Gender Equality Through the Lens of Patriarchal Literature

Abstract

This paper deals with the theme of gender equality through the lens of patriarchal literature, focusing on the works of Vijay Tendulkar, Mahasweta Devi, and Kamala Das. Each work reveals how patriarchy has shaped  differences among gendered lives, silencing voices and restricting freedoms not only for women but also for society as a whole. In Tendulkar’s Silence! The Court is in Session, the play exposes the cruelty and rigid mindsets of societal institutions, particularly the courtroom, which shows gender differences and suppress women’s situation and voices. Mahasweta Devi’s Mother of 1084 highlights the intertwined oppressions of political and patriarchal forces, where a mother’s grief becomes inseparable from the larger struggle for justice. Kamala Das’s poems, especially An Introduction and The Old Playhouse, portray the tensions of self-expression and identity under marital and societal expectations. Her husband’s disapproval of her writing in English and his possessiveness underscore the emotional suffocation imposed on women. Through these analyses, the paper demonstrates how patriarchal systems perpetuate inequality through mechanisms of silence, control, and suppression. At the same time, it shows how literature functions as a space of resistance, offering voices of dissent and reimagining the dynamics of power, equality, and justice.