Two Can Play

Trevor Rhone's Two Can Play deals a lot with gender roles and chauvinism. Jim and Gloria are a dysfunctional couple that throughout the play deal with their marital issues. Jim thinks he has to be treated by Gloria as if he was the chief of the house. For example, he wants her to prepare him food all the time and to do everything around the house. Gloria, on the other hand, does not want to be the housewife Jim wants her to be. Jim is also very disrespectful towards Gloria. He is always calling her a 'bitch' and is always ordering her around. Gender roles in the play are very clear. Jim is one of those guys who is mean to his wife and that thinks that she haves to do everything he tells her to. Gloria does not always let him get away with his ways. She often does not do what he tells her to do, like fixing him a meal. Jim also thinks that woman can't do certain things, but at the same time sees no wrong in him doing it, like masturbating. He gets very surprised and befuddled when Gloria admits that she masturbates. The thing is that Jim does it too. He does not think much of it when he does it. When Gloria says that she does it, then it is wrong because she is a woman. It's pretty much like in the present. A man can be with many women all he wants because he is a man, but if a woman does it, then she is a slut. Think about it, there is no man word for slut.