Study Guide by Arpita Karwa

Dance Like a Man by Mahesh Dattani

man’s world is considered progressive, but a man is a

woman’s world is considered pathetic.”

Amritlal makes a deal with Ratna which entails her to

distance Jairaj from dancing and make him more manly.
If she is able to do so, Amritlal will support her in her
dancing career. Ratna agrees. She also thinks that this
way, there would also be less competition for her.

m
Ratna plays with Jairaj’s feelings and misguides him. She
would now take decisions for herself, for Jairaj and for
their daughter. Within some time, her purpose is

co
Mahesh Dattani’s play “Dance Like a Man” is considered achieved. Jairaj fails as a dancer and realises it was his
one of the best English plays written by an Indian. wife’s plan to do the same. He becomes an alcoholic.

The play focuses on the stereotypes of gender roles laid Ratna makes her daughter Lata a professional traditional
down by society, regardless of which Jairaj goes on to dancer. She earns fame and money through her daughter

women are meant to occupy themselves in oppressive

power structures. The play aims to indicate that men too
a.
pursue his career in dancing. The stereotype believes that — who is seen as a younger Ratna - who used all her
contacts to fast-track her daughter’s career. Later, Lata
marries Vishwas.
w
can be oppressed by society and the opposite gender.
Jairaj chastises Ratna and blames her for their son’s
Jairaj and Ratna are a couple looking forward to making death. In a bid to focus on her career, Ratna left her son
their careers in dancing — which is their heart and soul. with the nanny — who accidentally gave him a heavy
r

Jairaj’s father Amritlal believes that dance is a prostitute’s sleeping dose which led to his death. Jairaj also blames
profession. He cannot accept his daughter-in-law and son her for his unsuccessful career and failure as a man to
ka

to learn dancing but also make a career out of it. He is a support his family.
reformist and fears that he’d be made fun of because of his
son’s actions.

It becomes intolerable for him when he sees his son with

ta

the dancing bells tied to his leg during practise and hates
the sound from it as it reverberates through the house. He
© Copyright 2020 by Arpita Karwa Education Pvt Ltd

also despises the guru who comes to teach him dance. The
guru has long hair and so does Jairaj - something that
pi

doesn’t go well with Amritlal.

Ratna goes to a brothel where a lady teaches her dance.

Amritlal thinks that temples have been converted to
ar

brothels because they dance there. He forbids his daugh-

ter-in-law to visit the woman.

Amritlal tries everything to persuade Jairaj to give up

dancing. He disowns the couple, throws them out of the
house and his will. Jairaj and Ratna leave the house with
no single penny.

The couple starts living at Ratna’s uncle who soon starts

taking advantage of Ratna, so they leave from there and
return to Amritlal - who tells Jairaj that: “A woman is

To Join UGC NET Online Course Call/Whatsapp +91 7976603731

 Study Guide by Arpita Karwa

Mind Map

Amritlal
Father of Jairaj

Son

Desirable and foolish

young man

Jairaj Wife Ratna

Loves dancing Jairaj’s wife, deceives him

Daughter

Lata Husband Vishwas

Lata’s husband
Successful and independent dancer

Copyright & Legal Infringement Clause:

The en�re content and materials contained in this PDF including, but not limited to images, text, graphics and mind maps are owned by Arpita Karwa
Educa�on Pvt Ltd to the fullest extent under the copyright & other proprietary laws of India and other countries. You cannot upload, post, reproduce,
republish, recomplile, disassemble, modify, transmit, distribute, copy, publicly display or create deriva�ve works from, any Content of this PDF (in its en�rety
or in any part). Viola�on of this restric�on may result in infringement of intellectual property and contractual rights of Arpita Karwa Educa�on Pvt Ltd, which
is prohibited by law and could result in stringent legal ac�on under civil and criminal law in force.