Akbar Radi, one of the most prominent figures in contemporary Iranian dramatic literature, has presented a multi-layered picture of the social, economic, and cultural developments in Iranian society in the decades before the revolution by creating significant works. Despite Radi’s important position in the history of Iranian theater, the social actions and roles of female characters in his plays have received less systematic and analytical study. This article attempts to analyze the position, agency, and strategies of women in confronting the traditional and modern structures of Iranian society in the 1940s and 1950s by focusing on the representation of female actions in several of Radi’s significant plays and relying on Max Weber’s theoretical framework of social action. This research aims to analyze the social and cultural actions of women in four selected plays by Akbar Radi (“Decline,” “Blue Window,” “Death in Autumn,” and “Mr. Gill’s Magnificent Smile”) based on Max Weber’s theory of social action. In this study, with an interpretive approach and qualitative content analysis method, Radi's dramatic texts have been examined to identify the four types of Weberian action; traditional, value-based, instrumental, and emotional, in the behavior of the characters. The findings show that women in Radi's works fluctuate between these four types of action in conflicting cultural and social situations. This constant fluctuation and shift reflect the identity and status crisis of Iranian society in the 1940s and 1950s; a period when instrumental rationalization, disenchantment, status change, and the expansion of bureaucracy are present simultaneously alongside traditional dominance and patriarchal authority. The research method is analytical-comparative, in which women's actions are classified and examined based on Weber's four-fold division. Goal-oriented rational action in which women make calculated and conscious decisions to achieve specific results. Value-oriented rational action in which decisions are made based on moral, cultural, or ideological beliefs. Emotional-emotional action in which behaviors are shaped in response to momentary emotions and emotional influences. Traditional action that continues within the context of established social norms and habits.

The results of the research show that the female characters in Radi's works are not stereotypical types but rather multi-layered subjects who, through their actions, represent the transition of Iranian society from tradition to modernity.