Abstract
Are we all ‘homo sacers’ entrapped in a social labyrinth? This article discusses the crisis of individuals whose agency is threatened by dominant social forces, by focusing on the intricacies of sibling bond (sibship) between the protagonists in the 1947 play, The Maids (Les Bonnes), by the French dramatist Jean Genet. It attempts to examine a) shared trauma, birth order, confused identities, gender dynamics, lingering thoughts of revenge on society, and sibling rivalry, conflicted or toxic attachment, deeply rooted in aversion as well as protective mentality towards each other, as per Victor G. Cicirelli’s perceptions; b) the inculcation of mores, norms and social roles based on the theoretical views of ‘sociology of morality’ and the characters’ ‘habitus’ (sociology) c) and their reactions towards dominant forces (through the lens of standpoint epistemology in social theory) by enacting their agency and d) how they become “outsiders within” (standpoint theory) like a “homo sacer” who are disposable (discard theory) in the eyes of society. In addition, the study upholds the need to discuss similar struggles of individuals and inspire further creative studies on sibling bond that might broaden the spectrum of knowledge, particularly through literary research, by building the gap between literature and critical points of view.
Keywords: Class Division, Clinical Psychology, Discard Studies, Sibling Bond, Sibship, Sociology.