Keywords : Family Power Structure, Financial Control, Gender Oppression, Patriarchy.

Abstract : This research paper will discuss the patriarchy in Mahesh Dattani’s play Where There’s a Will, and its implications for families in a middle-class Indian context. The play is about Hasmukh Mehta, the father, who, with his authority, wealth, and draconian rules, controls his family members. Hasmukh believes that the main purpose of marriage is to have a son, and he expects his son Ajit to follow his instructions just as he obeyed his own father. This reflects how patriarchal beliefs are passed down from one generation to the next. Instead of being guided by love, relationships are dominated by strict control, making emotional bonds less significant. The play depicts the different reactions of women to patriarchy: Sonal is passive and accepts unilateral male dominance, whereas Kiran opposes this and motivates others to self-assert. Dattani focuses attention on the detrimental impact patriarchy has on younger men, constraining their autonomy and selfhood. The play condemns the patriarchal structure of power, particularly in its sociopsychological aspects, and pleads for the restoration of balance, the disintegration of patriarchy, and socio-psychological well-being in family life. By focusing on wealth, authority, and societal expectations, Where There’s a Will portrays how patriarchal norms operate in Indian families and how they might be challenged.

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