Essay Database

Female Degradation in In the House of Moles Emerging from Terry Galloway’s nearly incomprehensible In the House of Moles is an indictment on female degradation. Throughout the play’s action we see the female characters physically and sexually assaulted and confined to suffocating gender roles. Costume designer Marit Aagaard employs cross-dressing and the stereotypical attire of female gender roles to reinforce Galloway’s depiction of societal constraints and abuses towards women. Aagaard outfits each …

…is the source of all the physical and sexual abuse that lies at the center of the play. Yet, appropriately, Baaz is not a man at all. Instead, Baaz is a male character played by a female dressed in a suit with tails and top hat. This makes the important point that violence and abuse towards women should not define a man’s masculinity. Baaz is no more a man for all his heinous actions.