LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 14:3 March 2014
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
         C. Subburaman, Ph.D. (Economics)
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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Women as a Victim of Patriarchal Society in Vijay Tendulkar’s Plays:
Silence! The Court is in Session, Kanyadan and Vultures

Anju Bala

Abstract

Vijay Tendulkar (1928-2008), the Marathi dramatist, is undoubtedly a great playwright, known for his versatile genius and fecundity. As a leading contemporary Indian playwright, he has produced various short-stories, children's Books, essays and novels. By dint of hard work, he is widely acclaimed as one of the most influential dramatists of India, like Girish Karnad, Badal Sircar, Aasif Currimbhoy and Mahesh Dattani. Some of his important plays are Silence! The Court is in Session (1968), Encounter in Umbugland (1969), The Vultures (1971), Sakharam Binder (1972), Ghasiram Kotwal (1972), Kamala (1982), and Kanyadan (1983). He is often referred to as a “contradictory and revolutionary” play-wright. His works have produced many debates and discussions regarding the subject-matter, style and his personal views. As a social realist, he presents the black side of humanity in his dramas. He projects the image of women crushed under the forces of the patriarchal system. The present paper will try to concentrate on how Tendulkar presents the plight of Indian woman in this so-called modern society. The women in Tendulkar’s plays have no identity of their own; they are just puppets in the hands of their male counterparts. As a playwright, Tendulkar is immensely concerned with the exploitation and victimization of women in a patriarchal society.

Keywords: Patriarchy, Identity, Exploitation, Victimization

Significant Issues Facing Us

In this age of globalization, when we are on our way to becoming a developed country, the issues like Gender Equality, Women's Emancipation, and Women Empowerment have become very significant. After sixty years of Independence, are the women really emancipated? Does our society still discriminate on the basis of gender? Does education improve or ameliorate women’s condition? We can easily find out the answers for all these questions through Vijay Tendulkar’s novels. This paper will concentrate on explanations of women's status, their humiliation as well as victimization by the male dominated society in Tendulkar’s three plays: Silence! The Court is in Session, Kanyadan and Vultures, respectively. According to Feminists, in order to understand woman’s position in this world, one should be familiarize with the term patriarchy. The patriarchal system portrays man as rational, bold, aggressive, dominating, independent, fearless, and having a tendency to rule and control. On the other hand, women are supposed to be docile, timid, self-sacrificing, passive, submissive, emotional and dutiful towards their husbands and family members.. This system of patriarchy is based upon the concept of hierarchical binaries of genders, proclaiming man’s superiority and woman’s inferiority. It allows man to assert his authority in all possible forms, seemingly, in order to sustain stability in marriage and family.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Anju Bala, Ph.D. Research Scholar
Department of English & Foreign Languages
Maharshi Dayanand University
Rohtak 124001
Haryana
India
anju.ahlawat26@gmail.com
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