Recurrent Death Motif and the Female Context in Select Short Stories of Tagore

Authors

  • Irona Bhaduri Assistant Professor of English, Kristu Jayanti College, Bangalore North University, India

Keywords:

oppression, ostracised women, liberation in death

Abstract

Tagore household in the wake of the Bengal Renaissance had emerged to be one of the centres of women’s emancipation. However, Tagore not only created emancipated women characters like Kalyani of “Aparichita” (The Woman Unknown) or Mrinal of “Streer Patra” (A Wife’s Letter) but also depicted the stark reality of the marginalised women of those times. The act that would probably qualify as ‘abuse’ in today’s times, was rampant. Aspects of mental and physical torture are actually still prevalent. Therefore, it becomes all the more relevant to understand the plots of select short stories of Tagore which reveal women in extreme situations in the household. They were sort of pushed towards the ultimate step of death. Death in these circumstances can also be looked at as a symbol of liberation and freedom from the shackles of turmoiled domesticity and life. In this light, the paper will discuss the short stories, “Haimanti”, “Jibito o Mrito” (Living and the Dead), “Dena Paona” (Debits and Credits) and “Shashti” (Punishment).

Author Biography

Irona Bhaduri, Assistant Professor of English, Kristu Jayanti College, Bangalore North University, India

Dr. Irona Bhaduri is working as an Assistant Professor of English at Kristu Jayanti College, Bangalore North University, India. She has done her PhD (Central University of Rajasthan), M.A. English (Pondicherry University), M.A. Sociology (IGNOU), and also qualified NET-JRF. She has published papers in both national and international journals of repute. The varied disciplines have shaped her ideas extensively.

References

Ahuja, Ram. “Violence Against Women” Social Problems in India. Rawat Publications, 1997 (reprinted 2007), pp. 243- 264.

Bhaduri, Irona. “The Menace called ‘Dowry’: A Reading of Tagore’s Dena Paona and Aparichita.” Praxis International Journal of Social Science and Literature. Vol 6, issue 2, February 2023, pp 82-86.

Bhaduri, Irona. “The ‘New Women’ of Tagore’s Family: Breaking Stereotypes and a Prolegomena to His Literature on Women.” New Academia: An International Journal of English Language, Literature and Literary Theory. Barloni Books, vol. VIII, issue 1, January 2019, pp 214-225.

Chatterjee, Monali. “Chapter 11 The Delineation of the Female Subject in Rabindranath Tagore’s Novel Farewell, My Friend”. Rabindranath Tagore in the 21st Century, edited by Debashish Banerji. Springer, 2015, pp. 145-156.

Tagore, Rabindranath. Rabindra Rachnavali (Works of Rabindranath). Vol. 1, 2, 6, 9, 10, 11, 13. Calcutta: Govt. of West Bengal, 1961.

--- Galpogucho, tagoreweb. https://www.tagoreweb.in/Stories/galpoguchchho-84/shasti-1266/3 Accessed 20 May 2023.

--- The Postmaster: Selected Short Stories. New Delhi: Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 2000.

--- The Essential Tagore. Edited by Fakrul Alam and Radha Chakrabarty. Kolkata: Visva-Bharati, 2011.

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Published

01.07.2023

How to Cite

Irona Bhaduri. (2023). Recurrent Death Motif and the Female Context in Select Short Stories of Tagore. Journal of Teaching and Research in English Literature, 14(3), 3–8. Retrieved from https://journals.eltai.in/index.php/jtrel/article/view/JTREL140302

Issue

Vol. 14 No. 3 (2023): July

Section

Research Articles

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