GENDER DISCRIMINATION IN MAHESH DATTANI’S DANCE LIKE A MAN AND TARA

Mahesh Dattani is one of the eminent Indian English playwrights, who mainly deals with the contemporary Indian society. He considers gender bias unnatural and ethical and brings out complex and multidimensional nature of the issue. His plays Tara and Dance like a Man deal with the theme of gender bias in society. The play Tara touches on the issue of gender-based division of labor and how this division creates barriers in the way of creativity and talent for both genders. Though, both Tara and Chandan are differently abled only Tara has to face double marginalization being a girl. In his play Dance like a Man his character struggle for some kind of freedom and happiness under the weight of tradition and cultural constructions of gender. In this play, the theme of gender runs in a pathetic way in which the whole identity of the character Jairaj seems to be in a crisis. He feels like his wife has ruined him and has taken away his self-esteem. This paper attempts to highlight the gender discrimination seen in the novel Dance like a Man and Tara.