Miss Benare

The play’s central character is referred to throughout by her last name, as Miss Benare. Occasionally, there are references to her first name Leela, but those references are rare. This is significant because it suggests that to the people around her, she is viewed not as a person or an individual identity, but rather as who she seems to be or who she is expected to be – that is, a young unmarried woman, a “Miss.” Nobody refers to her in the way a friend or family member might, i.e. by her first name. This sense of formality ties in with the book’s primary thematic consideration of the power of morality and tradition. The way that she is referred to suggests that she is seen, or expected to be seen, as part of a tradition or way of behaving rather than as an independent person...