Portrayal of Women in Indian Literature

Scholarly Research Journal for Humanity Science & English Language,
Online ISSN 2348-3083, SJ IMPACT FACTOR 2016 = 4.44, www.srjis.com

UGC Approved Sr. No.48612, FEB-MAR 2018, VOL- 6/26
PORTRAYAL OF WOMEN IN INDIAN LITERATURE
J. K. Khuman , Ph.D.
Head, Deptt. of English, Shree Parekh College, Mahuva.
Z Scholarly Research Journal's is licensed Based on a work at www.srjis.com
A development & movement in critical theory and in the evaluation of literature

which was well under way by the late 1960s and which has burgeoned steadily since. It
is can attempt to describe, interpret and reinterpret women‟s experience as depicted in
various kinds of literature1.
There are two reasons for the crucial interest of Feminism in Post-colonial discourse :
 Both patriarchy and imperialism can be seen to exert analogous forms of
domination over those they render subordinate. Hence the experiences of women
in patriarchy and those of colonized subject, can be paralleled in a number of
respects and both feminist and post-colonial politics oppose such dominance.
 There have been vigorous debates in a number of colonized societies over whether
gender or colonial oppression is the more important political factor in women‟s
lives. This has sometimes led to division between Western feminist and political
activists impoverished and oppressed countries.
One of the most revolutionary changes of the twentieth century was the rapid
increase of women in leadership roles throughout our society and nation. Throughout the
word women‟s history has developed differently in different countries and among groups
within these. Countries and can not be separated from the political context. In India too,
the case is somewhat similar. Although „feminism‟ because of its origins in the west and
emphasis on individualism is a problematic concept in India as noted historian Geraldine
Forbes rightfully argues, “The first women to enter political and social organization were
deeply concerned with improving women‟s status”2. She further tells how the
parameters of women‟s entry into nationalist politics were set by male leaders an define
by women. The freedom struggle legitimized women‟s involvement in politics an
preserve outside the home but it didn‟t liberate them from deeply held notions of
modesty and necessity of male protection. However, women rose to unprecedented
Copyright © 2017, Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies

Dr. J. K. Khuman
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promise in every sphere including business, government, science, the arts, education,
etc.
Adopted unanimously, in 1995, the United Nations Fourth world conference on
women in Beijing produced a remarkable Declaration and Platform for Action. That
linked women‟s rights to human rights for the first time in UN history and laid out
detailed and ambitious plans for the advancement of girl, and women in health, political
decision-making, education and economic opportunity. The Declaration and Platform
were just pieces of paper -- there was no real enforcement mechanism but as such things
go.
Statistical survey made each year to see how self-sufficient & self-reliant women
are gradually turning and what dramatic progress they have been making in their own
sphere of activities and also in those areas where they have to compete equally with men.
They felt the need for changing marriage laws that mandate wifely obedience and divorce
laws that permit men but not women to dissolve the union at will or whim, removing
restrictions on basic freedoms, like the right to travel, study or work without permission
of a male guardian. Nigeria permits husbands to “correct” their wives through physical
punishment. More then five countries allow rapists to avoid prosecution if they marry the
victim. In Saudi Arabia women still can‟t drive. In Kuwait they still can‟t vote. Then what
is women‟s empowerment for them?
Feminism through the awareness of people in general towards the patriarchal
treatment an some women‟s organization have insisted on reservation for women. Both
reservationists and anti-reservationists for the cause want the right kind of woman in
politics but neither group wanted women of all classes, castes and religions to answer the
question “What do women want”? For fear the answers would not be the same as theirs.
That is perhaps the reason for why the procrastination the proposal for the reservation of
one third of the seats in the Lok Sabha and State Legislatures for women in the 81 st
Constitutional Amendment to the Indian Constitution. Similar problems to those
concerned with class were faced in gender and race. Mohanty, for instance, criticizes.
“In the 1980s, many feminist (carby 1982, Mohant 1984, Sulri 1992), began to
argue that western feminism, which ha assumed that gender overrode cultural difference
to create a universal category of the womanly or the feminine was operating from hidden,
universalist assumption with a middle-class, Euro-Centric bias. Feminism was therefore

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charged with failing to account for or deal adequately with the experience of the third
world women”3.
Thus, problem are created not only by male dominance, as in the case of Dalit
literature as they blame upper class for all the problems. They themselves are
responsible for the poor condition of the alit women even today.
Somdatta Mandal in her article questions the stereotyped nations of women‟s
empowerment in the Indian context Vis – a – Vis the illiterate rural figure that has been
overly represented in celluloid representations as well as other media, versus her
liberated and educated counterpart living in the city. 4
To, illustrate this point she takes recourse to three audio-visual representations,
one a documentary made by a woman journalist, two, a feature film made by the same
director, and the third, an award winning Bengali feature film made by a director of
repute and shows how this common belief about the vulnerability of the illiterate village
woman is a myth as is the belief about empowerment of her educated feminist, city-bred
counterpart :
The first one, Ananya Chatterjee‟s documentary “Daughters of the 73 rd
Amendment‟ produced by the institute of social sciences, Calcutta, shows the
empowerment of three women panchayat leader from different part of India. The
amendment that made it mandatory for panchayats (village councils) has often been
ridiculed, and elected women often regarded as wooden dolls controlled by existing male
power. But the amendment has also thrown u many achievers (Ananya‟s chronicle is of
such women of grit who have been given the opportunity. The 50 minute long document
focuses primarily upon three specific cases.5
1. Gunia Bai Ahirwar of Pipra village in the Bundelkhand district of Madhya
Pradesh. married at the age of two and mother of several children, Gundia Bai
holds up a success story in the manner in which she functions. Like all villagers
her prime interest are micro-level roads, primary school, and drinking water. It is
very ironic to hear (it is very irnic) that even as the village Sarpanch she has to
wait in quene to raw water at the village well tell all the higher cast women finish
their jobs because she belongs to a lower caste. So much for ground realities in
India. (Quite cannnal in many other statues.

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2. Sudha Patel, from Anand District in Gujarat. Blind since birth, Sudha has a
bachelor‟s degree and she reveals that she is alive today only because a good
harvest the year she was born prevented her parents of infanticide as some
villagers thought her to be lucky as “Lakhshmi‟. Sudha‟s grit for working from a
doubly marginalized positionis alos revealed in the way she sings and laughs her
to office.
3. Fatima Bee, whose house shelf is full of so many achievement and award meals
that one night mistake it to be a leading sportsman‟s or performer‟s house. She is
also the recipient of an award from the president of India. Her case is perhaps the
finest example of what women can the achieve if given the necessary support
from the family member and from society at large. If has to be mentioned that
Ananya titles the documentary “Part –I” as she feels that the mission is till
incomplete and many other Sudha Patel or Fatima Bees might be existing
somewhere else in India, or are in the process of gaining empowerment.
The second illustration is of the film paromithar Ekdin‟ (A day in paromita‟s life) by
Aparna Sen, in which the heroine a middle-aged well-to-do woman of Bengali house hold
commits the cardinal crime of falling in love with a young photographer. She had an ally
in her mother-in-law. Her conviction on how economic independence has a vital role to
play in this effort comes through. The third illustration is Rituparno Ghosh‟s award-
winning film “Dahan” (1997), where the focal point is a well- reported rape attempt. A
bunch of ruffians try to molest a newly wed womans Romits while many pass by, none
offer to help, until a brave young teacher think infuriated by what she sees, turns on the
men an saves the girl. All this happens in the first 20 minutes of the filmy the next two
hours is about how various people react to the incident an the scandal it brings to the
family reputations Rohita her husband, her-in-laws, her parents the teacher, her gran
mother with whom she shares a special bond her brother who idolized her all these add
depth to the screenplay that is a brilliant insight into Indian middle class moralities and
what is justice bravery right an wrong, morals, crime, punishment and so on. It portrays
the plight of a woman assantted by a group of men an who succumbs to the pressures of
her husband and in laws by giving a false statement in court making think realizes that
her feminism ideals of being an equal partner in society is a sham and howerer much one
might talk of gender empowerment, in real life that oes not work. The write mentions

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refers to an interesting cautrovery raged in Kolkatta regarding Dahan and Annaya

Chattery whas irectly involved in it. The film was screened on the third week of
November in Kolkatta has part of the international fortnight of violence against women,
organized by a XPGO, Sanlaap can 27th Nov, 2002 the audience at Nandan Theater got
an insight into the situation of the couple her assed by four youths at the Tolly gunj metro
station in 1992 and the woman who fought for the couple seeking justice. The author
Suchitra Bhattacharya and Ananya Chatterjee, the journalist who inspired the character
think in the film : By making think as the looser she wanted women to realize the pain
and suffering, wanted readers to act. Ananya Chhaterjee lambasted the film. In an act of
unusual courage, she had come to the aid of a young couple when they were being
roughed up. But when her story was adapted on cellu loid, she found that it was flawed by
male stereotyping . She felt that it had been majorly unfair to the male characters,
especially the victim‟s husband she reported.6
Though the film says that it is based on a true life incident, I am surprised at the way the
characters are portrayed. The woman‟s husband has been portrayed in a negative role
where as in a real life both the women and the man fought against social pressure and
always appeared in court seeking justice. In real life the couple who were college
students, had got married after the incident. The man stood firmly by his girlfriend, and
had supported her against immense societal pressure. The couple married in Up and the
case is still in court.
If this sterotypes has to be broken it has to be attacked from both sides. For it is not some
men who need to be broken, it is this east, short out, method of stereotyping to justify
one‟s actions and mind-set that needs to be addressed and broken down. when such
stereotyping happens in a group or in a home it is dangeroud enough. But when it
happens in literature or in a film which leaves lasting impressions on people‟s minds it is
likely to be catastrophe . We are not yet ready to accept real men and real women.
The purpose of this paper is to expose the wrong attitudes, aggranion, decisions an
representation. More aggression of the movement may render the man-woman relation
ship and moral values at stake harm the fundaments requirement of the hedethy society.
As for representations of Indian woman is concerned either real, mythical, stereotypical
or ideological-literary an cultural representations of race, class, and gender can bee found
seen every where in world literature in general and Indian literature in particular almost

Dr. J. K. Khuman
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from the very old age i.e. in the scriptures-religious and philosophical looks and oral
traditions of different regions of our nation. There is a verse in the old and ideal Bhagvad
Gita :
Man his Parth Vyasashritya ye api syubu papyona yah.
Striyo Vaishyas tallra shundraste api yanti param gatim 7
I veda vyasa veda, Bhagvad Gita, chapter 9, verset -32 [O Parth! even women vaishyas
shudres and those with low birth (dog-eaters) taking my shelter, obtain the supreme
destination]
In the above-cited verse, one may argue (orthod or feminist) that women are
considered with the people of lower strata of society. But the aim of the Lord Krishna
have no differences of classed, genders and categories in devotional service. The people
of material involvement may have such wrong notions as high class and low class but for
people in aborted in spiritual world every one man/women deserve supreme destination
and transcendental bliss.
Toru Dutt has used the sources and created wonderful characters of Savitri & Sita :
The sweet simplicity and grace,
……………………………………………………
Mirrored in dawning womanhood. 8
We may find some lofty and sublime examples of womanhood in Gujarati Poetry and
Folklore, for example , Dula Kag‟s poem „Rajputani‟ and Botadkar‟s famous poem
“Janani ni Jod Sakhi nahi jade re lol……………” 9
Dula Kag in one of his Dohas related to mother says –
Modhe bolu man tya n mane sache nanap sambhare
Pachhi motap ni maza mane kadvi lage Kagada…. 10
(When I utter “Mother” I recall my child hood after being elder I lost it – I feel bitter --
-------------)
References
Cuddon, J.A. Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory, Penguin Books, 1997. pp. 76,
Forbes, Geraldine. Women in colonial India, New Delhi : Chronicle Books, 2005 : 3.
Tiffin, Post Colonial Studies Feminism & Post Colonialism, 102-3.
Mandal Somdatta, Empowerment of Women, Literary & Cultural Representations of Women,
2004.
Chatterjee Ananya, Daughters of the 73rd Amendment, 2002.
Chatterjee Ananya, The Times of India, November 28, 2001.

Dr. J. K. Khuman
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(Pg. 7694-7700)
Ved Vyas, Bhagvad Gita, Chepter -9 , Verse 32.

Dutt Tory, Ancient Ballads and Legends of Hindustan, Prakash Book Depo, Bareli, 2002. Page.
121.
Botadkar, Joshi Umashankar, Mehulo Gajo Ne Madhav Nache, Gujarati Sahitya Parishad,
Amadavad, 1987, 26-27.
Kag Dula, Kagvani, Gurjara Granth Ratn Karyalay, 1990, 72.

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Scholarly Research Journal for Humanity Science & English Language,

Online ISSN 2348-3083, SJ IMPACT FACTOR 2016 = 4.44, www.srjis.com

PORTRAYAL OF WOMEN IN INDIAN LITERATURE

Z Scholarly Research Journal's is licensed Based on a work at www.srjis.com

A development & movement in critical theory and in the evaluation of literature

Copyright © 2017, Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies

Copyright © 2017, Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies

Copyright © 2017, Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies

Copyright © 2017, Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies

refers to an interesting cautrovery raged in Kolkatta regarding Dahan and Annaya

Copyright © 2017, Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies

Copyright © 2017, Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies

Ved Vyas, Bhagvad Gita, Chepter -9 , Verse 32.

Copyright © 2017, Scholarly Research Journal for Interdisciplinary Studies

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