IJELLH ISSN-2321-7065

DR. SHUCHITA CHANDHOK AMITY UNIVERSITY NOIDA , INDIA

IS THIS LIBERATION? LITERATURE THEN & NOW

Abstract

The literature does bring to us the portrayal of psychological conflict of women but it is also imperative for us to understand that the institution of marriage will stay; the norms governing the patriarchal society may change but will not be re-written for the sake of women alone, the life of women whether in urban or in rural areas are defined by the space that they inhabit. Today’s women are fearless and have learnt to live alone, travel alone, and rear children alone when failures in marriage and life partnerships occur. Thus, can we say the women today is liberated because she has broken the societal norms and wants wings to fly away. The paper attempts to read in between the lines of a few classics and modern literature with relevance to women liberation.

“I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will.” ― Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre

The man – woman relationship in the society has been analyzed innumerable times. The trends however have not changed much in the last century. Susie Tharu and K Lalita’s landmark collection of Women Writings in India (1991) has shown that there was a prolific exchange of ideas about gender construction and gender norms well before the late 1800s when Tarabai Shinde is supposed to have penned ‘A Comparison of Men and Women’. However, modernity has not been able to eradicate the bias; the shadows still linger over our social system. Going down the lanes of Indian social system, it was found that Indian writers of eminence have been involved with this issue through regional fiction and also through literary pursuits in English.

Volume V, Issue VI June 2017 79

IJELLH ISSN-2321-7065

Tagore wrote eight novels, some among them are , , Ghare Baire, , Chaturanga and . The novels of Tagore exhibit a trend. Irrevocably his protagonists are either from aristocratic families or from well to do middle class families or widows. The empowerment and emancipation of women in the contemporary age was important. Therefore, in all his novels women are the central protagonists.

It is extremely evident in the novels of Tagore that the women are cast as the Hindu goddesses. Tagore saw the Indian women in the form of a nurturer. As a mother, sister, wife the women characters have played a pivotal role in his novels. His treatment of widows and widowhood also strikes a chord of sympathy in the hearts of his readers. He has highlighted the pathos of women of his age. However, woman as the mother and Motherhood is rarely discussed and analyzed by the characters in most of his novels.

The women in the ‘andarmahal’ were well versed with Gita, Upanishads and various other customs and folklores where in “Ma” or “mother” is a common appellation used in referring to Goddesses who are embodiments of Shakti or feminine energy. To go back to the years when these novels were written, a sense of responsibility motivated the novelist to imbibe the goddess like quality for the women to help them to stand firm in their convictions and not go astray with the rise and spread of modernity in the name of Western education. Perhaps, Tagore felt this was the only way he could maintain the sanctity of the institutions of marriage and family and resist the wave of cultural changes.

The central protagonist was always a Bhadramahila - a construction about which Malavika Karlekar writes, “Enlightened yet domesticated, by nature loving and devoted to the family’s well-being, her emancipation was to be viewed within the context of a family situation.” (Karlekar, 92-93)

The problem of widow, introduced in Indian literature in 1857 by the Marathi writer Baba Padmanji continued to receive serious attention in the twentieth century too. Chokher Bali, a domestic novel, was written in 1902 and its English translation is Binodini. Through the central figure and the rebellious widow Binodini, Tagore has exposed the lives of widows in the early twentieth century Bengali society, where they were forced to live a life seeking salvation from Volume V, Issue VI June 2017 80

IJELLH ISSN-2321-7065

God in seclusion. The incarnation of Durga and the religious fervor the word Shakti arouses has been recast in this novel. The character Binodini portrays the inner strength of women. She can be the destroyer and the nurturer. She destroys the “child-bride” Aasha’s notion of God-like devotion to her husband Mahendra and by the end of the novel Aasha is a mature woman in command of her surroundings. She nurtures Bihari’s step-son as a mother. Her relationship with Mahendra is a threat to the sanctity of his marriage to Aasha. In the end, she refuses Bihari’s proposal of marriage because she was a widow and it would tarnish his spotless character.

Binodini refuses to marry Bihari and feels she does not need the support of a man to give her an identity, she prefers to remain a widow in throes of the expectant culture realm at “Kashi - on the banks of Ganges” which was considered to be the best place to seek salvation, attain Moksha and security. She stresses the need for a social change but stops short of a radical transformation. Towards the end Binodini realizes her true being.

Ghare Baire, a political novel, appeared in English language as , in 1919, translated by Surendranath Tagore. In Ghare Baire, Nikhil who is an idealist wants his wife to step out of her home-which was her world- to the world outside home and see for herself the happenings there. He wanted her liberation from the confines of traditional existence that a Bengali woman was subjected to in the recesses of the ‘andarmahal’. The ‘Home’ is the ‘World’ to Bimala until Sandip, Nikhil’s friend, makes his disturbing appearance with his aggressive informality. Sandip and Nikhil are ideologically poles apart: the former is an aggressive and unscrupulous nationalist while the latter is a non-violent humanist. Sandip, acclaims Bimla as the symbol of Shakti that is Mother India. Bimla is put on a pedestal by Sandip and personified as Durga. Bimala is temporarily swayed by the maddening cry of ‘Bande Mataram’. Bimla is akin not only to Durga, but also Lakshmi, and Bharati, the goddess of speech. Here, Mario Prayer on analysis of Ghare Baire says, “He was a critic of modernism. Its mechanical operation and lifelessness, he thought, constrained the free expression of man’s spirituality. He contrasted these imports from the West with the richness of Indian civilization, which he saw as symbolized by Shakti, the divine female energy giving life and sustaining the world.”

Volume V, Issue VI June 2017 81

IJELLH ISSN-2321-7065

The women’s right to love, her rebelliousness of the marital codes as imposed by the society and her involvement of public life were clearly expressed in this novel. Due to political movement seething outside the home, the woman has to meet with reality and freedom which the confines of domesticity had robbed her of. The traditional women underwent a radical transformation here.

Jogajog (Relationships) is a lesser known novel of Tagore. In this novel, the decline of Bengali aristocracy and rise of entrepreneurial Bengali class has emerged. The protagonist is Kumudini. She has been brought up in a sheltered home. She is not only taught all the customs and rituals of the womenfolk but also how to play chess, the art of photography along with Sanskrit grammar, literature and music. She was well acquainted with Kalidas and Shiva-Parvati ideal resulting in an image of a man who personifies the qualities of the Hindu Gods that she prays to. She has been represented as Dakshayani (Goddess of marital felicity and longevity from the Hindu mythology). Kumudini, though accepts defeat ultimately, is certainly one of the most defiant women of the time.

Feminism, as we understand is a cultural-intellectual movement aimed at establishing and defending oppression of woman and equal rights for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women’s rights and gender inequality. Women across the world have been writing about their experiences in male-dominated society. The women are incensed with superior attitude of men causing dissent. Feminism does not adhere to equality alone but the compassion, respect and understanding from male counterparts is wanting.

In the same vein it is important to look at another classic Subarnalata by Ashapoorna Debi. Subarnalata is the second of the trilogy written by the acclaimed novelist. Ashapoorna Debi’s first of the trilogy is Pratham Pratishruti whose heroine is Satyavati. She had left her three children with their father and moved out of her husband’s home. She stays with her father at Varanasi. Subarnalata is married at the age of nine to Prabodh, twice her age. The novel brings forth many issues such as rebellion, self expression, search for an identity by Subarnalata thereby raising issues of man-woman relationship in Indian context. Bengali Bhadralok was also divided. Education for men was important but these men inside homes contributed little in elimination of women victimization. Subarnalata leads all family members to lead a better life gradually. She Volume V, Issue VI June 2017 82

IJELLH ISSN-2321-7065 travels, reads and broadens her outlook of the world beyond the four walls of her home. She is also credited to raise her awareness about the ongoing freedom struggle lead by Gandhiji. Her readings inform her about other womenfolk like Sarojini Naidu, Kasturba etc. and their contribution to national struggle. Subarnalata goes to a swadeshi fair and brings clothes for the family and herself. Her actions can be viewed at two levels – one her yearning to see India as a free nation and the other is her effort to emancipate women by setting certain examples.

Due to the domination of Ashapurna Debi’s grandmother who was a staunch supporter of old customs and conservative ideals, the female children of the house were not allowed to go to school. Private tutors were employed only for the boys. It is said that baby Ashapurna used to listen to the readings of her brothers sitting opposite to them and that was how she learnt the alphabets. Ashapurna's mother came from a very enlightened family who was a great book lover. It was her "intensive thirst" for reading classics and story books which was transmitted to Ashapurna and her sisters in their early age. After reading Subarnalata, it can be deduced that to a very large extent this story was the outcome of her own life experience. Her own thirst for emancipation was depicted through Subarnalata. The letter that Subarnalata receives from her dead mother, Satyavati has been crafted as a foremost document of gender equality. She has focused on revival of a reformed traditional woman who would accommodate a need for self expression in her life.

Women have always been portrayed as submissive and deferential. However, a sense of individuality has been inculcated in Indian women due to education and growth in women’s institutions. In Bakul Katha, the last of Ashapurna Debi’s trilogy, Bakul has been portrayed as educated and economically independent woman who is more self centered. She feels that post colonial women have freedom to express themselves. And have moved away from social responsibilities in pursuit of personal happiness. According to her, the relation between men and women and also between women of all ages should not be based on subservience of one another but where women enjoy the same rights and privileges as men in confirmation of human values.

In the name of modernity, India hasn’t much achieved equality in gender. Our patriarchal system hasn’t really helped much in evolving out of old mores and superstitious norms. There have been changes in the society but these are miniscule. A common trend runs through feminist Volume V, Issue VI June 2017 83

IJELLH ISSN-2321-7065 groups that male undermines woman’s psyche by projecting her with patriarchal notions. It becomes important to understand that the subjugation of women is not only a material reality, which is influenced by economic conditions, but also a psychological phenomenon – how man and woman recognize one another. However, after reading Ashapurna Debi’s works, it can be inferred that she strongly advocates that a woman should break the walls of psychological imprisonment located within her rather than by going outside the patriarchal homes. In maintaining ties with community which represents her larger self she can find her individuality and do away with her isolation.

After Ashapurna Debi, with a leap in Indian literature of late twentieth century, the writers like Anita Desai and Shobha De explored another side of the coin of women’s psyche. Desai’s female characters have been a rebel. They live on their terms. They rebel regardless of consequences, to find their potential away from patriarchal community. The protagonists realize that they cannot be complete or their search for personal happiness and fulfillment is not attained by running away from the community but by living within the community and fulfilling her obligations. In her novel, Clear Light of Day, the two sisters Bimla, unmarried but fulfilling obligations towards her family, and Tara who is married achieves fulfillment in the sanctity of her marriage. Bimla’s emancipation is due to her awakening and expanding her role rather than following a traditional way of life. Therefore she feels liberated, and not being dependent on men gives her a sense of achievement and acceptance instead of rejection and abandonment.

Thus, women in Desai’s novels when connected with others are liberated and experience freedom thereby asserting themselves due to economic independence and intellectual satisfaction rather than clinging to others or living in their narrow world. They achieve harmony in the existence of self within the community comprising men and women.

With changes in the women’s world creeping along with globalization, the emerging class working women has acquired the long rebuffed respect, esteem and freedom but they too are facing problems due to arising dual responsibilities- home and workplace.

Women as a group especially the married women, have certainly become an important part of the workforce all over the world. The advent of women in the workforce has changed the Volume V, Issue VI June 2017 84

IJELLH ISSN-2321-7065 family, marriage norms etc. The phenomenon of career couples is having its impact on the institutions of marriage, children, and life styles. The double income does liberate both husband and wife from financial stringency and self denial, but it creates more problems for working wives. Urban women’s aspirations for self realisation have enabled her to walk the long road from subordination to autonomy and silence to speech. Her world has changed because of education and economic independence which have been instrumental in her liberation from stereotype Indian wife and mother roles leading to rejection of traditional societal expectations.

Shobha De has envisioned a completely different women protagonist. Her urban women are in love with themselves. They understand the importance of power and economic independence. They handle the male psyche through power – to control and direct. She opines: “Yes, we know money is power. The person who controls the purse strings plays grand puppeteer. “If the wife is wealthier she’s the one who makes the husband beg for pocket money”. (De xviii). Marriage as a social institution is also De’s object of power. It is more a convenient contract than a traditional system.

In one of her novels, Socialite Evenings, the protagonist Karuna turns out to be rebel, going after materialistic things which were denied to her in her puritanical world. After she gets married to a man of her choice, she accepts the fact that she had married a wrong man. This acknowledgement is rather rare in our society. In her realization: “she has married the wrong man for the wrong reasons at the wrong time”(65) she feels as if she was a commodity to be used by a man – her husband and she therefore gets a divorce after an affair with her husband’s friend Krish. She finds Krish to be disgusting, shallow, exploitative and very selfish. She aborts her baby to find a meaning to her life. She surges ahead with minor jobs at hand to keep a roof above her head since her parents disown her saying: “ you have made the mistake, now you pay the price” (219)

She progresses doing odd jobs and scripting films and ad-films to bag an award for the best copywriter of the year. Her responsibility towards her parents and her invalid sister provide her with a reason to find life meaningful and carves an identity for herself without her dependence on any man. Her mother feels that “a woman cannot live alone. It is not safe”(275). To contradict her she asks a valid question “Why does security rest with a man?”(276). She was Volume V, Issue VI June 2017 85

IJELLH ISSN-2321-7065 earning just as much as a man can earn with a roof above her head with no responsibilities. She says “I am at peace with myself. I am not answerable to anyone…”(276). She represents the city bred young women of India Today. They are not ready to be underdogs. The women today have travelled a long and dark road where they found their voice and an identity in a society which had marginalized them. A fear also lurks lest this new found identity and voice be suppressed. Their intellectual satisfaction leads them on to carve a niche for themselves in the power hungry world. The heartless approach of men towards women propels them to break free from traditional norms to exercise their freedom and will. The phallocentric patterns are no longer welcome in her world. Yet, I strongly feel that the next generation is ready to break free of the traditional norms in the metropolitans but today’s parents who are still bonded in tradition are not ready psychologically to swallow the bitter pill of freedom, which the younger generation fights for, to a large extent.

The literature does bring to us the portrayal of psychological conflict of women but it is also imperative for us to understand that the institution of marriage will stay; the norms governing the patriarchal society may change but will not be re-written for the sake of women alone, the life of women whether in urban or in rural areas are defined by the space that they inhabit. The resistance to norms has to come from within the woman and may be the groups which support her rights. Conventional or orthodox remnants of religion and faith governing the woman have to make a leeway for freedom to accept or reject the strictures. Therefore, tradition versus modernity does not mean that we adopt the western outlook and approach but we need to reform our social norms so that the women are no longer ignored but get a voice to raise questions, and express dissent. This has to be within the space and framework of her family, relationships and work place.

Today’s women are fearless and have learnt to live alone, travel alone, and rear children alone when failures in marriage and life partnerships occur. Women have begun to make choices to remain single, have or not have a child and have integrated multiple roles for the benefit of the family. There has been a shift in ideas where women as a daughter, as a wife, mother or an entrepreneur has brought some semblance of equilibrium and relevance to her life thereby sharing her space willingly with dignity. Yet, she has miles to go….

Volume V, Issue VI June 2017 86

IJELLH ISSN-2321-7065

References

Singh, Kunjo Kh. Humanism and Nationalism in Tagore’s Novels. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers. Karlekar, Malvika. Voices from within: Early Personal Narratives of Bengali Women. New Delhi: Oxford University Press. Roy, Dipankar. “Woman in Tales of Love, Sex and Danger: A Study of the Representation of Women in Tagore’s Three Domestic Novels”. Muse India: Issue 59, Jan-Feb. 2015. Prayer, Mario. “Shakti and Womanhood in Tagore’s criticism of Nationalism”, Journal of South Asia Women Studies, International Symposium, 18th October 2004, originally printed in 13th October, 2003, JSAWS, Vol.9, No.1.page 5 Guha, Sreejata (Trans.). Ghare Baire. New Delhi: Penguin Debi, Ashapurna. Subarnalata. Chennai:Macmillan. Desai, Anita. Clear Light of Day. New Delhi: Atlantic Publishers. De, Shobha. Socialite Evenings. New Delhi: Penguin Books India.

Volume V, Issue VI June 2017 87