P. Maria Ponn Sindhuja II MA English Literature PG & Research Department of English Holy Cross College Trichy - 620002 Lizzie Borden- A Rebel Against Patriarchy In Sharon Pollock’s Blood Relations Sharon Pollock is considered one of Canada 's most respected dramatists. Her writing techniques are innovative. She works in multiple genres. Her dialogues are strong and contain social messages about oppressive forces and those who suffer under oppression. She has won many awards, including the Canada Council Governor General 's Literary Awards in 1981 for Blood Relations (1980) and in 1986 for Doc (1984), the Alberta Writers Guild Award in 1986, and the Alberta Literary Foundation Award in 1987. She is a prolific writer. Her plays have been produced on stage, television and radio. Sharon Pollock was born on April 19th, 1936 in Fredericton, New Brunswick. Her father was a physician and politician and her mother was a nurse. Her …show more content…
The play is structured in two acts. It dramatizes the strict patriarchal society and the conservative mind set of the people living in the nineteenth century. It also gives a feminist perspective of the then prevailing conditions. Lizzie and her sister Emma live with their father and step-mother in Fall River. Lizzie is under great pressure and frustration as she is not free to follow her pursuits in life. She exposes an individualistic trait which does not conform to the accepted norms of the then society. She wanted a life of her own. She wanted economic independence. I dreamt... someday I 'm going to live... in a corner house on the hill...I 'll have parties, grand parties. I 'll be... witty, not biting, but witty. Everyone will be witty. Everyone who is anyone will want to come to my parties... and if... I can 't... live in a corner house on the hill... I 'll live on the farm, all by myself on the farm! (Pollock