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Women in Virginia Woolf and Begum Rokeya: a View from Western and Islamic Perspective

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Women in Virginia Woolf and Begum Rokeya: a View from Western and Islamic Perspective IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS) Volume 21, Issue 2, Ver. I (Feb. 2016) PP 31-38 e-ISSN: 2279-0837, p-ISSN: 2279-0845. www.iosrjournals.org Women in Virginia Woolf and Begum Rokeya: A View from Western and Islamic Perspective Farzana Zaman1, Mahbuba Sultana2, Marzia Shurovi3 1Assistant Professor, Department of English, Manarat International University, Gulshan, Dhaka. 2Senior Lecturer, Department of English, Manarat International University, Gulshan, Dhaka. 3Senior Lecturer, Department of English, Manarat International University, Gulshan, Dhaka. Abstract: This paper explores the privileges and the rights of women from Islamic perspective as well as from the view of western culture and literature with especial reference to Virginia Woolf and Begum Rokeya. Women hold the prestigious place in Islam which is not very common practice in the current world due to the discrimination. The feminist writers sail to explore a new region of women’s rights through their works. In this study both the primary and secondary sources are used. The researchers show how the Asia n and Muslim women are provided with better human rights than that of western women as reflected in Begum Rokeya and Virginia Woolf’s writings. A study on women’s rights in the light of literature and Islam could bring forth the realistic scenario of world’s women’s predicament as well as some effective solutions to their sufferings. Keywords: Emancipation, Feminism, Islam, Women. I. Introduction Feminism is the belief that women should be allowed the same rights, power, and opportunities as men and be treated in the same way. Islam and feminist literature deal with the privileges of women that ensure their true positions and roles in every sector of their lives. In Islam a woman is an independent, unique individual in her own right but this truth is almost absent in the attitudes of our society and culture due to discrimination. The feminist writers try to exhibit the picture of women in their society through their literary works and want to give women relief from discrimination of gender in literature and every sector of life. The first wave of feminism started in the nineteenth and early twentieth century when the women‟s movement was a renewal of an old tradition of thought and action. And for this reason in 1960 a renewal of feminist criticism came to raise voice against this discrimination. Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) and Begum Rokeya (1880-1932) are two significant figures of feminist literature where they explore women‟s condition from their respective society. In the West, women's writing began to develop from the belief that women have been under-represented as a topic of scholars. In Woolf‟s time, patriarchal, repressive Victorian society did not encourage women to attend universities or to participate in intellectual debate. Woolf in her A Room of One‟s Own shows how women are being suppressed or oppressed by the male and male dominating society as a whole. She raises a few basic questions in terms of the rights of women. In Mrs. Dalloway, Woolf gives an idea about the roles of women at that period and their seeming insignificance. Women couldn‟t articulate their mental agony because of fear, shame and rejection of society. But Allah in the Ho ly Quran preserved the women‟s rights and this remains in Islam before the birth of any social and cultural ritual or feminism and feminist criticis m. Women have been created with a soul of the same nature as men. In respect of gender justice what the pro phet (PBUH) addressed in his historic speech in the farewell pilgrimage still outshines & the other utterance of feminism. “O People! It is true that you have certain rights with regard to your women but they also have rights over you. Remember that you have taken them as your wives only under God„s trust and with His permission. If they abide by your right then to them belongs the right to be fed and clothed in kindness. Do treat your women well and be kind to them for they are your partners and committed helpers. And it is your right that they do not make friends with any one of whom you do not approve, as well as never to be unchaste.” Even Early 20th century women of this subcontinent would not think themselves useful for the society. Begum Rokeya is the founding pillar of Asian Muslim feminism. She deals with the basic issues of women in a different way where she has shown interest in opening up the inner world of women so that they can understand that the dogmatic patriarchal society treats them as subhuman for their own convenience. Sultana‟s Dream (1905) and Padmarag (1924) are two intriguing examples of feminist utopia. Sultana‟s Dream is a feminist utopia that cuts across time and space and explores the feminine inner self. In Sultana‟s Dream, women are shown confident with their education and sound financial condition whereas men are accustomed to doing many services. Resonant with autobiographical hints, Padmarag is a powerful reflection of male oppression and a celebration of Rokeya‟s strong faith Allah in a universalist society. Here the author focuses on formal education DOI: 10.9790/0837-21213138 www.iosrjournals.org 31 | Page Women In Virginia Woolf And Begum Rokeya: A View From Western And Islamic Perspective and teaching crafts to get economic freedom and self dependence of women. She wrote courageously against restrictions on women to promote their emancipation. Rokeya‟s struggle for women‟s emancipation against a male dominating society, her articulation for the rights of women in the light of women‟s rights in Islam are indeed the testimony of her writings. In the Holy Quran Allah says, “O mankind, be conscious of your duty to your Lord Who created you from a single soul, and from it created its mate (of the same kind) and from them twain has spread a multitude of men and women.” [Quran: 4, 1] So the law of Allah is same for all, there is no injustice for women or men. In this paper it is shown that the advancement that the feminist writers want to have in every sphere of women‟s life is celebrated in Islam since the seventh century. II. Literature Review The oppression of women in male dominating society has always been an issue of attention in the intellectual world. In this regard, a plethora of research has been conducted in the light of plight of women in European and Asian context, especially, their sufferings, agony caused by the patriarchal rules over them as reflected in the literary pieces of particular ages in particular society- interestingly, the motto and vision of female writers, Begum Rokeya and Virginia Woolf are quite different. In “Reconstructing Virginia Woolf‟s Feminis m”, Dr. Ghanim Jasim Samarrai observes Woolf‟s utilization of “a number of techniques- including historical and sociological analyses and fictional hypothesis” to highlight the lack of women‟s opportunities and liberal atmosphere of society to educate themselves, to flourish their apt imagination and creativity in literature, as well as to quench their thirst for knowledge a t a library, to get equal payment at official work as the men get. Apart from the difficulties generated from the lack of privacy and fortune, a lady could not get supportive environment to become a writer because of the biased and prejudiced attitude of the patriarchal society, “The indifference of the world which Keats and Flaubert and other men of genius have found so hard to bear was in her case not indifference but hostility. The world did not say to her as it said to them, Write if you choose, it makes no difference to me. The world said with a guffaw, Write? What‟s the good of your writing?” (A Room of One‟s Own, 2181) The citation of Charlotte Bronte‟s personal experience intensifies Woolf‟s claim regarding how the lack of money, privacy and dignity thwarts the potential genius in women, “She left her story, to which her entire devotion was due, to attend to some personal grievance. She remembered that she had been starved of her proper due of experience- she had been made to stagnate on a parsonage mending stockings when she wanted to wander free over the world. Her imagination swerved from indignation and we feel it swerve.” Woolf‟s personal encounter with her social prejudice as a writer breeds her resentment at the fact that how could be the English society- that claims to be the center of modern civilization-blessed with a lady Shakespeare, where a single lady in the 20th century is not allowed to enter a library alone to explore the intellectual world? Similarly, Mahmoud Mohammed Hassan/Mohammed Fattah Rashid in their paper “Patriarchy in Virginia Woolf‟s Jacob‟s Room” highlights “the psychological effects of patriarchy in Woolf‟s Jacob‟s Room on female characters. These effects include humiliation, pessimism, depression and others.” Here “the negligence of the works of women” is acutely focused. The author observes, “Female literary works are marginalized. Mrs. Flanders wonders of the possibility of reading the unpublished works of women.” Here, the heart rendering scene of, “…how interesting her (Mrs. Jarvis‟) letters were…For the blotting paper‟s worn to holes and the nib cleft and clotted” projects the severity of the “subordination of unpublished works of women by the male readers.” According to the writers, the reason for the women‟s suppress ion is, “the male predominates the social, political and philosophical life. This predominance has an authoritative tone.
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