Janey Tendulkar Essay

Thus, the women characters in Tendulkar’s plays replicate the suppressed and oppressed lot, struggling to come out of the clutches of the male-dominated Indian society. They attempt to break away from the servitude, subordination and forceful exploitation of womanhood, and struggle for the recognition of woman as equal in all spheres of life.

The scanning of select plays of Vijay Tendulkar reflects his concern for the middle class individual set against the backdrop of a hostile society. For Tendulkar the primary compulsion is humanistic. His plays concentrate on different aspects of the human character and complexity of human relationship. Tendulkar has created memorable female characters. He explores the position of women in contemporary Indian society through his female characters.

In most of his plays, Vijay Tendulkar presents women in pairs. They are quite different from each other. He portrays them as loyal, docile, religious, hardworking, self-effacing and tender-hearted; the other type of woman is more selfish, wily, vicious and assertive. Even then they resemble each other in the ultimate truth of being commanded by men for their pleasure and under their laws. In the play Silence! Leela Benare is a young, single, unconventional, full of laughter and pride woman. Mrs. Kashikar on the other hand is middle aged, married housewife and disapproving of “free” woman like Benare. In The Vultures, Rama and Manik are bolder contrasts. Rama is sensitive, naturally kind and good hearted. Her illicit relationship with her half brother-in-law, Rajaninath is the only grey shade of her life in the patriarchal world. Manik has been depicted as one of the vultures as the classic “slut” who hops from one bed to another. Laxmi and Champa in Sakaram Binder is another pair of women who share a common condition having contrast characters.