Women Empowerment as a Major Theme in the Selected Plays of Rabindranath Tagore a Critical Study

Abstract

The title of research work is Women Empowerment as a Major Theme in the Selected Plays of Rabindranath Tagore: A Critical Study which deals with the women empowerment in Tagore s plays Chitra, Gandhari s Prayer, Karna and Kunti, Chandalika, Natir Puja, Malini, Sacrifice, The King and the Queen and The King of the Dark Chamber. All these works are studied in detail and came out with fact findings of various angles of women empowerment such as physical empowerment, spiritual empowerment, psychological empowerment, social empowerment, political empowerment, cultural empowerment etc. through their major female characters. The playwright has projected empowered female characters in his plays making extensive use of myths and legends. newlineFirst chapter, Introduction, deals with the definition of woman empowerment and its aspects such as historical background of women empowerment in India and place of women in Indian society from ancient to present time. It also covers family system and changing scenario of Indian family system. It also records feminism, its meaning and major contributors to Indian feminism. It goes on covering survey of Indian writing in English in general and Indian English drama in particular. Further, the chapter covers the contribution of women dramatists in pre- and post-independence period. It also covers, aims and objectives, research methodology, hypothesis and literature review. The chapter includes profile of Rabindranath Tagore as a creative artist, his themes, characters, symbolism, setting, dialogues and themes of selected plays in precise. newlineSecond chapter is Women Empowerment in Chitra, Gandhari s Prayer and Karna and Kunti. This chapter deals with women empowerment presented in Rabindranath Tagore s plays, Chitra, Gandhari s Prayer and Karna and Kunti. These plays are based on the myths derived from Indian epic the Mahabharata. The chapter has three sections. Section- I, deals with the play, Chitra, Section -II deals with the play, Gandhari s Prayer whereas Section -III, deals with the play