China Doll

By Marjorie Chan

At the beginning of the 20th century in China, copies of Ibsen's A Doll House began circulating secretly amongst women in tea-houses. In China Doll, Marjorie Chan's first play, Ibsen is a catalyst for a young woman who comes to see her future in terms other than those laid out for her by the patriarchal society in which she lives. Su-Ling, an open-minded and intelligent young woman in Shanghai, has her feet bound by her grandmother, Poa-Poa. Despite the pain and the crippling effects, custom decrees that the smaller and daintier the foot, the more marriageable the woman. (The most desirable, "lotus feet " fit into lotus shoes only 3-4 inches long.) Poa-Poa has high hopes that her granddaughter will marry well and bring prosperity to them both. Then Su-Ling meets the merchant Li, who enlarges her world by teaching her to read. As Su-Ling grows into womanhood, she makes choices that lead her toward independence, and which have consequences for everyone in her world.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0920486835
• ISBN13: 9780920486832
• Release Date: August 2004
• Publisher: Scirocco Drama
• Length: 96 Pages
• Weight: 0.32 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.7" x 8.5"