Title of Mahesh Dattani Bravely Fought the Queen
Significance of Title of Dattani’s
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Title: Mahesh Dattani Bravely Fought the Queen
Mahesh
Dattani is one of the exponents of modern Indo-Anglo drama. He is a renowned
playwright and an active person in the theater. Like Bernard Shaw and Henrik Ibsen,
Dattani, being a true feminist, writes for the improvement and upliftment of
women. In 1986, Dattani wrote his first play, "Where There is a
Will". His plays cover a wide range of subjects and focus on taboo subjects such as gender identity, gender discrimination, etc. The play
"Tara" deals with discrimination based on sex, "‘30 Days in
September" addresses the problem of child abuse.
The play "Bravely Fought the Queen" is a thought-provoking
domestic tragedy. Like "Tara, “Bravely Fought the Queen "is based on
gender discrimination and the exploitation of women. The play gives a grim
picture of a state of society that is mainly male-dominated. In the play, the
women Dolly, Alka, Baa, and the old beggar, are victims of the patriarchal society.
The title, therefore, not only exalts the most significant theme but also introduces the feminist angle to the Play. A predominant image that is repeated incessantly in the work is that of a warrior woman. The "Queen" mentioned in the title refers to the legend of Rani of Jhansi, Lakshmibai, who fought like a male soldier during the First Indian War of Independence in 1857. She has been glorified in Subhadra Kumari Chauhan's Hindi poem,
'Jhansi ki Rani '-
“Khub ladi mardani
Woh to Jhansiwali Rani thi”
Although the Rani, is only mentioned directly in the play once in reference to the masked ball, it is this assertion of a form of stoic and non-ostentatious heroism on the part of a woman in crisis that works as a subtext in Bravely Fought of what in.. The two female protagonists of the play, namely Dolly and Alka as "Queen", show incredible courage to endure the miserable fate of being confined to the house, caring for a sick mother-in-law and sipping the insult to stay home, or in silence tolerant of her husband's lust.
Dolly, the eldest of the two sisters, is the wife of Jiten, the more tyrannical and oppressive of the two Trivedi brothers. In fact, it is through Dolly that Dattani exposes the exploitation of bourgeois housewives by the patriarchy. In the end, Dolly confronts her husband Jiten, remembering all of his abuses.
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However, it is Dolly's sister Alka, who truly assumes the role of the
“Queen” that the title refers to. In fact, it is through this younger Trivedi
wife that Dattani exposes the fact of homosexuality and the play adopted by
traditional Indian families to conceal it. She has been married to Jiten's
The fact that she is the real “Queen” who fights her way through victimization
and exploitation comes out through an extremely in compromising and defiant
demeanor of Alka. Not only does she enter Dolly's house drunk, but her
unsympathetic attack on Dolly's fantasies about Kanhaiya also reveals her
dissatisfaction with her life and an urge to gain individuality. This becomes
even more clear when at the suggestion of being dressed as Queen of Jhansi at
the “masked ball”, Alka immediately accepts the offer. This essentially
signifies her desire to assert an individual identity and transcend her
groveling and unfulfilled conjugal life.
‘Bravely Fought the Queen’ therefore, is perfectly attuned with some of
the other plays of Dattani like ‘Where There is a Will’ and ‘On a Muggy Night
in Mumbai’ in terms of its portrayal of
a world where the man-woman relationship has been totally ruptured. However,
unlike the heroine in Tara, who literally acquires a superior status by dint of
her actions, the two female protagonists in this play regain agency merely by
asserting adherence to their own ideals and engaging in preoccupations like
the mellifluous thumris of Naina Devi or sexual fantasies involving Kanhaiya. In spite of being subjugated by their respective husbands, Alka and Dolly indeed
align themselves with the “Queen” of Jhansi in exhibiting a challenging,
fearless, and rebellious spirit.
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Explanation of some important Quotation
1.
"Oh, I keep myself occupied. I do a bit of writing. Freelance. I write an
occasional women's column for the Times. Sometimes I review cultural events. I
am into meditation. And, oh yes, I grow bonsai plants- You know poetry and
stuff like that. Nothing great but..." I have been growing them for years.
I do a bit of creative writing as well.
Ans.
The above-mentioned lines are taken from Mahesh Dattani's play, Bravely Fought
The Queen. Actually, the speaker is Lalitha, Sridhar's (An employee in the
Advertising agency of the two Trivedi brothers, Jiten and Nitin) wife. She told
these in her conversation with Alka Trivedi, in the house of Dolly Trivedi, in Act I of the present play.
However,
the thing is that to avoid the boredom and monotony of her marital life with a
very professional-minded husband like Sridhar, Lalitha starts doing stuff
like creative writing, freelancing, events managing, meditation, and above all
making bonsai plants. Even Sridhar supports all these because, on one hand, these give Lalitha something to do in the absence of Sridhar, and on the other
hand, if we follow the conversation of Lalitha and Alka, then we can see that,
both Lalitha and Sridhar are trying to save money for a flat of their own and
her numerous works in such several fields can fetch quite a good amount of money
as well. Besides, it is the reason, why they are still childless. This,
however, put an impression of the middle-class mentality, rather than middle-class
anxiety, as they always remain anxious to see them in between the aristocratic class and in order to acquire that prestigious position in society, these middle-class people like Lalitha and Sridhar seem to be haunted
by a competitive mood of rat- race. And that is why they use to keep them busy
in their vocation and try their hands in several other sects for monetary
solvency. As we know, the social structure solely depends on the economy,
so it is quite obvious that, to raise into the position of a social aristocrat,
one needs, money first, a good house in a posh suburb, the second, and
practicing superficial manners, the third.
Besides
this, the symbolical representation of 'Bonsai' is of utter importance as it
signifies the stunted growth of families and businesses, both at the same
time . Bonsai is a kind of tree, whose growth has been stunted manually. Thus,
in the Trivedi family, because of the tyrannical oppression and excessive physical
torture of both Baa, the mother of the Trivedi brothers, and Jiten, her elder
son, Daksha, the daughter of Jiten and Dolly born prematurely as crippled.
Whereas, Alka suffers from an isolated marital relationship with a homo-sexual
husband, who instead of giving her time, spends nights with his homosexual
friends, like, Praful, his brother-in-law, and an auto-driver. Thus, Alka is
still issueless and it is almost certain that her situation is not going to
change. Likewise, Lalitha and Sridhar are still childless as, they are saving
money for their new flat in a good area, which reflects middle-class anxiety,
as per our discussion in the previous paragraph. And, besides this, the dwarfed
condition of the advertising agency of the Trivedis can be described through
the stunted growth of the 'Bonsai', as for the business marketing and
advertisement of Re Va Tee, the new brand of the color co-ordinated nightwear
and underwear for the women, the Trivedi brothers cannot afford the interest of
the loan from the Nichani's (business investors) because of their financial
degradation.
2.
"All right. I'll give you a choice. Either we talk about Daksha...or
Kanhaiya. Which one it will be?"
Ans. The mentioned quotation is taken from the Act I of Dattani's play, Bravely Fought
The Queen. The speaker is Alka Trivedi, the sister of Dolly Trivedi, and the
wife of Nitin Trivedi.
During
the conversation between Dolly, Alka, and Lalitha, several issues are being
discussed, like, the launching ceremony of the new brand, Re Va Tee, the
Masked-ball during the party, Lalitha's preferences, etc. Besides these, there
come the issues regarding Daksha, the daughter of Dolly and Jiten, and Kanhaiya,
the substitute cook of just nineteen. It is Alka, who pretty significantly
remarked about Daksha and Kanhaiya, which becomes the cause of humiliation for
Dolly, as both these topics are related to her personal trauma and individual
secrecy. However, Alka tries to depict Daksha as a would-be 'famous dancer' in
a very satirical tone because she is well aware of her physical condition. If
we go through the play, then we come to know the fact that, Daksha is a
crippled child both physically and mentally, who is just under a certain kind
of training which is only meant for the handicapped and mentally-disordered
children, in order to teach them some general lessons to carry on simplest
daily- events on their own by the physiotherapists. Daksha is an example of a torturous
truth regarding her father and her grandmother's violence. During the advanced
stage of her pregnancy, Dolly was tremendously beaten and humiliated in the
hand of her husband, Jiten, the aggressive of, who was insisted by his mother
at that time. Thus, Daksha was born "...two months premature."
Moreover, the name of Kanhaiya is also related to some personal secrecy of
Dolly. This Kanhaiya Lal is the substitute cook in the houses of the two
Trivedi brothers and he is just of nineteen years. And the thing is that Dolly
grows tired and disgusted with her conjugal life with an unsympathetic husband.
And as a consequence of this, a sensible, patient, responsible house-wife and loving mother, Dolly, takes refuge in the world of romance and sex with a
nineteen years old cook Kanhaiya, who stays in the servants' quarters outside
their house and comes for a secret meeting every day in the kitchen.
That is the reason why, Dolly becomes
upset and a bit restless while Alka is teasing her with these matters in
front of a stranger, Lalitha. She hardly wants to talk about these two matters
to let others know about Daksha and the past related to her birth and the
incidents regarding Kanhaiya, because, she is a woman, who has fought a
battle against male chauvinism throughout her life. On one hand, there is
the violent husband and on the other hand, there is the tyrannical
mother-in-law, who rules over her sons and daughters-in-law with the weapon of
wealth even from her paralytic bed.
3. "Yes! Men would want to buy it
for their women!... Men would want their women dressed up like that. And they
have the buying power. Yes! So there's no point in asking a group of screwed-up
women what they think of it..."
Ans. The above quotation is mentioned
by Jiten Trivedi in the Act II of the present play, Bravely Fought The Queen,
written by Mahesh Dattani, when both the two Trivedi brothers and their
employee Re Va Tee Sridhar are discussing over the market survey of the
advertisement of the new brand of the color-co-ordinated nightwear and
underwear for the women, which they are going to launch very soon.
The thing is that, while discussing the market survey with his employers, Jiten and Nitin in their office,
Sridhar tells them that, most of the women from "the upper-middle class,
upper-class and the striking rich" describe the advertisement as
"highly offensive" because of its excessive use of sexual undertones,
which is against the social norms. As in the storyline for the video
commercial, there is a model looking out of the window and she sees that her
husband or her lover has come home. She q rushes opens a box and removes the new
Re Va Tee bra, panties, and he. Cut to her dress in them. She lets her hair
loose, pirouettes, and down on the bed, just as the door opens, the scene
freezes and nature comes on the screen "Tight his fire with Re va
Tee."
But for Jiten, it is pointless to ask
a group of screwed-up women, what they think of the advertisement because one
should have tasted it out on the men as they have the monitory power and they
would want their women dressed up like that. It is true that society always
represents men as transcendental, active, dynamic, celestial, boundless, superior,
all acquiring, and powerful, whereas women are always considered to be imminent,
passive, static, inferior, fleshy, weak and to be enjoyed. Moreover, it is
taken for granted that, women are one of the most precious commodities, which
must be presented with the utter richness of sensuality and passion, in order
to satisfy the male desire. And, quite obviously, this male chauvinism is the
part and parcel of Jiten's being, as he is the representative of the male
patriarch, who was first taught how to dominate de female members of his own
family by his violent father and thus he starts practicing it on his wife
during her pregnancy to prove his masculine strength and he shows off his
boundless superiority by ordering Sridhar to o bring a prostitute for him in
the office. Thus, in a society like ours, where men use to enjoy the most
privileged position to do anything and everything that they want, there, Jiten
is just revealing what he thinks of the women, because as a man, he
himself knows it better,, what a man wants from a woman. And the model in
the advertisement is the epitome of that male desire.
4." She married into royalty.
Imagine. She could have lived life comfortably in royal grace and become a
rajmata. But she wanted to sing! She wanted to sing songs of love. Thumris-sung
in her days only by tawails"
Ans. These lines are taken from the
third Act of Mahesh Dattani's play Bravely Fought The Queen, entitled 'Free
For All' and the speaker is Dolly Trivedi in her conversation with Alka and
Lalitha.
During their discussion over the
matter of Naina Devi's thumri, Dolly expresses her reverence to this stalwart
Thumri singer Naina Devi, How- ever, Thumri is a common genre of Semi-classical
Indian Music. The text is romantic or devotional in nature and usually
revolves around a girl's love. It is characterized by its sensuality, and by a
greater flexibility with the Raga. And the most outstanding singer of thumri was Naina Devi,
who a moral family but later devoted her life to the singing of the tawa the
prostitutes. But, for a member of the royal family to www in those days of the early twentieth century and in a country want fighting countless social stigmas
that had enough power were someone from the society, but she had the support
of her husband
In spite of Dolly's preference, Naina Devi's
'Thumri' is the symbol of My after-sexual pleasure by Dolly coming in contact
with Kanhaiya, see The thumri, which is related to some holy song, is used by
Dolly Kasha Besides, the 'Thumri' symbolizes bravery, the heroism and the so
serve her purpose of satisfying the sexual passion with the young cook
combating attitude of Naina Devi against the social orthodoxy. And by
constantly listening to the songs of Naina Devi, both the two sisters Dolly and
Alka try to ignore the repression, oppression, and humiliation of the
conservative male-dominated society. Through the Thumries, they can ventilate
their desire and their anger to the dogmatic notion of a patriarchal society
which considers the women to be the 'other', (the female, the weak, and the
subordinate), to the binary opposition of the 'self', (the male, the powerful
and the privileged).
5.
"So bravely fought the Rani of Jhansi So bravely fought the manly
Queen..."
Ans.
The above-mentioned lines are taken from a famous poem written by Subhadra
Kumari Chauhan, which is entitled as Jhansi Ki Rani (The Queen of Jhansi). Here
in the present play, Bravely Fought The Queen, Lalitha recites these lines in
the third Act in front of Dolly and Alka. While they are busy in their
discussion over the matter of the Masked ball, which is arranged by the men to
launch the new brand of color-coordinated nightwear and underwear for the women,
Lalitha suggests Dolly wear the costume of the Queen of Jhansi.
Moreover, the Queen of Jhansi, Rani Laxmi Bai,
is the symbol of the famous Sepoy mutiny of 1857 in India, but at the same time
assumed the leading role in that war against the British regime. Thus, in their
conversation, Alka pays her due respect to this great, warrior Queen by saying
t she (Rani Laxmi Bai) was "brave enough to qualify as a man". Later
on, we go through the play, then we come to know that, at the very end, it is
Dolly who will assume the strength and will come out to be the strongest
character by supporting drunken Alka and
revealing the torturous truth anding the birth of Daksha, her daughter. By her
true revelation, the word of women and the world of men will converge violently
in the final where all the characters will stand exposed and the past and the e
will collapse into the present. Alike, the Queen of Jhansi, Dolly does at hesitate
to stand against the social prejudices regarding women and her thoughts and
feelings, first, by announcing her physical relationship with de young cook
Kanhaiya and second, by exposing Jiten's cruelty during the advanced stage of
pregnancy which had its effect on Daksha.
Finally, as per the title of this play is concerned, it is related to the pom which is recited by Lalitha as 'Bravely fought the [manly] queen'. The title distinctly indicates that a woman who is supposed to be the chief male character fights against male domination and tyranny, just like Queen of Jhansi, who gave up her life manly on the battlefield like a naive soldier.
6.
"I didn't mean to... you know I didn't. It was Baa! Blame her but at me!
She is my daughter!"
Aus.
The speaker is none but, the aggressive oaf Jiten Trivedi, Dolly's husband and
the elder brother of Nitin. He has revealed it while confessing the truth
regarding the birth of Daksha, his daughter, in the last Act of Dalland's most
successful play, Bravely Fought The Queen.
In
the play, Jiten is portrayed as an unsympathetic violent lecher, who not only
practices debauchery outside but at the same time once in a drunken rage and
insisted by the provocation of his mother, he brutally tortured his wife Dolly
when she was pregnant and thus, his character stands exposed in the final Act,
where Dolly emerges as the strongest character and reveals his cruelty by
saying "And you hit me! Jitu, you Nat me up! I was carrying Daksha and you
beat me up!... At the hospital, you told them I fell down the stairs! Daksha was born two months prematurely. With the cord around her neck?" At this point,
Jiten tries to dead him as he charges his mother who had insisted him at that
time to A her. As because Praful, the brother of Dolly and Alka deceives Baa
and her sons by making them think that his father and the two sisters Ather
is only one person. The two sisters are the children of his mother's second
marriage while he is the child of her first marriage. Alka are in the thought that Baa completely knows about
their parentage. Baa realizes this truth at a time when Dolly was pregnant with
Daksha and that Dolly's mother married for the second time to a person who was
already married. So, society including Baa takes her as a whore and Dolly is
the daughter of that whore and Baa doubts Dolly being like her mother.
Therefore, she induces Jiten to beat her up in the advanced stage of pregnancy
of seven months in the thought that the child is not of her son for she too,
is being taken as a whore. But, here, Dolly gets furious and bursts out on
Jiten by saying-"...I will not let you get away so easily! They were your
hands hitting me! Your feet kicking me! It's in your blood! It's in your blood
to do bad!"
Finally, Jiten the aggressive oaf is driven to feel guilty for his misdeeds. It is the
situation when patriarchy falls apart. All the social prejudices regarding
women are shattered like mere glasses. The tabooed notion of 'Man' being the
superior and the powerful is just ridiculed in the hand of a 'Woman'; at last,
the social structure is altered with the bottom up.
7.
"Those times when I used to spend the night at your place, I used to sleep
on his cot. And he would sleep on a mattress on the floor, beside me..."
Ans.
This confession is made by Nitin Trivedi, Alka's husband, and Jiten's younger
brother, in Act III of Dattani's play Bravely Fought The Queen.
However,
Nitin is portrayed as an unfaithful friend, a careless homo- sexual husband, and
a greedy fellow, who wants to covet the whole wealth of his mother by
saying-" Will you give me the house, if I sent her (Alka) back for good this
time?" And thus, it is Alka, who becomes first, the victim of a frustrated
conjugal life with a homosexual husband, who has a relationship with her own
brother Praful and an auto-driver, and second, she was deceived by Praful who by
trickery became able to get them, Nitin and Alka, married and besides he kept
them in dark about each other's sexual orientation. Still, Nitin is tolerably
good, but, his character is exposed at the very end when he himself conceals
his homosexuality in front of the huddled figure of Alka, who is fast asleep.
Nitin confesses that they (He and Praful) know each other for many years and
even before his marriage to Alka. Nitin used to go at his (Praful) place very
often and spend nights with him without letting anyone know. But, at last, when
the two worlds, the world of the women and the world of the men converge
violently in the final Act, all the characters stand exposed, and the past
and future collapse into the present, which unleashes all those that are kept
hidden.
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