Dattani’s Bravely Fought the Queen as a feminist play
Feminism in Dattani's Play Bravely Fought the
Queen | Bravely Fought The Queen: Feminist Play | What is feminism in
Bravely Fought the Queen? | Bravely Fought the Queen, a feminist play. | Redefining
Feminism in Dattani's play Bravely
Fought the Queen | Theme Of Patriarchy In Bravely Fought The Queen | Gender
Identity In Mahesh Dattani's Bravely
Fought The Queen | A Feminist Approach to Bravely
Fought The Queen
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Bravely Fought the Queen as a feminist play
The
term feminist actually means that which belongs to the feminine sex. In this sense,
the term ‘feminist play ‘indicates a play on women or a play in which women are
found to have importance. The feminist play gives expression to the
under-represented experiences of women in a male-dominated society. It
represented women as subjects of their own rights and definite identity.
Bravely Fought the Queen’ by Mahesh Dattani
is a thought-provoking domestic tragedy where social issues are foregrounded
with much force. In the words of S. Das, the play is "built around the ironic
disjuncture between female icons of Indian culture and sad reality of women's lives .”The dramatist is a foremost
Indian playwright who in his play delineated contemporary social issues and
successfully dramatizes the complexities of human relationships".
Anjali Chaubey observes, "Dattani's plays
penetrate the facade of normalcy and expose the power politics at work .... The struggle with the dominant forces, the
survival strategies, appearances, and pretences all get replicated in his
plays."
Title of Mahesh Dattani Bravely Fought the Queen
‘Bravely Fought the Queen’ explores the baneful patriarchal system looming large in every nook and corner of Indian society. The system places its cruel and icy hands on women, oppressing and discriminating against them. This place showcases the themes of emptiness or hollowness of the lives of women trapped in the swirl of capitalism, of the futility of the conjugal life, of homosexuality, of persecution of women in the hands of their husbands, of money-lending, of prostitution, of debauchery, of victim-victimizer-relationship, of domestic violence, of exploitation, and of crass consumerism. This play highlights the social, sexual, and ethical depreciation of much-esteemed Indian values and how this is eating into the vitals of society, the conjugal life, and the evils of loneliness and loveless life.
In this play, the women-Dolly, Alka, Baa, and
the old beggar- woman-are victimized by the cruel and heartless members of the
patriarchal society. They are wallowing in the unfathomable abyss of physical
and mental suffering and excruciating pain. They are found gasping under the
obnoxious and fell clutches of patriarchy and gender bias and discrimination
and prejudices. In this play, the women are not victims but are found fighting
back at every available chance. Though they are marginalized, they endeavor to
fight for themselves. Championing women and their causes, Dattani has rightly
claimed, "I am fighting for my feminine self. And since I have the male
self, which proportionate battle. The feminine self is not a victim in my
plays. It's subsumed, yet, it's marginalized, but it fights back."
At the same time, Dattani reveals the high position as well as the authority of some women in the family through the mysterious invisible
but all-powerful figure of Baa who is virtually the head of the family. Thus
the feminine significance is clearly marked in Dattani's play.
Moreover,
the unconventional division of the play as the Women, the Men, and Free for All
bears out the dramatist's artistic presentation of women, totally apart from
men. The very openings Act has the title The Women Here all the characters
present are women, even including the invisible Mother Baa. That Mahesh
Dattani's play has a feminist savour is an indisputable matter.
But this
is not all. The dramatist shows, too, the suppressed feminine spirit that burst
out under the extremity of male oppression and neglect. This is
particularly shown through the affair of two Trivedi wives Dolly and Alka
under the beastly authority of their hideous husbands Jiten and Niten who are
tyrant and oppressive. Even both brothers assault their wives under the
dictate of their mother Baa. Jiten even did not hesitate to hit brutally his
pregnant wife, Dolly, resulting in the birth of his spastic child, Daksha.
Nitin, with no less boorishness, drove away his wife Alka on his mother’s
instruction. But so long neglected and terrorized Dolly and Alka begin to rise
and offer a brave resistance, particularly in Act III. Both Dolly and Alka to
raise their voice of protest and defiance to their husbands.
Both Dolly and Alka rise, refusing to obey their husbands’ commands and
even their despotic orders. In fact,
desperation has led them to a state of extremity. Moreover, they might have
felt inspired by the heroic account of the Rani of Jhansi who fought bravely
against the English oppressors. They are no more ready to oblige their husbands
by humbly surrendering to whatever they may say. Alka, after getting drenched
in rain and injuring her ankle, while dancing, claims that she has done no
wrong to feel scared at all of her husband or his elder brother. She even
asserts that she may not be an ideal wife, but that Nitin is also not at all an
ideal husband. She, therefore, finds no justification to feel ashamed of what
she has freely and fairly done.
Dolly goes, perhaps, much more ahead. She refuses to be bullied by her
husband. She sternly objects to Jiten's insulting behavior with Lalitha,
Sridhar's wife. She defies his threat and does not cower, and bravely lays bare
all his cruel assaults on her. She holds him responsible openly for the birth
of her spastic child, Daksha. Along with her sister Alka, she offers a stolid
resistance to the inhumanity of Trivedi brothersJiten and Nitin.
Thus from the above ultimate analysis,
there can be no doubt, that Bravely Fought the Queen is a feminist play, to a
great extent. By portraying the dire and fatal consequences of these evils,
the dramatist has composed this play as a plea for humanity and for tolerance.
It is equally a cry for the acceptance of Indian values that are shifting,
where tradition and contemporary clash, confuse, and create a new social
landscape.
