Vijay Tendulkar’s “His Fifth Woman” is a play of Metaphysical Allegory

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Introduction:
Vijay Tendulkar (1928-2008) one of the leading playwrights of India has been ever critical of Social structure of his time. He depicts real-life situations that ordinary Indian families face. He also frankly exposes politics pertaining to gender, class, caste and power. Like G. B. Shaw he was non-conformist. He was bloody opponent to all sorts of exploitations. As a keen observer of men and manners, he adeptly brought crude realities of life, relation and existence before audience. In fact he made drama common man’s property. He did not intend to transport his audience into an artificial world. His sole purpose in his plays was to bring about change in the society towards down-trodden people. He has been ever truthful to his people and true to his time. In this paper, Tendulkar’s “His Fifth Woman” is taken to evaluate as a play of metaphysical transformation/ Metaphysical Allegory.
Preamble to the play:
His Fifth Woman is the first play by Tendulkar, the Marathi Playwright that is written in English. He wrote it especially for the New York Tendulkar Festival in October 2004. It was written only on a very short notice and it was completed only written six weeks. It was first performed on 14th October 2004 in a staged reading at the Lark play Development centre in New York City. This play graphically describes the injustices and inequalities suffered by women in this male dominated mundane world and explore the life after death. It visualizes a picture of the next world based on egalitarianism where there is no distinction between the rich and the poor and between the man and the woman. It is considered to be a prequel to his famous 1972 play, ‘Sakharam Binder’ because it delineates the thoughts, beh...

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...this way with the help of his naturalistic dialogues, Tendulkar has been able to present the reality of life in clear terms. The presence of ‘Crow’ is felt through the play, hinting at the misery of man’s life on the earth.
Thus, Tendulkar “His Fifth Woman” is a metaphysical-social allegory. It is an epoch-making play in the history of Indian English Drama.

References:
1. Vijay Tendulkar, “Two Plays by Tendulkar: The Cyclist and His Fifth Woman”, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2004, P.49
2. Vijay Tendulkar, “Two Plays by Tendulkar: The Cyclist and His Fifth Woman”, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2004, P. 60.
3. Vijay Tendulkar, “Two Plays by Tendulkar: The Cyclist and His Fifth Woman”, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2004, P.74.
4. Warner, Sturges: “Director’s Note, Two Plays by Vijay Tendulkar”, Oxford University Press, 2006, P.44

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