The Paradox of Women as Victims in the selected plays of Tennessee Williams and Vijay Tendulkar

Abstract

This paper will analyze the key women characters in Vijay Tendulkar's Silence! The Court is in Session, Tennessee Williams' A Street Car named Desire and The Glass Menagerie. Williams and Tendulkar share certain similar traits in representing the middle-class lifestyle, the innate character of humans, especially with women's desire, space and oppression. The lead women characters that this paper will focus on include Miss. Benare, Blanche DuBois, Amanda Wingfield and Laure Wingfield. Both the playwrights use techniques like game, trap, reversal and violence in their plays. Neither all the protagonistic women characters in the plays exhibit attention for pity, nor they are dependent or submissive. How can women with endurance, passion, courage be categorized a victim? They are bold, independent and possess no traits of a victim except their gender. Williams and Tendulkar sculpted their women characters with complexity. They are paradoxical - independent yet trapped, unremitting yet victimized, passionate yet restricted, admirable yet pitied. Laura and Amanda are indeed quite different from Benare and Blanche. While Laura and Amanda find solace retiring into their imagination, Blanche and Benare struggle with the sordid reality. Unanimously all women characters remain contented in their "women's space" - a space where a woman is at her liberty with her own body, thoughts and emotions. The current paper will further delve into the reasons behind the relationship the women victims establish with their male victimizers.