Manisha Sinha
Ph.D. Research Scholar, Amity Institute of English Studies and Research, Amity University, Noida. ORCID ID: 0000-0001-9205-533X. Email: manisha.s27@icloud.com
Volume 12, Number 5, 2020 I Full Text PDF
DOI: 10.21659/rupkatha.v12n5.rioc1s14n2
Abstract
Silence can stem from myriad stimuli, including but not limited to quietude, speechlessness, secretiveness or repression. The oppressed and marginalised women often resort to the ‘act’ of silence to survive in a patriarchal society. Indian playwright Mahesh Dattani has raised the social problem of misogyny in several of his plays. The women in these plays are neither timid nor shy. Yet, despite being quite vocal about various aspects, they keep parts of their lives buried in deep secrecy. Their selective silence also raises pertinent questions regarding gender-based power equations. Exploring the interconnection between patriarchy and silence in Mahesh Dattani’s Where Did I Leave My Purdah? and Final Solutions, this paper attempts to analyse as to whether silence of women in these plays is a manifestation of their agency or indirect patriarchal imposition.
Keywords: feminism, patriarchy, silence, partition literature, Indian drama.