Revisiting Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s Women Protagonists On His Birth Anniversary

As a young student trying to understand the first chapter of ‘Anandamath’ in her Bengali literature course book, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay’s writings were a source of fear and awe. One of the very first men in India to write novels, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, had an undeniable impact as a literary figure during the Bengal Renaissance. He was also the first writer to modernise Bengali fiction — he made the language more accessible to the contemporary masses, even if it does seem more Sanskritized and difficult as compared to the colloquial Bengali we speak today.

Once I overcame the fear of reading Bankim Chandra’s novels and could satisfactorily understand his heavy writing, I realised that his works were indeed epic. They are fantastical stories weaving together history, adventure, thrill, suspense, action, and perhaps most importantly, romance. 

Most of the major works of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay feature women characters as protagonists and further as the heroines of the story. From the dacoit leader Devi Chaudhurani to the brave bride Kapalkundala — and hence, on the week of his birth anniversary, it is worth revisiting some of the women protagonists written by Bankim Chandra. 

In his historical adventure novel ‘Durgeshnandini’, Bankim Chandra introduces a love triangle between Jagat Singh, Tilottoma, and Ayesha. Although Ayesha falls in love with Jagat Singh, she realises that a Rajput prince could never marry her, and she helps him and Tilottoma escape from her father’s clutches and get married. Interestingly, Ayesha’s selfless and kind nature is contrasted with that of her father, the rebel Pathan leader Katlu Khan. In what could be understood as a stereotypical portrayal of Muslim rulers, Ayesha has to save Tilottoma from being violated by her father as well. 

‘Devi Chaudhurani’ sees the mild-mannered Prafulla who turns into the fierce and revered leader of the dacoits under the guidance of Bhabani Pathak. The novel starts with Prafulla being denied entry to her husband’s home by her father-in-law. After her mother dies, Prafulla is lost and does not know where to turn till she comes across fierce dacoit Bhabani Pathak. Pathak takes her under his tutelage and teaches her how to fight till she becomes a menace to the British soldiers themselves.

Keeping with the strong anti-colonial theme of the novel, Devi Chadhurani and her band of dacoits manage to defeat the British soldiers and even rescue her husband and father-in-law! However, the novel ends in a very contradictory manner as Prafulla gets married to her husband once again under a new identity. Thus, readers see the novel about a fearsome woman dacoit leader end with her blissfully married to her husband (along with his two other wives) and happily doing her domestic chores. 

For a feminist reader in the 21st century, the novel ends in a decidedly non-feminist fashion as we would rather appreciate a Prafulla who keeps terrorising the British soldiers till old age. However, keeping with his own times, Bankim Chandra turns Devi Chaudhurani back into Prafulla and gives her a happy ending in the form of a reunion with her husband. Perhaps, this ending might reinforce the fact that Prafulla never seems to have a remarkable or strong personality that stands out in the novel. Rather, it is her tutor Bhabani Pathak who stands out due to his ascetic-like attitude and strict discipline while training Prafulla to become a dacoit, regardless of her gender or sex.