Politics of choice- deconstructing the idea of marriage

Arpita Chowdhury

Vol-6,Issue-2,March - April 2021

Author: Arpita Chowdhury

Keywords: Chugtai, D’souza, Gender, Marriage, Tagore, struggle.

Abstract: In this paper, I have attempted to talk about the idea of marriage largely based on three different texts that are ‘Marriages are Made by Eunice D’souza, ‘Exercise Book’ by Rabindranath Tagore and ‘Kallu’ by Ismat Chugtai. The constant subjugation of the female voice is examined through various shreds of evidence. It is quite apparent that women have hardly a say in choosing their life partner and it’s the overarching dominance of the family to which the girls have to succumb. In ‘Marriages are made’ by Eunice D’souza we see the complete dehumanization of a woman who is reduced to a mere product. Tagore in ‘Exercise Book’ attempts to enquire the prospects of child marriage whereas in Ismat Chugtai’s ‘Kallu’ we see the muted gender. Hence, we will see the ways in which authors bring to fore the idea of power struggles in the gendered narrative.

Article Info: Received: 09 Jan 2021; Received in revised form: 03 Mar 2021; Accepted: 30 Mar 2021; Available online: 26 Apr 2021

DOI: 10.22161/ijels.62.48