Women and the Romance of the Word

The book examines the emergence of a new female subjectivity in 19th century Bengal through the life narratives of four women writers and gives a comprehensive account of each.This book provides the interrelationships between textuality, a historical context of cultural and epistemological shifts as the Bengali intelligentsia of the time advocated greater rights for women, class, which determined choice for the women agents, new educational policies which led to the founding of Bethune School in 1849, and the work of British women educationists like Annette Ackroyd and Mary Carpenter for women's education.The book provides a comprehensive insight into the socio-political and cultural history of Bengal of the late 19th century. The book postulates an interesting analysis of autobiography as a Romantic genre, examining its intersections with gender and its relevance to the cultural and literary landscape. It draws attention to the gendered difference and obvious power misbalance between men's autobiographies, designated 'atmacharit' and women's autobiographies, devalued as "only" reminiscences, and categorized as 'smritikatha', narratives based on memory and therefore lacking critical value.