Female Power in Amitav Ghosh’s The Shadow Lines and Hasan Azizul Huq’s Agunpakhi: A Comparative Study

Abstract

This study aims to foster Hasan Azizul Huq’s and Amitav Ghosh’s treatment of 20 th -century feminism in the Indian Subcontinent. Both Huq and Ghosh have occupied a remarkable place in the history of Bengali and English literature, respectively due to the portrayal of women characters. This study would like to examine the novelists’ treatment of feminism in the light of comparative literature. It aims to focus on the powerful female characters, like an anonymous central female character, Tha’mma and Ila of the novels, like Huq’s Agunpahki and Ghosh’ The Shadow Lines , where they are very much devoted to grasping the pure and perfect love and adoration of motherland; even they never hesitate to sacrifice their lives for the greater welfare of the nation and the state. Both Huq and Ghosh want to reflect the role played by women in the patriarchal system and order through stamping female experience in the patriarchal system and order. The fictional portrayal of women has truly realized that patriotism is a noble virtue. Ghosh and Huq have presented the real struggle of women with different social status, portraying an ideal society of dreamers, social workers, traditionalists and economists working together. They would like to immortalize themselves through love and self-sacrifice. Though the homeland is divided into the two separate states, women are adamant to stay at home and family, who have no any sort of fear and hesitation to fight against the enemy. So, both Huq and Ghosh have portrayed such adventurous women as the glaring examples of perfect love and beauty. For this purpose, the study attempts to look at the theoretical investigation of female power made by literary critics and scholars, comparatively. Keywords: Agunpahki , The Shadow Lines , Ghosh, Huq, Ila, and Tha’mma, and Anonymous Woman.