Sarah Kane’s Blasted: Examining the Issue of Sexual Assault

Abstract

Sarah Kane’s Blasted deals with sensitive issues that generate
a lot of controversy. She demonstrates anti-feminism in the
play because of the way she has shifted the audience
attention away from the sexual turpitude committed against
the only female character (Cate) in the play; and how she
places emphasis on the sexual abuse inflicted on Ian the male
character. Questions that would possibly arise are: what is
her insinuation? Is she trying to defend sexual violence
against women? Does it mean that men have the right to
rape? Why has she not taken sexual violence against the
female character serious? Why is attention drawn to the male
rape than the female rape? Does Kane try to portray a new
view of rape? All these questions and many more could have
been streaming through the viewers’ mind. Notwithstanding,
this paper attempts to examine the pedigree and degree of
sexual misconduct in the Blasted and the reasons that make
the writer draw the attention of the audience to the sexual
abuse that men undergo rather than the common and
popular one against the women. Thus, at the end of the play,
the critical eye can make one realize that, Sarah Kane isn’t an
anti-feminist person but deep down in her, she cleverly
defends women, presenting them as a figure with
perseverance, love and strength despite all men’s
demonization about them; and this she reflects in Cate’s
character.