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VOL. 12, ISSUE 1 (2026)
Women in Tagore’s selected short stories
Authors
Serina Khatun, Dr. Amit Shankar Saha
Abstract
Tagore's short stories offer a sensitive and
critical representation of women’s lives within the patriarchal social order of
colonial Bengal. Moving beyond idealized or submissive portrayals, Tagore
presents women as psychologically complex individuals negotiating emotion,
duty, desire and resistance. His female characters often occupy domestic
spaces, yet their inner lives reveal profound conflicts shaped by gendered
oppression and social constraint. In stories such as “The Wife’s Letter” (Strir Patra), the protagonist’s assertion of voice
becomes a powerful act of defiance against marital and social domination.
Similarly, “Punishment” depicts female silence as a form of resistance,
exposing the injustice embedded in familial and legal structures. Tagore also
critiques the institution of marriage in narratives like “The Broken Nest” (Nashtanirh), where women’s intellectual and emotional
aspirations remain unfulfilled. Through empathetic characterization and
psychological realism, Tagore foregrounds women as subaltern figures whose
experiences are marginalized yet deeply significant. His short stories
challenge social orthodoxies and articulate an early feminist consciousness,
making them vital texts for understanding gender, subalternity and modernity in
Indian literature.
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Pages:62-65
How to cite this article:
Serina Khatun, Dr. Amit Shankar Saha "Women in Tagore’s selected short stories ". International Journal of English Research, Vol 12, Issue 1, 2026, Pages 62-65
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