Circuit of culture_assignment_paper_205

Name:- Sneha Agravat

Batch:- 2020-22 (MA sem 3)

Paper:-205 Cultural studies

Topic name:- Circuit of culture

Roll no.:-16

Enrollment no.:-3069206420200001

 

E-mail Id :- snehaagravat2000@gmail.com

Submitted to:- S.B.Gardi Department Of English Maharaja krishnkumarsinhji Bhavngar University

Introduction:-

This assignment about the one very intersting topic The circuit if culture in the paper of cultural studies.

So first of all throw some light on concept of the cultural concept.

The Circuit of Culture :-

           (the Circuit) was created as a tool of cultural analysis, initially by members of the British Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS), and later developed as a conceptual basis to the 1997 Culture, Media & Identities series (Sage & Open University). This article will provide a brief history of the Circuit of Culture from its beginnings in the CCCS through to its later use and development. Reference is made to a number of interdisciplinary studies that have critiqued the Circuit or made explicit use of this tool of analysis. The Circuit’s application and usefulness are examined through reference to a recent study that draws on the Circuit to explore a topical cultural phenomenon, international (full fee paying) student programs in Australian state schools (Leve, 2011a). An assessment will be made of how this tool has been utilized and made contextually relevant as a tool of analysis that opens the way for an exploration of the multiple interrelated processes involved in the construction and management of a cultural phenomenon. The Circuit of Culture emphasizes the moments of production,representation, consumption, regulation and identity, and the interrelated articulations of these moments, and is considered for its contemporary significance and possibilities for considering the increasingly complex multiple modes of each of these mutable moments.

What is the procedure for 'knowing? This requires formulating the structure of the 'case study'. The 'case study' is a limited bounded system which is under observation for particular phenomena. & sefine & evcm The 'Circuit of Culture' A sophisticated analysis of cultural artefacts requires a close examination of five basic elements, which together constitute what Paul du Gay et al have called 'the circuit of culture' (1997). 

David Bowie:-

David Bowie is one of the most influential artists for the last 40 years and yet in terms of academic scholarship he has, until recently, garnered minimal attention. He has an incredibly dedicated fan base, had global main-stream success, is influential in numerous cultural and artistic arenas, and straddles the popular with the avant-garde and experimental nexus. His cultural currency is presently at an all-time high, his death creating a revisitation to, and a canonization of, his oeuvre, and an outpouring of grief and remembrance that seem to cut across or through different generations and international landscapes. His most recent albums and theatre work have had him defined as being at his artistic peak (Gill 2013); while, the globally touring ‘David Bowie Is …’ exhibition, that started at the V&A in London in 2013, has broken attendance records across the world. More profoundly of course is the fact that David Bowie crosses borders and ‘articulations’, whether this be the resigning of gender and sexuality, the confrontation with regulatory masculinity and sexual mores, or the way he was an active consumer in the production of his own star image fictions. We might speak of David Bowie as simultaneously being part of culture but also embodying a distinct culture that employs specific meanings and practices. His own sonic and visual assemblages have allowed cultural fissures to be created and polysemic tapestries to emerge and converge. As a type of science fiction he is an alien messiah and alienated outsider. He is, then, the living embodiment of the waveforms of the circuit of culture.

These elements are: 

1) representation

2) identity

3) production

4) consumption

5) regulation

 What these elements present is a process through which every cultural artefact, object or event must pass. The elements work in tandem, and are closely linked with each other, a process that has been called 'articulation'. In order to illustrate the 'circuit of culture' we need to use a concrete example. 

Let us take a now-ubiquitous technological device: the television. 

1)Television and Representation :-

What does the television represent, and how is it represented? The answers to these two related questions are basically means to discuss the centrality of representation in a culture. Television represents communication, information entertainment Most television ads work with these three aspects, with more features and facilities.

 2)Television and Identity :-

What kinds of identity does television project? What is the difference between state (that is, government) television programmes and say, STAR TV?

Television and Identity What kinds of identity does television project? What is the difference between state (that is, government) television programmes and say, STAR TV?

 What kind of age group is targeted in particular kinds of promotional material? Do car and mobile phone manufacturers target youth? What kinds of identity are given importance in tel 17/88 ri - Family? Young professionals? Youth? Business culturer What does it mean to appear on television? Is the identity of a public intellectual governed by appearance on a programme? Think of so-called 'serious' programmes on contemporary affairs like Aaj Tak, health and medicine or yoga. What is their target audience? What is the Indian identity projected on television? Does the Northeast of India come into the picture? Or Dalits? If so, what is the tone of programmes that try to give representation and space to the marginalized? As we can see the series of questions posed above are about cultural and public contexts where identities are linked to images on screen. Cultural Studies is interested in the ideologies that underlie these identity-projections. self -prejetia a Tuencnoes, Seuf esteem.

3)Television and Production:- The theme of production can be phrased as a series of pointed questions: Look at the major television manufacturers. What are the policies in these companies? How is recruitment done? What welfare policies are in place for workers? How much profit does the company make? Does the company project a democratic work culture? Does the management mix with the workers? Does the company cater to an Indian milieu specifically? Does it project itself - owned companies like Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) did - as a truly Indian' firm? state- lill Reliarce or kytsher handed aver a Cahitoer or child ? to a man.

4)Television and Consumption :-

Small Tv or LED Who are the major buyers of television sets, black and white and colour? What are their income levels? Why would you buy a particular model? Is the choice of a particular kind dictated by fashion, taste, functionality? Do you upgrade models because you are an enthusiast and can afford to? Television and Regulation:- Consider the union government's ban on Fashion TV, ostensibly because it offends Indian cultural sentiments. y po ban on Paum leel What does the government do with regard to either production or consumption? What is the role of the censor board or the Information and Broadcasting Ministry in television sales, production, programmes? This 'circuit of culture' is perhaps the most thorough examination of any cultural artefact. As we can see it covers a range of issues and themes from the question of media representation to the construction of identities in a culture. The 'circuit of culture' includes within it several smaller components and modes of analysis. The rest of this chapter outlines some of them. Cultural Studies today, in most academies across the world, adopts certain key areas and methods to understand the modes of meaning-production. These are: language, discourse identity everyday life ethnography media studies reception/audience studies cultural intermediaries.

Conclusion:-

 In sum up we can say that the Circuit of Culture has proved useful as a conceptual tool for probing the complexities of cultural construction of meanings and reminding me to look beyond the surface – whether contemplating an image, a statement, a document or a theory. The elements of the revised Circuit reached beyond the production/consumption binary and allowed me to stop and consider moments in that process. Representations are produced and consumed but they are also affected by regulatory practices, identity and assumed meanings and connections with what is already known. The Circuit and its related cultural studies theoretical grounding allows for delving into all of the complexities, or alternatively, focussing on the complexities of only one or some of these processes.

Ecofeminism_assignment_paper_204

Name:- Sneha Agravat

Batch:- 2020-22 (MA sem 3)

Paper:-204 Contemporary Western theories and Film Studies

Topic name:- Ecofeminism

Roll no.:-16

Enrollment no.:-3069206420200001

 

E-mail Id :- snehaagravat2000@gmail.com

Submitted to:- S.B.Gardi Department Of English Maharaja krishnkumarsinhji Bhavngar University

Introduction:-

This assignment about the one interesting topic Ecofeminism. And it's taken for the perspective of the see the feminism in the context of Ecofeminism.

Ecofeminism, like the social movements it has emerged from, is both political activism and intellectual critique. Bringing together feminism and environmentalism, ecofeminism argues that the domination of women and the degradation of the environment are consequences of patriarchy and capitalism. Any strategy to address one must take into account its impact on the other so that women's equality should not be achieved at the expense of worsening the environment, and neither should environmental improvements be gained at the expense of women. Indeed, ecofeminism proposes that only by reversing current values, thereby privileging care and cooperation over more aggressive and dominating behaviors, can both society and environment benefit.

The notion that women's and environmental domination are linked has been developed in a number of ways. A perspective in which women are accredited with closer links with nature was celebrated in early ecofeminist writings, by, for example, Carolyn Merchant in the United States and Val Plum wood in Australia. These advocated ‘the feminine principle’ as an antidote to environmental destruction, through attributes, which nurture nature. This ‘essentialist’ perspective, often adopting an ideal of woman as earth mother/goddess, has, however, also discredited ecofeminism and led to disaffection among some early protagonists (see, for example, Janet Biehl). In addition to being critiqued for its essentialism, this view of ecofeminism has also been charged with elitism through its provenance in a white, middle-class, Western, milieu. However, Vandana Shiva's consistent and persuasive ‘majority world’ voice has been a counterpoint to this, and arguably, gender and environment have been articulated together more powerfully, and been more influential, in majority world settings (see, for example, Wangari Maathai in Kenya), although how this has been done has been questioned by writers such as Cecile Jackson and Melisssa Leach.

Ecofeminism:-

Ecofeminism, especially as formulated in the 1970s and 1980s, received much criticism from feminist scholars for its essentialist leanings placing women as closer to nature. Scholars and activists critical of ecofeminism found the continued association of women with nature (as opposed to culture) as problematically reinforcing existing patriarchal structures that oppress women. Third World feminist scholars criticized the essentialist leanings of ecofeminism for creating a single unified image of woman, ignoring the differences among women and the intersections of gender with other social structures such as class, age, and ethnicity.

Feminist geographers and geographers interested in the political ecology of resource access and control likewise have found ecofeminism to be a problematic basis for understanding the gendered aspects of nature and environments. Vandana Shiva has been the foremost shaper of ecofeminist thought with respect to Third World women and environments, and for political ecologists working in the rural Third World her theoretical position has been particularly problematic. For example, Shiva’s 1988 publication, Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Survival in India, explored the negative effects of the Green Revolution in India on both rural women and the environment and identified a feminine principle which she argued is necessary for maintaining humanity’s balance with nature. This feminine principle represents rural Third World women’s distinct spirituality and relationship to the environment that is crucial for the realization of a just and sustainable development. Many geographers view Shiva’s argument as a romanticization of both the feminine and the indigenous as antidotes to a destructive modernist and capitalist development.

More recently, there have been several scholarly attempts to reclaim the promise of ecofeminism for addressing gender-based oppression and environmental destruction. In 1999, two ecofeminist theorists (Catriona Sandilands and Noel Sturgeon) issued important calls for salvaging ecofeminism, specifically as political action, distinguishable from a theoretical and analytical tool. One body of work (Sandilands) attempts to move ecofeminism forward as a project in radical democracy, with the potential to destabilize hegemonic categories, identities, and discourses. In this effort, it draws upon the constructivist strand of ecofeminism, recognizing ecofeminism’s potential to destabilize, but also identifying significant risks in the strategic application of essentialism for political activist purposes. As argued by many feminist scholars, essentialism reifies existing identities and discourses, in effect legitimizing and bolstering them.

A second body of work (Sturgeon) takes a critical look back at the role played by ecofeminism in international debates during the 1990s around women and environments. It highlights the positive contributions of ecofeminism as an international political discourse, arguing that the intervention of scholars like Shiva into the discourse on women, environment, and development came at a crucial moment in time. Prior to Shiva’s intervention, international discourse had positioned poor women primarily as destroyers of the environment, through their role in population growth and in the necessary provision of basic household needs. This work argues that Shiva’s ecofeminist theory and feminine principle should be placed into a historical and political context that led to the transformation of women into agents for positive environmental change. In this perspective, ecofeminist intervention opened a political space for the participation of women in sustainable development and in environmental conservation as experts, instead of as villains or victims.

Nature and Gender:-

Ecofeminism and Peace

Analyses of the intersectionality of race, class, and gender oppression have been applied in the arena of environmental activism. Ecofeminism has developed as an international movement that includes academic feminists and first and third world environmentalists. Ecofeminism encompasses a variety of approaches to thinking about and acting on behalf of the environment, but all ecofeminists recognize the necessary linkage between a healthy ecology and healthy lives for women and children. Ecofeminists view patriarchy as responsible for both the oppression of women, the poor, and indigenous people and for systems of production and consumption which view nature as a commodity to be used and discarded. Vandana Shiva has argued that in pursuit of an illusion of progress, Third World development projects designed to promote industrialization on the Western model have enriched their Western sponsors while doing little if anything to alleviate the poverty of Third World people. Worse, they have tended to replace small-scale indigenous ecological practices with large-scale degradation of the environment. Shiva distinguishes between material poverty and spiritual poverty. While Third World material poverty is real and highly visible, it is also relative to the supposed superior standard of living of the developed nations. The spiritual poverty in the midst of material plenty of the developed nations – demonstrated by high rates of mental illness, drug addiction, and personal violence – and the relation between spiritual poverty and estrangement from nature, is less visible to Westerners themselves, but still very real.

Sandra Harding and other feminist philosophers of science have argued that science and technology have played a leading role in worldwide patriarchal dominance. The supposed value-neutrality and objectivity of scientific method has cloaked science and its resulting technological advances in an aura of certainty and inevitability. In reality, science has been firmly in the control of and has conferred its benefits upon the wealthy and powerful. Its pretense to being a progressive force for all humankind has served to conceal such damaging results as destabilizing and polluting military technologies, exploitation of natural resources, and unchecked consumption. Harding and others have argued that it is important to recognize the validity of non-Western and indigenous methods of acquiring knowledge. It is also necessary to acknowledge that social contexts and value systems influence all forms of knowledge production, including Western science, so that these practices and their results can be properly examined and critiqued. In the absence of these critiques, science and technology will continue to be a force for widening the gap between the richer and poorer nations, resulting in increasing misery and political instability.

Feminist Political Ecology:-

This approach draws on both feminist ecology and political ecology. It has been influential in human geography, perhaps more so than many other feminist ecological approaches. Ecofeminism is the lens through which many feminist geographies of Nature have been produced. While recognized as a broad church, this approach does not necessarily draw on ecology. Feminist political ecology questions the construction of identity, particularly as a basis for situating the researcher in relation to the research being undertaken. It recognizes multiple subjectivities and seeks to combine traditional geographical research techniques with feminist approaches of participatory mapping and oral histories. The approach also recognizes the gendering of environments. Recent work within this tradition has also noted the rural bias within political ecology, and attempted to address this issue.

Feminism, Environmental Economics, and Accountability:-

The basic principles of ecofeminism require the addressing of the key national and global economics' concerns including the ones created by the simplistic economics formula of inputs required for production being capital, land, and labor to produce outputs. This limited consideration of inputs, according to Henderson (1984) needs to be replaced by the new conceptualization of minimal entropy society with revised key inputs that are required and that cannot be excluded from the equation including capital, resources and knowledge.

Ecofeminism principles are based around nature being the central consideration for preservation and protection, requiring efficient use of natural resources, asking for the consideration of nurturing and community growth and development as important priorities and indicators of success (Henderson, 1984) rather than the conventional economic GDP measures which have been criticized for their lack of consideration of comprehensive performance, output, and impacts at the national level (Stockhammer et al., 1997). The conventional GDP measures are considered as inadequate and unreliable measures of social welfare (Van Den Bergh, 2009). This is a brief consideration of ecofeminism which has been provided here to establish that there is a strong link between environmental economics and ecofeminism and that these principles define the basic premise of environmental economics which entails broader environmental and societal oriented considerations and which encompasses a significant departure from conventional economics' considerations.

conclusion:-

 In sum up we cam say that ecofeminism grew out of radical, or cultural, feminism (rather than from liberal feminist or socialist feminism) … In the mid-1970s many radical/cultural feminists experienced the exhilarating discovery, through historic and archaeological sources, of a religion that honored the female and seemed to have as its “good book” nature itself … We would not have been interested in “Yahweh in a skirt,” a distant, detached, domineering godhead who happened to be female.

Wide Sargasso Sea as a postcolonial novel_assignment_paper_203

Name:- Sneha Agravat

Batch:- 2020-22 (MA sem 3)

Paper:-203 The postcolonial studies

Topic name:- Wide Sargasso Sea as a postcolonial novel

Roll no.:-16

Enrollment no.:-3069206420200001

 

E-mail Id :- snehaagravat2000@gmail.com

Submitted to:- S.B.Gardi Department Of English Maharaja krishnkumarsinhji Bhavngar University

Introduction:-

In this assignment we will see the Wide Sargasso sea as a postcolonial novel.

As a work of postcolonial fiction, hu how the WideSargasso Sea captures the pathos of a society  undergoing deep and bitter change. Jean Rhys chooses to relate the essence of this conflict through the relationship of the white Creole heiress Antoinette Cosway, and her English suitor Edward Rochester. Their relationship is set against the backdrop of extreme racial tension in nineteenth century Jamaica: the harrowing animosity that grows between white plantation owners and newly liberated black slaves, and the suspicion and hatred felt for natives of different Caribbean islands. Even more complex is the position of people of mixed race within this ethnic crucible, people such as Antoinette, who is European to the eye, but who identifies with the culture of black Jamaica. She will never be accepted by the people who view her as a “white cockroach,” a remnant of colonial cruelty, and she stands even less chance of acceptance into the sphere of elitist British society. Her birthplace dually condemns her.

Wide Sargasso Sea as a postcolonial novel:-

As a postmodern novel, Wide Sargasso Sea exemplifies the literary ideals of the period. Rhys’ use of varied narrative voices is one of the most striking aspects of the novel, and this in turn promotes a beautifully expository style, capable of disclosing the personal perspectives of both central characters. This feature becomes of paramount importance as we analyse the relationship between Antoinette and Rochester, two characters who come from diametrically opposing cultures, and yet who exhibit many biographical parallels. As Rhys allows us into the minds of Antoinette and Rochester, we see that they struggle with a sense of belonging, both 

culturally, as well as within their families. In a sense, they are each islands, each a 

representative of the island culture that they consider theirs, and each a lonely body 

adrift in a sea of strangers. 

Rhys employs a lush palette of imagery to bring the Caribbean to life, and the 

metaphorical implications within the text create a direct and indelible bond between the geographical world and its human inhabitants. It is this connection to place, to the 

landscape and to the natural world that will be explored in this essay – the fundamental interconnectedness of biology and the reflection of humanity upon it. Through luxurious descriptions of tropical beauty and sinister desire, Rhys creates a vibrant and vital counterpoint between the natural world and elemental human sexuality; this juxtaposition is expressed through natural imagery and setting,character psychology and themes of colonization and cultivation. These aspects intermingle to accentuate the fragile connection between Antoinette and Rochester, and their relationship with the world around them.

Natural Parallels:-

Two central pillars of Rhys’ narrative foundation focus on the connection between people and their natural environment. The first of these is the metaphor of island topography and human isolation, and the second is the significance of skin colour and the prevalence of colour in Rhys’ depiction of the natural world.The first theme is expressed through the comparison of the geographical and cultural features of England and Jamaica with the characters Edward Rochester and Antoinette Cosway, respectively. From a theoretical standpoint, the roles that Rochester and Antoinette play serve to impress Glotfelty’s point that “all ecological criticism shares the fundamental premise that human culture is connected to the physical world, 

affecting it and affected by it”. The interplay between environmental and cultural elements exposes the conflict that Rochester and Antoinette experience, both individually and as a couple. Their physical and psychological attributes can be real or simply perceived, but nevertheless, these characteristics greatly affect how each views the other. 

 Island Topography – Landscape of the Soul:-

Rochester is depicted as an almost stereotypical English gentleman, greatly at odds with the Caribbean islanders at this period in time; he is cool, emotionally remote and insufferably formal. He refuses island hospitality and has a degrading view of local customs and behaviour. He is the embodiment of the English colonizing spirit. Rochester’s sense of superiority and disdain grows because he “associates the wilderness of his surroundings with excess and danger, because he constantly contrasts it with England’s landscape” (Mardorossian 82). Rochester’s increasingly chill and distant demeanour certainly seems to mirror the literally cold, isolated shores of Britain that haunt Antoinette’s thoughts throughout her marriage to him. Rhys foreshadows Antoinette’s discovery of the drastic difference between England and Jamaica through Rochester’s behaviour, but also through subtle comments woven into her memory. Somewhere in Antoinette’s mind is Aunt Cora’s sentiment that “another English winter will kill her” (Rhys 58). Has this instilled the grain of an idea – the cold that kills? Antoinette struggles with Rochester’s behavioural and cultural climate; his inability, or unwillingness, to understand her culture makes it impossible for him to understand her heart. Antoinette’s idealized notions of life in England are destined to dissolve into disillusion. She cannot thrive in the conditions Rochester creates, and if she goes with him to England and is transplanted there, it will signify her end. Friedman explains that for Antoinette, “geographic allegorization, is … a central constituent of [her] identity” 

Colour and Colouredness - The Surface of the Skin:-

The literary utilization of colour and colouredness is of primary importance in a novel that is focused on racial strife. Despite the superficial nature of the colour of the skin, in Rhys’ novel it is nonetheless condemnatory. The conflict between black and white is part of the universal clash between opposites, and in Wide Sargasso Sea“Rhys produces a text that questions the very oppositions that structure it” . Antoinette discovers this polarization at the conventschool:“everything was brightness, or dark. The walls, the blazing colour of flowers in the garden...That’s was how it was, light and dark, sun and shadow, Heaven and Hell...” 

(Rhys 57). Even when the similitude of humanity is acknowledged by a character in the novel, it is with cruelty: “So black and white, they burn the same, eh?” (Rhys 44). Such a comment by a black labourer in light of Pierre’s horrific injury and subsequent death in the Coulibri fire shows that although the underlying bond of humanity cannot be denied, personal prejudices can be dangerously entrenched. This hatred is indicative of what Anderson describes as “conflicting inner states…exacerbated by the forces of poverty…and violence” (Anderson 60). To the black labourer, white skin is representative of years of colonial cruelty, abuse and oppression. To a British “occupier” like Rochester, black skin denotes an inferior race; a source of ethnic 

contamination. Antoinette’s psyche, however, dwells on either side of the colour boundary, creating a complicated ethnic overlap that she is unable to escape or deny.This hybridity means that “physical and psychic ambivalence is [her] natural dualistic state”.

Fire and the Phoenix: 

The Symbolism of Birds and Caged WomenWide Sargasso Sea is permeated with natural imagery, and Jean Rhys very effectively uses elemental opposites to emphasize the psychological experiences of her main characters Antoinette and Rochester. The role of fire in the novel is the most arresting example of Rhys’ use of an elemental force. It represents destruction, foreshadows tragedy, and yet offers purification. Interestingly, Rhys links the all-consuming power of flame with airy avian imagery at key points in the story, and this combination adds a deeper meaning beneath the surface of the narrative.

The Coulibri fire is the first instance of Rhys’ literary warning – her metaphor for what awaits Antoinette both physically and emotionally. Coulibri represents Antoinette’s root structure; as her childhood home, it provides her with a room of her own, a garden to hide in and a centre for the tenuous family life of her youth. Unfortunately, it cannot shield any of its residents from the wrath of the former slaves who come to burn it down.

The Intoxicating Exotic :-

The natural parallels that have been discussed thus far include the metaphor of 

humans as islands, the role of colour in Rhys’ narrative and the symbolism of fire and 

birds in connection with the experiences of Annette and Antoinette in literal and figurative captivity. Turning to Rochester’s relationship with Antoinette, an analysis can be formed using the continued idea of fire as a textual undercurrent. Three distinct aspects of this unhappy union can be established; the first is the natural but ultimately destructive sexual desire that grows between Antoinette and Rochester. Second is the transformation of Rochester’s desire into feelings of fear and suspicion, whichintensify into loathing for all things he deems strange and exotic. The third stage focuses on Rochester’s response to this drastic change in sentiment and the effect his mental state has on Antoinette. His initiation of psycho-sexual warfare is the beginning of a battle that Antoinette can never hope to win. As their sexual relationship carries them into dark and perilous psychological territory, the ravaging effects of the “intoxicating exotic” become painfully clear.

Love and Lust: Destructive Appetites:-

In this essay’s previous section, Rochester and Antoinette’s arrival at Granbois is discussed, and it is at Granbois that the newlyweds experience their first night together as man and wife. According to custom, frangipani wreaths have been left for them in their bedroom, reflecting “the symbolic boundaries that persist between their cultures” (Winterhalter 224). The disregard Rochester shows for the ceremonial aspect of the flowers is highly symbolic; “in destroying the wreath he claims right over the names that are applied to cultural symbols” (Winterhalter 224). Rhys uses this incident to foreshadow Rochester’s symbolic “crushing” of Antoinette through 

his misunderstanding of her character and all the cultural differences that comprise her ethnic “history”. However, in crushing the flowers, an intoxicating scent is released - the incarnation of lust which, as Winterhalter describes, “[overpowers] them both with a heady and sensual fragrance” (224). It is clear that Rochester does not enter into his marriage with deep feelings for Antoinette, but for a moment it seems that the power of his lust might actually tip him over emotional edge into a real state of love. He admits that Granbois “[is] a beautiful place – wild, untouched, above all untouched, with an alien, disturbing, secret loveliness” (Rhys 87), and it 

seems most likely that Rhys intends this statement to refer to Antoinette as well.

 Fear and Loathing:- 

Rochester’s narrative voice never disguises the unease and apprehension he 

feels as he journeys into the foreign world of Antoinette’s Caribbean life. His willingness to believe the untruthful letter from Daniel Cosway is not a testament to Cosway’s persuasive power, rather it is an indication of the deep-seated fear that rests in Rochester’s heart, making him overly eager to accept any form of justification for it. Much of Rochester’s insecurity springs from the cultural disjunction between his English world and the Caribbean one he comes to inhabit. Winterhalter suggests that As Rochester’s narrative reaches a close, it attains also a fevered intensity, and although he claims that “all the mad conflicting emotions had gone and left [him]…sane” it is evident that he has instead become frighteningly disturbed. The disjointed quality of the narrative at this point shows an almost crazed internal dialogue as Rochester decides how Antoinette will be dealt with. “They’ve got to be watched” he thinks, “for the time comes when they try to kill, then disappear”. Rochester’s equilibrium is in serious doubt as his section of the novel comes to an end, and Rhys lends perspective to the nature 

of madness by allowing Rochester to expose his wild thoughts. 

Cultivation and Colonization :-

The previous chapter outlined the progression of Rochester’s emotional and psychological imbalance, and the effect his growing psychosis has on Antoinette’s own frame of mind. As Rochester’s feelings turn from indifference to lust, and from fear to aggressive hate, Antoinette blossoms and then quickly withers as her own psyche disintegrates under the weight of extreme emotional trauma. As each reels from the effects of their traumatic experiences, a new phase in their relationship develops. Rochester adopts a proactive hatred towards Antoinette, and his attempt to cultivate what he sees as Antoinette’s “primitive” nature forms the basis of this chapter. Also central to the theme of cultivation and colonization is the way in which both Rochester and Antoinette represent and are symbolized by invasive species in the Caribbean environment. Finally, the use of gardens and cultivated nature to represent social status and sexuality in England and the Caribbean is contrasted with the wider social reaction to plantation owners in England in the nineteenth century. The development of new moralities in nineteenth century England conflicts with deeply ingrained prejudices and a social hierarchy that struggles to maintain relevance, and these issues provide a wider cultural backdrop for the strife between Antoinette and Rochester. The microcosmic details Rhys provides about their relationship are symbolic of the global scope of imperial domination and the struggle between commerce, politics and national identity in England and its empire.

Conclusion:-

Wide Sargasso Sea is an astute work of post-colonial fiction that encapsulates many complex and large-scale issues. Jean Rhys presents these issues within a text of startling beauty and disarming honesty, weaving into her narrative metaphors for the struggle between man and nature, and between the differing natures of people. Rhys’ central arguments are concentrated into three core issues as analysed in this paper. These main points as discussed are the metaphorical connections between man and nature, especially in conjunction with natural imagery and ethnicity, the changing nature of love and fear in light of differing cultural values, and finally the traumatizing effect of cultivation and colonization on personal and cultural identity. The interplay of sexual politics and psychological deterioration adds an additional layer of complexity to Rhys’ juxtaposition of humanity with the natural world.

Work ciated:-

Rhys, Jean. Wide Sargasso Sea. New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 1992. Print.

Comparative Study of Women in Tara and Final Solutions_assignment_paper_202

Name::- Sneha Agravat

Batch:- 2020-22 (MA sem 3)

Paper:-202 Indian English Literature ( Post Independence)

Topic name:- Comparative Study of Women in Tara and Final Solutions

Roll no.:-16

Enrollment no.:-3069206420200001

 

E-mail Id :- snehaagravat2000@gmail.com

Submitted to:- S.B.Gardi Department Of English Maharaja krishnkumarsinhji Bhavngar University

Introduction:-

This assignment shows how Mahesh Dattani, a contemporary Indian writer in English, draws his inspiration to write from the bitter realities of the world, particularly society. The society of India is based on patriarchy, where the male is the centre of power and authority, and his power is unquestionable. There is no freedom, space, voice and stand of other members of the house specially the women. The position of women is always ambiguous where she struggles. In the plays of Dattani the women characters are trapped in the clutches of patriarchy and suffer.

Firstly we throw some light on the both the plays:-

                              Tara:-

Mahesh Dattani’s Tara comes across as a play that deals with twin aspects that are two sides of the same coin. It also presents the conflict between illusion and reality as echoed by the multi-level set. The house of the Patels are as kept in memory. The only realistic level is the part of the wall covered with faded wallpaper that has the writer writing the play in which he appears to the audience .In this sense, the playwright presents metatheatrical aspects as he talks of distancing oneself from the experience and writing about it. The Doctor as portrayed in the set, stands in contrast as the omnipotent Author with the Author-God like stance. It thereby underlines the clash between the subjective and objective author. Chandan discovers that even distancing himself physically “in a seedy suburb ofLondon thousands of miles away from home” hasn’t done the trick. He attempts as much as possible to alienate himself from the script, but suffers from a writer’s block and everything remains stagnant on his paper just as his life is. Just as in his life, nothing changes but the dates. And the greatest irony is that Indo-Anglian literature isn’t worth toilet paper in his own country. He neglects his own personal history to get over his guilt with what happened toTara. Just as the lowest portion occupies a major portion of the stage, the memory of guilt haunts and dominates Chandan’s personality. It is to deny this that he creates his alter-ego Dan. His being a Diaspora, this causes another divide in his self: the identity of the Diaspora caught between his native culture and foreign culture as signified by Chandan and Dan.

Final solution:-

Mahesh Dattani’s Final Solutions focuses on the problem of communal disharmony between the Hindus and Muslims in India, especially during the period of the post- partition riots. The psychosis that prevails among the Hindus as well as Muslims in India, after the event of the partition of the country, cause a chain of neurotic reactions to even the most inconsequential of happenings. The play moves from the partition to the present day communal riots; probes into the religious bigotry by examining the attitudes of three generations of a middle-class Gujrati business family, Hardika the grandmother, Ramnik her son and Sumita her granddaughter. Revolving around three generations, the events in the play unfold at a swift pace, weaving the post-independence partition riots, with the communal riots of today in a common strand. Memory plays an important role in the play as reminiscences of the characters develop the plot. In the play, the mob is a symbol of the communal hatred. It deals with the burning issues of Hindu-Muslim hatred; the mind set of suspicion towards each other and tries to suggest that attributes of prejudice and misperception have much to do in escalating such problems. It is obvious that communal unrest arises from highlighting the differences between these two religious groups. Once they are made to acknowledge their identity as human beings first and then Hindus or Muslims, there will be no problems. Therefore one of the solutions is that religion is only something superficial as mask and can be donned or taken off at will.

Comparative Study of Women in Tara and Final Solutions:-

Mahesh Dattani, a contemporary Indian writer in English, draws his inspiration to write from the bitter realities of the world, particularly society. The society of India is based on patriarchy, where the male is the centre of power and authority, and his power is unquestionable. There is no freedom, space, voice and stand of other members of the house specially the women. The position of women is always ambiguous where she struggles. In the plays of Dattani the women characters are trapped in the clutches of patriarchy and suffer. In Final Solutions and Tara the women who face the suffering and oppression under patriarchy are Hardika/Daksha and Bharathi respectively. These women who are the victims of suppression are also the prisoners of the past; their past has influence in their present too.

The life of little Daksha changes at an age of 15, when she is married to Hari, the first change she under goes is her name, with which her identity is associated. Her name is changed to Hardika just to match the name of her husband Hari along with her life. All her aspirations and dreams come to an end, her education is stopped and she now is a typical housewife of a Gujrati family. “All my dreams have been shattered… I can never be a singer like Noor Jahan. Hari’s family is against my singing film songs. His parents heard me humming a love song to Hari last night. And this morning they told him to tell me…I’m just a young girl who doesn’t matter to anyone outside her home…”Hardika is later stopped to meet her Muslim friend Zarine and is beaten on the account that she did not took his permission to go and eat with the Muslim family. “… I did not touch their food! Ah! Don’t hit me (Angrily). Don’t do that! I swear I didn’t eat anything! Alright. I won’t go there again. Please leave me alone.”Hardika is a victim of oppression and suppression in the hands of patriarchy. She is not able to live her life on her own terms where she is even denied to listen to the songs of Noor Jahan. Thought India got free and got her independence, Hardika is still a prisoner in the hands of her own people.

The other character is Bharathi, the mother of Tara who loves and adores her daughter the most and is always thinking about her (Tara’s) betterment and future. The mother is the only one in the play who actually worries and cares for Tara; she even is ready to do anything for her daughter. In a conversation with Roopa, a friend of Tara, Mrs Patel even tries to bribe Roopa by allowing her to watch DVDs anytime at their place, to be Tara’s best friend, “…you can watch whatever you want! Just be my Tara’s friend.” Mrs Patel is restless, impatient, stressed and even in pain at the thought of her unlucky child. The relationship of the husband and wife also suffers as Mrs Patel is overly protected about her daughter Tara. The reason behind the concern for the daughter is the guilt. Mrs Patel who had “Siamese twins” one boy and one girl preferred to have the “privileged leg” for the boy even though the blood supply for the third leg was through the body of the girl child. This very incident by the family especially Mrs Patel and her own father shows a stereotypical view of an Indian family to have choices and preferences for the male child in a patriarchal society. The decision by the family leads the children of the family to have crippled life both physically and emotionally.

Dattani portrays in his plays the influence of patriarchy in the Indian family systems and in the characters Hardika and Bharati (Mrs Patel) who are the victims of patriarchy, who by no choice have to work according to it. The playwright takes up his subject from the tangled systems of modern families where the characters suffer by the weight of tradition. As in the case of Hardika who was married at an early age was assumed to behave in a certain ways according to the family of her husband. The first attack on her is the displacement of her identity by changing her name and then the list is endless. There is domination of her husband and in-laws which make her an object of exploitation. The same is the case with mother of Tara who deliberately wants her son to have the leg as he is a male and would be a heart and soul of the family, indirectly a figure of power and would later be a pillar to the family.

The two women also face guilt in their lives, both of them have history. The past lures in their present. In the Final Solutions, the character of Hardika highlights the prejudices she has against the Muslims. Hardika is a survivor of the partition of India and Pakistan. She has seen and suffered during the period. Hardika in the present still has the memories of the past and has resentment towards the Muslims due to the events occurred before. In the essay “The Past Affects the Present”, a traumatic past can shape a person’s overall view on the world. Many times, the memories of the past negatively affect the person.

In the past, Daksha’s father is killed during the partition of the country, she tells Javed and Bobby about her father’s murder in the present. “He was beaten up on the streets! While we were waiting for him at home to take us away from the hell, he was dying on the streets!” (61) She is forced to leave Hussainabad with her mother. The partition is the biggest reason of tension between the Hindus and Muslims. As Tarun Saint, writes in Witnessing Partition: Memory, History, and Fiction, “The partition of India, one of the most traumatic and disruptive events of the twentieth century, ushered in an era of uncertainty and dislocation, following widespread collective violence, rape, arson and the displacement of millions of refuges across South Asia.” 

In the beginning, Daksha does not reveal about her father’s death, though it is one of the causes which causes her to form negative option about Muslims. According to her, the most dreadful thing that happened to her during the partition was the damage to her gramophone. Her entire record collection was destroyed by a stone. Daksha is married at the age of fifteen and now lives with her husband and in laws in Amargaon. She dislikes her in laws and finds her husband stupid. The only peace she gets there is from her friend Zarine, who is a Muslim but she is very much like Hardika. They share same love for music and even same singers like Noor Jahan. The murder of her father, does not affect the friendship of the two. Zarine too likes Daksha and genuinely cares for her unlike her family. The friendship of the two does not last long as misunderstanding comes into the action between the two. When Daksha finds out that Zarine’s family needs help as their shop is burnt into ashes. She asks Hari if he could help the family and hopes that her father in law will help them. Zarine talks to Daksha aggressively, one day which disturbs her. Zarine asks Daksha, one day to have lunch with them though knows Daksha is a vegetarian. Due to love Daksha sits on the table but later vomits as Zarine and her family consume meat. The Hindu-Muslim rift arises between the two also Daksha tells her audience that Kanta told her family that she ate with the Muslims. Daksha has thrashing from her husband which cause further anger towards Zarine and her people. As scholar of English literature Anjali Multani notes, “The anguish and bitterness and pain of the last encounter with Zarine makes an abiding impression on Daksha/Hardika. Henceforth, and for the most part of her life, Hardika stays trapped and cocooned in her blinding prejudice against Zarine and her community.” 

In the present, Hardika’s resentment towards Muslims is mainly due to Zarine’s betrayal. She cannot digest, the two Muslim boys at her place. She is furious and is angry on her son to protect the two Muslim boys. Later she has an argument with Javed, and blames “his people” for the death of her father. During the heat of the conversation Hardika shouts the name of Zarine where she says, “Zarine deserves…”. It is visible that Hardika rage is with Zarine and not with Muslims in general. In the end, truth is out to Hardika, where she comes to know that in the past it was Wagh and Hari who burnt the shop of Zarine’s father initially. As they wanted to possess the shop as they heard that the Muslim family wanted to start a mill like theirs. Daksha was unaware of the truth when she met Zarine and Zarine lashed out at her. Hari had beaten Daksha not for the reason that she ate with Muslims but because she may get to know about the actions of her husband. Hardika learns the truth in the present when it is too late to amend. She suffers from the feeling of guilt. She had lost a dear friend because of the doings of her family not because of Zarine’s religion. “Do you think those boys will ever come back?” Hardika questions her son, Dattani here gives a hope to his readers and audience with Hardika’s last dialogue which is the first measure towards a solution.

In Tara, the mother of Tara Mrs Bharathi is the one who suffers from guilt in the present because of her actions in the past. In the beginning of the play, Mrs Bharathi is portrayed as an ideal mother, who is dedicated towards her family and children. She loves her children who are handicapped and give special attention, love and care to her daughter Tara. Tara and Chandan are twins who are born as conjoint twins. A surgery separates them where the privileged leg is given to the boy, a male. The leg soon dies as it was naturally Tara’s. Mrs Bharathi in the present cares and worries for her daughter more than the so because she suffers from the sense of guilt. She cares for her happiness and makes sure her daughter gets everything in life. She is also concerned for her daughter’s future, as she knows being a female she will have to bear and tolerate more than her son.

The mother is imbued with the past and it haunts her in the present. She gives all her love to Tara. She cooks food for her. She tries to win friends for Tara. She also wants to give her a part of her, her kidney as Tara needs a transplant. Mrs Bharathi believes that giving her a part of herself will less her guilt to some extent. She feels angry and irritated all the time. Mrs Bharathi feels helpless as she is not able to help her daughter the way she wants. She lashes out at her husband at times. The anger that grows within her it the result of her past which she is unable to speak out or digest and remains under the influence of guilt that is within her. The mother of Tara is the one who is complicit in the society or rather in her family. She is not able to fight the conflict inside her and later has hysteria and neurosis. The mother finally dies in the end without any word of expression with her daughter. She dies with the guilt inside her.

The two women are the prisoners of the past, Hardika and Mrs Bharathi Patel who in present realise their guilt. The anger, irritation, resentment and prejudice they have in the present is because of their past. Hardika shows vindictiveness towards the Muslims as she is has a past; same is in the case with Mrs Bharathi who is angry on her husband, her own father and somewhere with herself too. The future of these women suffer and with it the future of the present generations too. The shadow of the past lurks in the present of the two women which affect the present.

Work Cited:-

Dattani, Mahesh. Collected Plays. New Delhi: Penguin Books, 2000. Print.

Nationalism in the Home and the World_asssignment_201_paper

Name:- Sneha Agravat

Batch:- 2020-22 (MA sem 3)

Paper:-201 Indian English literature (pre-independence)

Topic name:- Nationalism in the Home and the World

Roll no.:-16

Enrollment no.:-3069206420200001

 

E-mail Id :- snehaagravat2000@gmail.com

Submitted to:- S.B.Gardi Department Of English Maharaja krishnkumarsinhji Bhavngar University

Introduction:-

The assignment will examine the nationalist perspective in the novel The Home and the World written by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore. The novel is set in Bengal in the background of Swadeshi Movement. Tagore through his three protagonists Nikhil, Bimala and Sandip explores his nationalist perspective in the novel. This paper also presents the issues in India regarding the nation’s instability in facing the new era of modernism and independence. This paper aims to analyze the representation of Indian Nationalism, by focusing on the ideological conflict and how the resolution of the conflicts represents the idea of nationalism.

Nationalism:-

The Home and the World is a phenomenal work of Indian literature by Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore. It takes a global view of the concept of nationalism and patriotism. The novel is set in Bengal, during the pre-independence era of Indian political and domestic life in the background of the Swadeshi Movement. The Swadeshi Movement began in 1905 and gained major force against the decision on division of Bengal. Swadeshi Movement was started as a protest against the partition of Bengal by Lord Curzon in 1905. Swadeshi is the activity of the country in which all people take part. Any action, any product or, service produced domestically in the country qualifies to be called Swadeshi if in its production people and their communities are directly involved. And a rejection of all foreign – made products. Swadeshi Movement can be seen as the attempt to boycott British commodities as a protest against the British government.  

                                 The famous figure of Swadeshi Mahatma Gandhi. He proposes the Swadeshi as a form of passive resistance and non-violent movement.The novel The Home and the World focuses on the narrative of three different characters: Nikhil, a wealthy landlord, Bimala, Nikhil’s wife and Sandip, a radical nationalist leader, whose home as well as the World gets involved in the contemporary political atmosphere due to their involvement in the Swadeshi Movement. Nikhil is a landowner and Sandip a zealous nationalistic one can call him so fighting for the nation’s independence, Bimala who, while initially content with her housewife status is later entangled in Sandip’s nationalism present before her. Her choice for Sandip’s causes to put before us the consequences of the furore of Sandip’snationalism. Tagore uses his character in the present novel to not only put forward his views on nationalism, but also to criticize destructive nationalism, which seems to break not only the nation but also the whole world. Nationalism has been a constant theme in Tagore’s work throughout his career from prose to fiction, in novels like The Home and the World, Gora and in essays like “Nationalism in India”, “Nationalism in Japan”, etc.

                                       This study aims to analyze the representation of Indian Nationalism, by focusing on the ideological conflict and how the resolutions of the conflicts represent the idea of nationalism. It is believed that this novel presents a criticism of the Indian tradition and nationalism. And Tagore’s defines his nationalist perspective through this novel. Tagore presents his view through the conflict between the characters that represent different attitudes. In the novel The Home and the World, there is a clear representation of the clash between East and West. This novel also presents the issues in India regarding the nation’s instability in facing the new era of modernism and independence. In India, there are two distinctive views on nationalism.

                                     The first view of nationalism is reflected through the advancement of Indian industry. The constructive nationalist tends to build things to make betterment of the country. On the other hand, there were extreme nationalists who tend to do brutal things such as burning foreign goods as they think that using foreign goods is a reflection of support towards British colonizers. The novel The Home and the World portray this issue and reflects it through the conflicts inside The home as a representation of the conflicts of the nationalist movement in India in the early twentieth country. The novel focuses on three characters, each of whom speaks in the first person in recounting how they interact with one another Nikhil are Bimala’s husband; Sandip is Bimala’s would be lover Nikhil epitomizes the unselfish progressive husband who wishes to free his wife from the oppressiveness of a traditional Indian marriage. In contrast, Sandip is a man who thinks only of himself, and who reduces man-woman relationships to brazen sexuality; he is interested in “Blunt things, bluntly put, without any finicking niceness.” (Tagore 85)

Bimala is represented as an innocent who, at least initially, is completely subservient to her husband. But Bimala is also much more than this. She is referred to as Durga, the female goddess of creation and destruction, and as Shakti, the ultimate female principle underpinning reality. In being so described, she represents the beauty, vitality, and glory of Bengal. The struggle between Nikhil and Sandip for Bimala is, then, a battle for Sandip future of Bengal, as they represent two opposing visions for Bengal. Sandip’s nationalism is a façade of the rich and well to do people. The poor are only crushed beneath the weight of demands by the nationalists for the country’s sake. The poor like Panchu and Mirjan in the novel are ample proof of how the downtrodden are merely doubly exploited in the wake of all the destruction in the name of nationalism. Panchu a poor peddler, who in order to make endsmeet sells cloth, when found selling foreign, clothes are asked to give it up and is fined hundred rupees. Even his whole bale of cloth is burnt and he is threatened with social ostracism. Similar is the case with Mirjan a boatman who is asked by activists to denounce the trade of carrying foreign cloth and is made to suffer the loss of means of livelihood by the deliberate sinking of his boat by Sandip’s men. Both the incidents pointedly present before the reader’s minds the inhumanity and lack ofsympathy for the poor.for the indiscreet participation to boycott foreign clothes and are unmindful of how this fanaticism in the name of the nation would affect the poor and downtrodden. 

                Everyone who goes against the so-called principles of the movement is branded as the enemy of the nation. Only the rich like Harish Kundu are able to participate in this show of patriotism. These people are oblivious to the condition of the common man and just go on asking for contribution and support to the Swadeshi Movement. The patriotic zeal of the rich hides itself the exploitation that they do about the poor. These rich and owners resort to the meanest action in pursuit of their wants. When Harish Kundu is unable to get his rent he sells away the wife of one of his poor tenants in order to extract the rent from him. Nikhil says in the course of the novel, “A band of young fellowsof the locality attached themselves to him (Sandip), some even who had been known as disgracing the village.” (Tagore 51) The national anthem, the nation is considered as a mother that must be protected as she nurtures her children. Tagore makes Bimala as the female symbol of the nation. The symbolization of India in the figure of Bimala can be seen in several aspects. The first aspect is of her physical appearance. In the first chapter, she is described as a woman who has dark features. This can be seen as the symbolization of India in the way Pthat it is perceived as dark whichsignifies the dark times in the early twentieth century which happened in India caused by the colonization.

Nikhil, on the other hand, is on the whole opposite of Sandip. Through the character of Nikhil, Tagore highlights his concept of working for the nation. A positive and more vibrant endeavor for the country’s development is presented through the portrayal of the character of Nikhil. Nikhil who belongs to a rich landowning class is in no way similar to other exploitative landowners like Harish Kundu. 

                        Nikhil too wants to work for the nation and is enthusiastic for the country’s development. His way of nation-building is by working for the country’s development. His belief is “Let us dedicate our lives to removing the root of this sorrow in our country.” (Tagore 106)Tagore, through the portrayal of Nikhil and his master Chandranath Babu, puts before us a critique of Sandip’s ideology as well as his ideas about working for the nation’s cause. Nikhil helps the poor and downtrodden people of his estate. When Panchu is threatened by Sandip he finds solace from Nikhil. In order to help the impoverished, he lends them money. It is this generosity that causes him at times great financial damage. They both aim to make the countrymen self-reliant. It is keeping this object in view that Chandranath Babu did not give Panchu money as a gift but as a loan to be repaid when the latter was threatened by Sandip and his gang. Nikhil is critical of theextensive use of violence by the movement leaders. There’s hardly a conversation of Sandip and Nikhil, in which there is no clash of opinion between them, and when the latter doesn’t condemn Sandip methods and violent activities. He is against the destructive elements in the movement. He is the view that one need not burn the foreign articles on the pretest of boycott as he says to Bimala; one should simply stop using them. He says “You should not waste even a tenth of your energy in this destructive excitement.” (Tagore 24)Nikhil who is branded a traitor to the nation’s cause, himself, has been all this while a true practitioner of Swadeshi. Bimala also acknowledges the fact that when Swadeshinot become as popular as it was then, Nikhil used to import Indian artifacts. He uses Indian pencils, soaps, oil lamps and other merchandise in spite of the fact that he can easily afford the western articles which are much more convenient than these Indian articles. Still, Nikhil disavows his 

support to Sandip’s movement, which asks him to clear off all the foreign articles from his estate. Nikhil is against this coercion, he sees it against his ideal as it means dictating others who cannot afford to do so. He compares it to tyranny “To tyrannize for the country is to tyrannize over the country.” (Tagore 132)

                                    Bimala represents Bengal, who is torn between Nikhil and Sandip’s ideologies. While the forms are emblematic of western values, while the latter is symbolic of his passion and dedication to the Swadeshi movement. Although this novel has political implications, my focus will be on Bimala’s agency throughout the novel. Therefore, I will examine the novel to show the shifting role of the women during this time period:“The new woman was to be an educated and brave wife as an appropriate partner of an English-educated nationalist man, able to run an ‘efficient’ and ‘orderly home’ like her Western counterpart, be high-minded and spiritual like the women of the ‘golden’ age, become ‘grahalakshmi’ like the Divine Lakshmi and fulfill her primary role as a courageous mother producing heroic children for the service of the nation. If the model was absurd, and inimitable, and indeed full of contradictions, no one was bothered. That was the new woman the nation needed, and it was the women’s duty to live up to it.” (Tolstoy 41)

Although the women’s duty as a householder and the wife was necessary, the Bengali middle class was becoming strongly influenced by the Victorian England, which allowed the “re-ordering of women into new models.”Nikhil and Sandip are portrayed as flat 

characters, different from Bimala who is portrayed as round character. Sandip and Nikhil represent different ideologies existing in India in the early twentieth century. They have the tendency to be flat characters as they symbolized ideologies which do not change throughout time. The existence of these two characters brings different insights for Bimala and changes her mind, molding her into a round character. Nikhil and Sandip represent the moderate nationalist ideology and extreme nationalist ideology, and those ideologies are portrayed as contradictory. This contradiction shows Tagore’s objection on the issue of extreme nationalism.

If we relate this case to the ending of the story, we can see that Tagore tries to open the minds of the readers by presenting his ideology through the character of Nikhil. Yet, at the end of the story, he makes a twisted plot which seems to undermine and doubt his own ideas of freedom. The tragic death of Nikhil signifies Tagore’s skepticism towards the future of India. He was anxious that India’s future will be ideal as dreamed by many people inside the country. Bimala’s fate can be seen as the representation of India’s fate readers cannot predict Bimala’s fate because of the tragic accident that happens to her husband. This event raises many questions about the continuity of her life, which symbolizes the future of India. India still does not have certain future. The crossroad of her life makes the story more complicated. We can see that Bimala’s confusion upon the choice is India’s hesitation in facing a new era.There are three distinctive views on nationalism presented in this novel through the key characters, Nikhil, Bimala, and Sandip.represents the ideology of Rabindranath Tagore. He carries the most perception of the nation in Tagore’s point of view.

                                      On the hand, Sandip represents the extreme nationalist view. Between these two distinctive views, Bimala represents the diplomatic view on nationalism. Tagore also depicts Indian in the form of a woman, Bimala. Bimala is portrayed as the physiological and psychological resemblance to the nation. This novel reveals several aspects of the conflict of ideologies, including the conflict of gender and nationalism. The novel is deliberately left open-ended because the discourses of gender and nation are continuously evolving.Along the story, Tagore proposes new insights to the readers, yet in the end, he metaphorically kills his own ideology.This is shown as the signifies that in the struggle of infusing modernity, Tagore has found hard times to make people Understand. Therefore, he exposed the tragic 

ending to his own ideology in this novel. By giving this ending, indirectly, he also drags the 

readers into wondering what is going to happen to Bimala and India.

In The Home and the World Tagore, through the political dynamics created, articulates a 

nationalism that is humane and in which all Indians could participate as equals, where men and women would be tied together by trust, truth, and love. 

Conclusion:- 

in sum up we can say that thiis novel represents Tagore’s perspective in seeing the effect of Swadeshi to India. Furthermore, we can conclude that this novel reveals the ideological conflicts which are happening in the society as the result of modernization and 

British colonization. This revelation can be seen in the way Tagore contrasts the views of western ideology and eastern ideology through the characters Nikhil, Sandip, and Bimala. It signifies that ideological conflicts could happen everywhere, even inside of a house.

Works Cited:-

Arghy, Bose. “Tagore’s Notion of Nationalism and Nation-State: A Potential Solution to 

Fundamentalist Nationalism in Post-Independence India?” International Journal of Humanities & 

Social Science Studies, vol. 3, no. 2, Sept. 2016, pp. 245-256. oaji.net/articles/2016/1115-1476779660.pdf. Accessed 14 March 2017.

Gandhi, M. K. Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule. Navjivan Press, 1938.

Plasma, Alexander. “Revisiting Rabindranath Tagore’s towards an Inclusive Cosmopolitanism.” 26 Jan. 2011, www.academia.edu > Revisiting_Rab… Accessed 25 Feb. 2017.

Tagore, Rabindranath. The Home and the World. Wisdom Tree, 2002.