International Research Journal of Education and Technology

The present study focuses on the Role of Patriarchy in Dina Mehta’s Play Brides are not for Burning Patriarchy is the most persistent and widespread theory. It takes many different forms but the ideas behind it called male domination which exists not just as a product of capitalism but as something quite separate from the capitalist mode of production.  Patriarchy contains little understanding of how women’s oppression and the nature of the family have changed historically. Patriarchy is a set of social relationships which provide for the collective domination of men over women. It has manifested itself in social, legal, political, and economic organization of different cultures. Historically, the term patriarchy was used to refer to social systems in which power is primarily held by men.  Dina Mehta’s plays deal with violence against women. It also tries to define women’s theatre against male-dominated ideologies and to represent the under-represented aspect of sexual abuse in women’s lives. Brides Are Not For Burning won the first prize in a worldwide competition sponsored by the BBC in 1979. The play deals with social problems of dowry and the harassment of brides who don’t bring enough dowries.

KEYWORDS: Patriarchy, Dowry, subjugation, violence, voicelessness.