Third-gender Issues and Voices in the Plays of Tennessee Williams and Mahesh Dattani: A Study

Description

Page: 48-50

G. Parashurama Murthy (Department of English, Maharani’s Science College for Women (Autonomous), Karnataka)

The research article examines how third-gender voices are represented and the challenges they face in the plays of Tennessee Williams and Mahesh Dattani. Despite being from different cultural backgrounds and writing in different genres, both playwrights addressed complex representations of marginalized people who defy gender norms. The experiences of third-gender characters in Indian society are discussed in Mahesh Dattani’s works, especially Tara and Seven Steps Around the Fire, which emphasize social exclusion, psychological turmoil, and prejudice. Tennessee Williams explores characters that, although not overtly third-gender, represent the social and emotional conflicts experienced by people whose gender identities defy conventional expectations in plays such as A Streetcar Named Desire and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. By critiquing the strict gender norms of their respective cultures, Dattani and Williams both provide insightful commentary on the violence, alienation, and internal conflict that people who exist outside of the male-female binary must contend with. Their writings ultimately advocate for a wider view of gender as a spectrum rather than a rigid binary by urging greater acceptance and recognition of various gender identities.