Dattani’s Women’s Take on the New Woman: A Comparison with Ibsen’s Nora

Abstract

This research paper aims to compare Mahesh Dattani’s female characters to Nora, the brave and revolutionary female character in Henrik Ibsen’s A Doll’s House. The researcher examines how Dattani’s female characters respond to the concept of the “New Woman” and how their growing consciousness empowers them to resist the strict norms of patriarchal society. With their resistance, struggle, and assertion of personal identity, these women challenge established boundaries and the standards imposed by the phallocentric society. On the other hand, Ibsen’s problem play demonstrates how an apparently modest housewife, like Nora, develops into a strong symbol of autonomy and self–realisation. Both writers highlight the limits put on women in a phallocentric culture and call for reform. The so–called “Second Sex” eventually learns to break free from epistemic violence, recover autonomy, and find the strength to struggle for dignity, equality, and identity. This comparative research highlights the growth of female agency in modern play.