Gender, Power and Oppression: Blasted By Sarah Kane

This paper explores the major theme of Gender Based Violence in terms of power and oppression that has been discussed and highlighted in the play Blasted by Sarah Kane. The text portrays the harrowing realities faced by women in both personal and societal spheres. This research reveals the complexities of power dynamics and the psychological repercussions that extend beyond the immediate trauma inflicted by violence. The research not only depicts the physical violence but also the emotional and psychological trauma. This paper is divided into three sections. The first section focuses on the basic background, setting and introduction of the play exploring the characters and themes. The second section focuses on the plot summary of the play. And the third section focuses on the justification of perspectives in terms of represented theme of gender, power and oppression of the play. This section of the paper explores the blurred line of differentiation between thirst for physical desire and physical violence faced by both men and women through the characters Ian, Cate and The Soldier. This section also talks about justification and perspective of the title where the title itself acts as a metaphor of war, Explosion of the characters’ psyche and the dark side of power.

Keywords: Gender, Power, Violence, Oppression, Psychological trauma, Physical desire.