A Contrapuntal Reading of Vijay Tendulkar’s Kanyadaan

Abstract

Vijay Tendulkar’s Kanyadaan has been construed in many ways by various scholars. Published in 1983, the play holds caste as determining factor of the life of the characters. The play echoes the social reality still now as it withholds the binary divides explicitly. The two characters, namely Jyoti, a Brahmin girl with liberal ideas, and Arun Athavale, a Dalit boy with vengeful nature,are united through marriage. Admiring at his poetic calibre, Jyoti voluntarily marries him against her status and trusts a good life. Unaware of Arun’s long-standing oppression, she becomes his life partner and befall sprey to his brutal nature. So far, the play has not been interpreted from contrapuntal frame. Through contrapuntal frame, this paper identifies the minor narrative that isvital to any coherent academic discourse.