Author: -

Abstract: »Ruined (2008), one of the most influential plays written by Lynn Nottage, deals with the social, emotional and physical consequences women victims of sexual abuse suffered during the Civil War in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The main purpose of this dissertation is to study in depth the use of women as sexual objects and the post-traumatic effects affecting female characters. Female genital mutilation, rape, sexual aggression, physical and psychological manipulation, and abuse of power are some of the main elements analysed in order to understand Ruined as a social denouncement of injustices that women and children suffer as a consequence of wars. The play, which won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, aims to raise female survivors’ voices in order to offer them power to fight against dehumanizing procedures that have been taking place in the DRC until a few decades ago.« (Source: Thesis)

Contents:

	Abstract (p. 2)
	Resumen (p. 2)
	1. Introduction (p. 5)
	2. Theoretical Framework (p. 7)
	3. Historical Context (p. 9)
	4. Analysis (p. 11)
		4.1. Background of Ruined (p. 11)
		4.2. Ruined as Tragedy: the Question of Genre (p. 14)
		4.3. Women as Battlefields (p. 18)
		4.4. Ruined as Metaphor (p. 21)
	5. Conclusion (p. 25)
	6. Works cited (p. 27)

Wikipedia: History of Africa: History of the Democratic Republic of Congo | Literature: American literature / Lynn Nottage | Literature: Fiction about rape / Ruined (play) | Sex and the law: Rape / Wartime sexual violence | War: Congolese Civil War / Rape during the First and Second Congo Wars