Existentialist Perspective: A Study of Taslima Nasrin's Novel French Lover

Abstract

Taslima Nasrin is a liberal humanist writer who struggles for freedom and continues to stand by people who face injustice in her writings. French Lover is the story of an Indian woman who in a traditional cover-up of patriarchy is submissive, conventional, and oppressive. The novel is a portrait of a woman who efforts to subvert the patriarchal traditions and come out from the shackles of stereotypical beliefs and conventionality. Nila, the protagonist, meanders her way in real life where she breaks and goes away from the mismatched marriage and rejects the experience offered by Benoir. Nila being a strong character retains her individuality against the destructive forces that challenged her existence. She faces an existential crisis when she detaches herself from her family, her husband, and her French lover. She undergoes the subsequent trauma and her successful exit from all the hurdles makes her realize that she has an existence of her own that is distinct from all others and She is free to choose and exist authentically. Danielle, the other character subjugated by her near and dear in her very early age, disowned her relations and denied conventionality where she lives via her way.