Voicing the Suppressed Female Voices in a Male-Chauvinistic Society: A Study of Vijay Tendulkar’s Silence! The Court is in Session

Vijay Tendulkar (1928-2008) is considered a prominent Indian playwright, movie and television writer, literary essayist and social commentator primarily in Marathi in the twentieth century. The playwright acquaints the readers or the audience with the Indian socio-cultural milieu through the journey of characters in Silence! The Court is in Session. This paper aims at analyzing the perceptions of the people towards women in a male-dominated, patriarchal society. The paper will analyze that whether social sanctity, morality, ethics, values are applied to both genders i.e. man and women with the same lenses or favours any of them. If there are dual standards for measuring the character of an individual based on gender, how can one hope for justice? This paper will give an expression to the silenced, the hushed up, the repressed, the suppressed and the oppressed voices,liberating the women while interrogating the male-chauvinistic world.


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Silence! The Court is in Session is an English translation of Vijay Tendulkar's Marathi play Shantala! Court Chalu Aahe written in 1963. The play is in the form of a play within a play. Tendulkar projects a Mumbai based theatre group that is committed to spreading social awareness in society by performing issue-based plays, and social work is the thread that binds all the actors together throughout the play. This theatrical troupe reaches a village community hall and prepares for the rehearsal of the play to be performed that evening. The actors have decided to perform a mocktrial protesting against President Johnson's production of atomic weapons.All the troupe members reach the hall following Mrs Benare except Professor Damble and Rawte, and when it is almost confirmed that the absentees would not be able to reach, and perform tonight, they make a few changes in the script in the absence of Kashikar. At the beginning of the trial, Mrs Benare takes it lightly as she was not the accused in the predefined script, but everyone either pleads or reprimand her to be serious, and she is charged with the crime of infanticide, the crime of desiring her maternal uncle, the crime of bearing an illicit child as an unwed mother, her illegal relationship with Professor Damble, Charges from Ponkshe and Karnik of her attempts into marrying her, and finally charge of the crime of attempting suicide by having poison. Ponkshe and Karnik visit the witness box twice to put up their charges. Whenever she breaksout to explain her part under the spell of emotions, she is silenced and not allowed to speak. Most of the time, her voice is suppressed by the lawyer, by the judge, even by other characters.
To emancipate the status of women in a family and largely in society,female writers started expressing their anxiety regarding the role of a woman in society from the late eighteenth century, although after 1960s it took the form of a movement. Mary As all had been planned in her absence and when she joins them back, Ponkshe tells Miss Benare that she has been arrested on suspicion of a crime of a grave nature, and has been brought as a prisoner before the bar of this court. In the meanwhile, Kashikar comes and seats himself on the Judge's chair on the dais, and orders all to settle down. The situation turns Miss Benare stunned and thoughtless when Kashikar enquires her: When Miss Benare turns thoughtless and does not answer for the crime, reprimands are issued for abrogating the authority of the counsel and for obstructing the due process of the law from the Judge, Kashikar whose actions mock the real Court proceedings. Sukhatme, the public prosecutor asserts that 'Woman is a wife for a moment, but a mother forever' (42). He argues that the concept of motherhood is pious as a woman has been acknowledged as the mother of all mankind and appeals for the suitable punishment for the committed crime disregarding her sobbing and viewpoints.
To prove charges against the loose character of Miss Benare, witnesses Ponkshe and Karnik inform the court that she has attempted to marry both of them. Ponkshe informs the court that, "She made known her desire to marry me" (84) Therefore, Sukhatme appeals to take a stern and inexorable view of the convict's crime objectively.
Lastly, the content of the mock trial comes out to be the real-life of Miss Leela Benare. When Miss Benare is given chance to speak, she says that she has to say a lot as "I haven't said a word" (102) for years. She confesses the charges against her while bursting out emotionally. to!" (104). She acknowledges that she fell in love with her mother's brother who also appreciated her but at the age of fourteen she did not know that it was a sin. She also insisted to get married to him, but all including her mother objected and at the same time her lover also ran away, therefore being dejected, she attempted to commit suicide. Thereafter, she admits that she fell in love again referring to Professor Damble as a mature and intellectual love. She says: As a grown woman, I threw all my heart into it; I thought, this will be different. This love is intelligent. It is love for an unusual intellect. It isn't love at all-it's worship! 127 Miss Benare's outbursting interrogates the typical mentality of the patriarchal set-up that it is only the woman who carries the culture, traditions, and customs.
After Miss Benare's time is over for explanation, the Judge, Mr Kashikar takes his position to pass on his judgments. While announcing the punishment the judge says that paying attention to the terrible crimes she has committed, there is no space for forgiveness.
He states social customs of supreme significance. Marriage is the foundation for the stability of society and motherhood must be kept sacred and pure. The morality which, she has shown through her conduct is the morality she has planned to impart to the youth of the upcoming generation. The court has not an iota of doubt about this. Therefore, not only the present but also the futuristic society would have been endangered by her misconduct. The school administrationalso deserves special patting for removing her from her job. No memento of her sin should remain for future generations. The judge announces, "Therefore this court hereby sentences that you shall live. But the child in your womb shall be destroyed" (108).
After listening to the sentence, Miss Benare turns unconscious and others rush towards her to remind her that it was just a mocktrial.