Issue

The play is all about male domination. Benare is put on trial for being an unmarried single woman in her thirties. It is disguised as a trial about a criminal violation of the sanctity of motherhood, but make no mistake: Benare is guilty because she is a single, unmarried pregnant woman, and that makes her dangerous to men who live for the institution of marriage to codify their dominance over women. That the man who fathered the illegitimate child growing inside her escapes being put on trial and garnering punishment is merely the cherry topping the patriarchal sundae.