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Rabindranath Tagore's Portrayal of Aesthetic and Radical Woman
Rabindranath Tagore's Portrayal of Aesthetic and Radical Woman
Table of Contents
Abstract............................................................................................. 3
Women
References ...................................................................................... 17
Figures ............................................................................................ 20
PORTRAYAL OF WOMEN IN LITERATURE AND MEDIA 3
Abstract
hold a special place in his writings. They are at times a puppet in the
happenings and illustrate how they are different from other portrayals of
women by other male and female writers like R.K. Narayan and
Rassundari Debi.
“Women, with the grace of your fingers you touched my things and
-Rabindranath Tagore
The time during which Rabindranath Tagore wrote his fiction and
poetries was an important era in the history of India. It was a time when
India was on the verge of being formed or united on the basis of fighting
against one single enemy; the Britishers. However, one section of the
struggle within struggle”. Worldwide, where men were dealing with the
woman of the 19th century was still struggling to break the shackles of
her inner, domestic sphere and get basic rights to education, financial
freedom or even life. At few places like Bengal, where little education to
PORTRAYAL OF WOMEN IN LITERATURE AND MEDIA 5
less education.
Such tensions between the outer world of men and inner world of
popular philosopher of the time, Raja Ram Mohan Roy started a weekly
while on the other places in literature, she was fighting to surpass her
characters.
unasked. Were the ‘male’ philosophers and ‘reformers’ not bringing out
women from physical torture and strict religious strictures and putting
Also, the fact that these were the portrayals given by men to
idols of chastity was quite ambiguous. The very fact that there were very
few women who could read and write and be heard at that time, let alone
publish hints about the severity of situation. Some of them were like
Rassundari Debi and Swarnakumari Debi who would bring out the
with importance of men, one can say that the literature of Rabindranath
also believed that woman’s domain was different than that of men. He
We can say that in his literature, there is too much focus on defining her.
“Women are of two types- they are either mother or lovers.”( Two
sisters) by Tagore depicts how a woman is and how she should be; what
are her virtues and what a man desires her to be. Rabindranath Tagore
lovers to women, they seem to lose the touch of humanity and seem
finally reconciles with their aims . Nirodh objectified Urmi to attain his
forms of patriarchy: one binding her into the shackles of marriage, other
freedom of thought and yet the last one, Sasanka as an enchanter who
deviates her from the desire of the financial independence. Here, Tagore
within the tale. What could have happened if Hemant was alive?
them is that all the women; be it in the novella “Dui Bon”, short stories
“Kabuliwala” are not mothers. In this way, when the times bound her as
her wifely duties to assimilate with a higher reality of God shows how
the plight of women was so intense that it could only find repose in
gives credit to God for giving her courage to bear the ordeals of married
support her in bearing ordeals of life, later, she thanks him for providing
which is given the name and authority of God. This dynamic role of God
about the women’s desires and their deploration. The various desires of
“The Two Sisters” and the educational desires in “The Exercise Book”,
after she gets an education. The dawn of realization that follows after
one steps into the wider realm of opportunities and yet the impossibility
the position of Man is quite true of those times. The political times when
Britishers were termed as outsiders and Others and the idea of being
ruled by a country whose ruler was a queen was already a lump in the
throat of Indians. Where the demands from women’s side had already
begun a century ago in Europe and writers like Mary Wollstonecraft had
talked about it in great detail, India was still struggling to digest this
change. Thus, works like these by a male Indian writer were radical in
not just demanding educational rights for women but also envisaging the
male writers like R.K. Narayan and Munshi Premchand. Where novels
PORTRAYAL OF WOMEN IN LITERATURE AND MEDIA 14
of Narayan like “The Dark Room” and “Swami And Friends” focus
some sort of belief, she is left quite vulnerable at the end in the hands of
various men. Thus, these women are either given feminine delicacy and
this discourse, the focus was laid upon defining the woman either as
caricatured a blend of both and along with this, gave them some sort of
the feminist discourse and portrayal of dynamic women across the times
and nation, one cannot help going back to Tagore as a radical writer and
painter.
and dark. Their covered heads and bodies under the sari signifies the
shows the inability of their expressions. He shows that women could, but
did not prefer to play the same role as man in the society.
PORTRAYAL OF WOMEN IN LITERATURE AND MEDIA 16
The lack of rebellion from the women was a cause as well as result
representing a sex as equal to other, the first step must be taken by the
literature raise a voice do their voices are silenced and echoes are spread.
Only through such echoes, have the women brought themselves in the
21st century, standing on a platform; fighting for their cause. Echoes lead
to expressions. Literature and media have been playing the part of such
echoes which are adopted in the real world to being social changes.
.
PORTRAYAL OF WOMEN IN LITERATURE AND MEDIA 17
References
Tagore.
Wollstonecraft.
Figures
Figure 1. https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/kolkata/abanindranaths-
bharat-mata-on-display/article6949692.ece/amp/
Figure 2: http://www.sify.com/movies/radhika-apte-stars-in-stories-by-
rabindranath-tagore-imagegallery-bollywood-pg0rjMjgjejgj.html