Dialectics of Gender and Sexuality in Mahesh Dattani’s Theatre

Dialectics of Gender and Sexuality in Mahesh Dattani’s Theatre presents a rigorous and theoretically informed investigation into the intricate interplay of gender, sexuality, and structural marginality in the dramatic corpus of Mahesh Dattani, a seminal figure in modern Indian English theatre. Anchored in close textual analysis and critical theory, this study engages eight major plays—Dance Like a Man, Tara, Seven Steps Around the Fire, Do the Needful, among others—through interdisciplinary lenses including feminist theory, queer theory, psychoanalysis, and trauma studies. The volume interrogates the performative construction of gender, exposes heteronormative ideologies, and articulates the silenced subjectivities of women, homosexuals, and third-gender individuals. Drawing upon foundational theorists such as Judith Butler, Gayle Rubin, Dorothy Smith, and Nancy Chodorow, the book foregrounds theatre as a dynamic site of resistance, subversion, and epistemic reconstitution. It contributes significantly to discourses in gender studies, Indian English drama, performance theory, and cultural criticism.