Madwomen in the Attic: Deconstructing Power Dynamics and Urban Space in Mahesh Dattani’s Bravely Fought the Queen
| Author |
| Suraiya Sultana |
| Date of Publication: June, 2026 |
| Volume: XXIII |
| DOI:10.65734/tgi.ssei.avp.ijcsss.ti.23.9 |
| Abstract |
| Michel Foucault analyses the changing scenarios of penalty from public domains to the constant surveillance in carceral system. However, Foucault’s analysis involves the creation of docile bodies and minds through the application of disciplinary tactics. In Indian society, the revolution in business and technical spheres brings about myriad alterations in traditional families, where women’s bodies are either exclusively imprisoned in domestic space, or displayed in commercial spaces for advertisement and pecuniary benefits. Mahesh Dattani, a famous Indian playwright, voices practical social concerns through his play Bravely Fought the Queen where he puts a contrast between the space of men and that of women of his time. The present paper will examine how the attitudes of Indian men create submissive bodies of women who are incarcerated in familial space for a long time. Nonetheless, Dattani through his theatrical performances, deconstructs the power dynamics in postcolonial Indian society, thereby opening new spaces for the women to construct their identities in groundbreaking ways. |
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