ABSTRACT
The paper aims at a re-evaluation of Bond's characters as essential ingredients of his plays. In the light of Bond's political theories, gender or sexual politics are considered as part of the overall political structure of a play. In his "theatre of violence" gender politics are concerned with the functions characters perform and with the distribution of the roles of aggressor and victim between the sexes. The paper concentrates on the female characters but also enquires into the nature of their relationship with the other sex. In Bond's plays, the dichotomy of the sexes prevails in the sense that domination is the ultimate aim of either sex. Women may act as violently as do men, but the deeds of extreme cruelty committed against them are even more degrading. While in some plays a fully developed female character becomes a summation of actions, in others the fragmentation of character corresponds to the discontinuity of dramatic structure. Female sexuality is exploited and dominated by male fantasies, thus adding to the ambivalence of Bond's gender politics.
