undine misinterprets the dazzling of “a tiny black cloud” as resulting from the impossibility of being “an Ambassador’s wife”—which leaves her in an unredeemable gilded cage (987). On the other hand, it is not that easy for Ralph Marvell to continue his life with these black clouds hovering over him. Social order victimizes a romantic individual as much as it perplexes a young woman. While Undine is trying in vain to fit into a social order that would in no way accept her, Ralph decides to end his life, early realizing that his efforts were futile. Unable to fit in the market economy and regain his individuality, Ralph commits suicide to free himself from the invasion of capitalism.
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The progress of American civilization can be measured by looking at how women are depi... more The progress of American civilization can be measured by looking at how women are depicted in literature. Nathanial Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter and Frances E. W. Harper’s Iola Leroy, or Shadows Uplifted shift Victorian England’s prevailing ideas on women—they demonstrate the era’s contradictory ideas of womanhood. Hawthorne’s Hester Prynne is a fallen woman as she committed the sin of adultery and was marked with the scarlet letter. However, the narrator of the novel shifts the meaning of “A” from adultery to angelic connotations throughout the novel. The act of adultery is alienated together with the hypocritical nature of Puritan society and Christian norms. Similarly, Harper’s Iola is the angelic protagonist of the novel, but she is more involved in the public sphere than in private. The autonomous decisions of Iola Leroy legitimize the protest against women’s subordination. Iola’s faith positions her as a religious leader, rather than an object of male-dominated faith. Both novels depict female protagonists with uncompromising self-agencies who reverse socio-religious power dynamics.
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“The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is the quintessential work that shows the extent... more “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock” is the quintessential work that shows the extent of the intertwining of discomfort with society and self-doubt in a state of emotional turmoil. Which is to be blamed—the world or himself? The shift between blaming society and blaming the self is one of the main confusions. To make Prufrock’s emotional turmoil obvious and objective correlative functional, Eliot creates “a combination of images, objects or descriptions evoking the appropriate emotion the character tries to express” (Aziz 2). If the problem is with himself; it can be the “bald spot in the middle of [his] hair” or his “simple pin” (Eliot “Prufrock” lines 40-43). If the problem is with the world; it can be the “formulated” cliches like, “’How his hair is growing thin’” or “But how his arms and legs are thin” (lines 41-56). In both cases, Prufrock’s emotional turmoil is presented with the use of imagery, which is the poem’s main literary device for objective correlative. Images evoke roughly three main emotions: discomfort with society, self-doubt, and finally, a sense of total impotence.
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Grad Papers at Uni of Amsterdam (Chronological) by Serkan Kasapoğlu
Undergrad Papers at Boğaziçi Uni (Chronological) by Serkan Kasapoğlu
and Homebody/Kabul. Monogamy is the socio-political design of marriage institutions and interpersonal relationships. Dr. Browne's existential crisis on his deathbed, Prior's mental issues after the end of his long-term relationship, Joe and Harper's marriage problems, and Homebody's escape from London and relocation to Kabul are the consequences of an artificially designed alliance and sexuality. By close-reading the characters and interpersonal relationships, this research seeks to produce answers to the main question mark, Kushner's perception of monogamy. In the plays, the characters regret having lived their relationship life within the boundaries drawn by the social order, involve in extramarital relationships, seek new relationship practices, or go completely out of the coupledom system. Tony Kushner shows that life outside the monogamous system can be more liberating and loving and that it is possible to go beyond relationship norms by involving in different romantic and sexual practices or avoiding them altogether. Analyzing Kushner's plays through Foucault's three main monogamous strategies
in The History of Sexuality—(1) socialization and regulation of procreative behavior, (2) specification of the perverted, and (3) hysterization of women—creates many parallels. So much so that Foucault's theories are embodied in Kushner's fiction.
Keywords: Monogamy, Tony Kushner, Michel Foucault, marriage, sexuality, romance
and Homebody/Kabul. Monogamy is the socio-political design of marriage institutions and interpersonal relationships. Dr. Browne's existential crisis on his deathbed, Prior's mental issues after the end of his long-term relationship, Joe and Harper's marriage problems, and Homebody's escape from London and relocation to Kabul are the consequences of an artificially designed alliance and sexuality. By close-reading the characters and interpersonal relationships, this research seeks to produce answers to the main question mark, Kushner's perception of monogamy. In the plays, the characters regret having lived their relationship life within the boundaries drawn by the social order, involve in extramarital relationships, seek new relationship practices, or go completely out of the coupledom system. Tony Kushner shows that life outside the monogamous system can be more liberating and loving and that it is possible to go beyond relationship norms by involving in different romantic and sexual practices or avoiding them altogether. Analyzing Kushner's plays through Foucault's three main monogamous strategies
in The History of Sexuality—(1) socialization and regulation of procreative behavior, (2) specification of the perverted, and (3) hysterization of women—creates many parallels. So much so that Foucault's theories are embodied in Kushner's fiction.
Keywords: Monogamy, Tony Kushner, Michel Foucault, marriage, sexuality, romance
Both texts suggest that the visible surface is not enough to draw a conclusion. Ruskin says gothic “has external forms and internal elements”, and “unless both the elements and the forms are there, we have no right to call the style Gothic” (78). To extract the most trustworthy meaning, one must consider “the union of all” (79) data. Ruskin uses chemistry to note the importance of combining multiple characters, and Doyle emphasizes the adequacy of underlying data—both consult same methods while defining something.