Female silence in K.S. Maniam’s play the sandpit: a monologue

This paper explores the concept of female silence in K.S. Maniam’s play The Sandpit: A Monologue . It is his portrayal of the mental conflict of his female protagonist as a result of a polygamous marriage in a working-class Indian family. Maniam uses the monologue to convey his protagonist’s various...

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Main Author: Wan Roselezam bt. Wan Yahya
Format: Article
Language:en
Published: Penerbit UKM 2003
Online Access:http://journalarticle.ukm.my/728/1/GemaVol3.1.2003No3.pdf
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/728/
http://www.ukm.my/ppbl/Gema/gemahome.html
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author Wan Roselezam bt. Wan Yahya,
author_facet Wan Roselezam bt. Wan Yahya,
author_sort Wan Roselezam bt. Wan Yahya,
building Tun Sri Lanang Library
collection Institutional Repository
content_provider Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
content_source UKM Journal Article Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
description This paper explores the concept of female silence in K.S. Maniam’s play The Sandpit: A Monologue . It is his portrayal of the mental conflict of his female protagonist as a result of a polygamous marriage in a working-class Indian family. Maniam uses the monologue to convey his protagonist’s various emotions and thoughts which could not have been presented adequately if conveyed in dialogue form. The silence and passivity of Santha is seen as active when viewed using this paradigm of female silence (a feminist criticism) because the silences are strategies used by her to resist the oppressive social roles prescribed by her traditional Indian customs. The isolation of Santha from the beginning to the end of her monologue is, of course, in keeping with the traditional role and place of women in Indian society, which the playwright seems to view as the acceptable female condition in a patriarchal society. Maniam’s conclusion seems to exalt the suffering, sacrificing, submissive wife, since it is through these qualities that she will not only survive, but finally triumph.
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institution Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
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publishDate 2003
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spelling my-ukm.journal-7282016-12-14T06:28:00Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/728/ Female silence in K.S. Maniam’s play the sandpit: a monologue Wan Roselezam bt. Wan Yahya, This paper explores the concept of female silence in K.S. Maniam’s play The Sandpit: A Monologue . It is his portrayal of the mental conflict of his female protagonist as a result of a polygamous marriage in a working-class Indian family. Maniam uses the monologue to convey his protagonist’s various emotions and thoughts which could not have been presented adequately if conveyed in dialogue form. The silence and passivity of Santha is seen as active when viewed using this paradigm of female silence (a feminist criticism) because the silences are strategies used by her to resist the oppressive social roles prescribed by her traditional Indian customs. The isolation of Santha from the beginning to the end of her monologue is, of course, in keeping with the traditional role and place of women in Indian society, which the playwright seems to view as the acceptable female condition in a patriarchal society. Maniam’s conclusion seems to exalt the suffering, sacrificing, submissive wife, since it is through these qualities that she will not only survive, but finally triumph. Penerbit UKM 2003 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/728/1/GemaVol3.1.2003No3.pdf Wan Roselezam bt. Wan Yahya, (2003) Female silence in K.S. Maniam’s play the sandpit: a monologue. GEMA: Online Journal of Language Studies, 3 (2). pp. 1-17. ISSN 1675-8021 http://www.ukm.my/ppbl/Gema/gemahome.html
spellingShingle Wan Roselezam bt. Wan Yahya,
Female silence in K.S. Maniam’s play the sandpit: a monologue
title Female silence in K.S. Maniam’s play the sandpit: a monologue
title_full Female silence in K.S. Maniam’s play the sandpit: a monologue
title_fullStr Female silence in K.S. Maniam’s play the sandpit: a monologue
title_full_unstemmed Female silence in K.S. Maniam’s play the sandpit: a monologue
title_short Female silence in K.S. Maniam’s play the sandpit: a monologue
title_sort female silence in k.s. maniam’s play the sandpit: a monologue
url http://journalarticle.ukm.my/728/1/GemaVol3.1.2003No3.pdf
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/728/
http://www.ukm.my/ppbl/Gema/gemahome.html
url_provider http://journalarticle.ukm.my/