Modern theatrics of love: desires and consumption in the Indian middle class

This article analyses class construction amongst the urban Indian middle class, through a novel prism of romantic love, specifically performances of romantic love which in turn highlight anxieties of being middle class. The article explains how a performance of romantic love before marriage is used as a basis by the middle class to claim being global and modern. This is argued by putting forth what the article calls the modern theatrics of love, that is, performing and articulating romantic love in perfectly curated and globally recognized ways that are popularized by professionals (wedding planners, photographers, the hospitality industry) and the media. The context in which modern theatrics of love is explained is of neoliberal India as this article unpacks the entanglements of consumerism, love, and marriage. It further explains how the modern theatrics of love is practised by couples that base their marriage on love as well as those who have an arranged marriage. As such, this article argues that while previous works have emphasized the place of love in marriage for construction of a class identity, there is now also an emphasis on performing of love before marriage in specific ways that are intelligible to a global audience.