Published Paper Details:

The play Honey from a Broken Hive, written by Manoj Mitra, explores various themes including animosity, oppression, women's subjugation, humanity, and dharma (duty) and moral rectitude. The play explores the moral and ethical dilemmas through the lens of caste and gender conflicts within the Indian context. Furthermore, the play prompts readers to reflect upon their own beliefs and values. This paper analyzes the societal issues of caste and gender as depicted in the play, as well as the challenges of maintaining morality within oppressive circumstances. The protagonist, Matla, is portrayed as someone torn between a Shakespearean "to be or not to be" mindset. Towards the end of the play, there is a vision of potential reorganization and redefinition of established power structures and orders. Manoj Mitra, a renowned Indian theatre artist, dramatist, and playwright, has written around 70 plays and filmscripts and has received several prestigious accolades, including the Sangeet Natak Award (1985). He also leads a theatre group called 'Sundaram' in Kolkata. In the play, Mitra presents the death of a man from a snakebite at ojha's house in a remote Indian village, narrating the story from a perspective of the downtrodden and deeply rooted in the realities of extreme poverty.