Theoretical overview
Miss Benare is the chief protagonist and heroine of the play. She is thirty four years old, self – dependent successful unmarried school teacher. Tendulkar has presented her as an intelligent and matured lady with her own conviction.
Mrs. Kashikar is the wife of Mr. Kashikar who represents typical Indian housewife dependent on her husband for everything.
Sukhatme plays an important role in the prosecution of Benare. He is a lawyer – cum – actor and is unsuccessful in his own career. Sukhatme upholds the principle that woman is not fit for independence.
Mr. Kashikar becomes the judge in the mock trial in the play. He is a disgruntled sadist figure like other men in the play except Samante. He belongs to the category of urban character.
Samante is a rustic uneducated villager in a galaxy of educated urban characters. He is pure at heart and stands for justice. He is not a professional, but he is honest, helpful and compassionate.
The play begins with a young schoolteacher, Miss Benare, being shown into the room where she and the rest of her group of amateur actors are to gather. Soon, other members of the troupe arrive. First, there is the lawyer Sukhatme, bossy and insensitive. Then there is the scientist Ponkshe, young and very full of himself. Finally, there is the shy and awkward student Rokde. The three of them engage in mocking banter with each other, and with Miss Benare. The actor Karnik, who likes to try and impress the others with his knowledge and experience, is next. Finally, Mr. and Mrs. Kashikar appear, the former self-important and pretentious, the latter also pretentious but also frequently talked down to by her husband.
After the Kashikars arrive, the troupe discovers that at least one of their members, Professor Damle, is going to be missing. The members of the troupe realize they need a replacement, and decide on the reluctant Samant. They then decide to stage a mock trial so he can learn a bit about what he is supposed to do. When Miss Benare is out of the room for a moment, the members of the troupe have a whispered conversation that the audience does not hear, and decide to put Miss Benare on trial. When she comes back, she is asked how she pleads to the charge of infanticide – that is, the killing of a child. She does not respond.
She tries to resist the plan to enact a trial, but the others overwhelm her. Sukhatme takes on the roles of prosecution and defense attorney, while Kashikar becomes the judge. Eventually, the trial gets underway. At first the questions seem to be foolish and uneducated, but after a while they start to become more pointed and more serious. The character of the free-spirited Miss Benare is called into question, and she is accused not only of having an affair with professor Damle, but of being pregnant with his child. As the accusations of the “court” become increasingly angry and judgmental, Miss Benare attempts to leave, but finds that the door is locked. She is then asked to speak as a witness in her own defense. Other witnesses take her place, continuing to accuse her of immorality and of endangering the well-being of society. Eventually, she is found guilty. Kashikar gives her ten seconds to speak in her own defense. At that moment, there is a change in the onstage light, sound, and atmosphere. Miss Benare speaks at length about her struggles with mental health, her longings for love, and her determination to be a good mother to her child. His existence, she says, is the only reason she wants to stay alive. After she finishes, there is a shift back into the reality of the courtroom. The ten seconds has passed, and Kashikar sentences her to have the baby taken from her body. She collapses.
At that moment, audience members for that evening’s performance begin to arrive. The members of the troupe bring themselves back to reality, and start to prepare for that performance. The exception is Miss Benare, who remains collapsed on the floor. Samant offers her some comfort, but she does not seem able to take it. The play ends with Miss Benare still crumpled on the floor, alone.
Theme
It seems that the play is based on the theme of Gender Discrimination. Women are the real architects of society, she has the power to create, nourish and transform. The society around her always had been a challenging. The women in India have never been able to live in a circumstance where they are treated equally. Tendulkar’s “Silence! The Court is in Session” is a critique of gender discrimination in patriarchy and the women’s fight against the injustice done to her. He represents the problems faced by independent women in India. Tendulkar satirically attacks on the society with the title “Silence! The Court is in Session.” There is no silence or discipline in the court, and even the wife of the judge Mrs. Kashikar disturbs the court all the time. Thus, in this way, the word “Silence” seems more impactful.
Vijay Tendulkar chooses Judicial Register as the title of his play to make a powerful comment on a society with a heavy patriarchal bias that makes justice impossible. A Judicial court is supposed to be a seat of justice seriousness and decorum. Throughout the play, he makes a review of the present day court procedures, and points out the problem of the court. Ideally justice can be provided only if the judge and the judicial system are objectively detached. But the same objective detachment can become the face of a very repressive and dehumanized system if the people involved in the process of justice are themselves devoid of human value and compassion.
Points to remember
- The play begins with a young schoolteacher, Miss Benare, being shown into the room where she and the rest of her group of amateur actors are to gather.
- Soon, other members of the troupe arrive.
- First, there is the lawyer Sukhatme, bossy and insensitive.
- Then there is the scientist Ponkshe, young and very full of himself.
- Finally, there is the shy and awkward student Rokde.
- The three of them engage in mocking banter with each other, and with Miss Benare.
- The actor Karnik, who likes to try and impress the others with his knowledge and experience, is next.
- Finally, Mr. and Mrs. Kashikar appear, the former self-important and pretentious, the latter also pretentious but also frequently talked down to by her husband.
- Sukhatme takes on the roles of prosecution and defense attorney, while Kashikar becomes the judge
- At first the questions seem to be foolish and uneducated, but after a while they start to become more pointed and more serious.
- Miss Benare is called into question, and she is accused not only of having an affair with professor Damle, but of being pregnant with his child.
- witnesses take her place, continuing to accuse her of immorality and of endangering the well-being of society. Eventually, she is found guilty.
