In the light of the above
statement, Ismat Chughtai’s celebrated masterpiece “Lihaf”needs to be analysed
under the interwoven themes of marriage, subjugation of women and the
oppression and neglect of female sexuality and desire. Here, in a style typical
of her, Chughtai raises important questions on marriage as an economic and
social enterprise, the socially constructed sub-ordinate role of women in
marriage, her sexual fantasies and frustrations and her subsequent sense of
loneliness.
The Nawab “installing her (Begum Jan) in the
house along with furniture” highlights
how the institution of marriage commodified women and reduced her to the object
of a mere business transaction. Chughtai critiques the mercenary aspect of
marriage that dehumanizes women to fulfil societal obligations and dreams of
upward mobility. Begum Jan was married off to the Nawab by her family, in spite
of their age difference, so as to rid themselves of the financial burden and
social taboo of having an unmarried woman in the house. Moreover, since Begum
Jan’s family was not well-off, they saw in her marriage to the rich and
influential Nawab a favourable economic option. The status accorded to marriage
as an unbreakable social norm, an unquestionable obligation is also dealt with.
It was and even today is to a large extent one of the most important and
absolutely essential tenets of society. Even the Nawab, irrespective of his
immense power and formidable position, had to marry, although the opposite sex
held no appeal for him owing to his “mysterious
hobby”. In the process, he imprisoned the poor Begum to the repressive
customs that marriage and society forced a woman to comply with. However, while
the Nawab continued his homosexual exploits, the Begum was condemned to a life
of confinement and subjugation. The Nawab had no “time to spare from the boys to
look at her” and he would
not let her “go visit other
people” He never displayed
any interest in his wife’s life, her wishes, desires and problems and in fact,
completely neglected and dismissed her presence in his life. Begum Jan was just
his social stamp of approval, a heterosexual cover to escape ridicule and
suspicion of society for his inborn homosexual orientation. Beyond that, the
Nawab “totally forgot her
presence”
Such an inequality in
marriage was symbolic of the subjugation and oppression of women. Begum Jan’s
self critical contemplation whether biological birth itself was the root cause
of all her pain and sufferings in life, is indeed a profound comment by
Chughtai on the terrible plight of women under patriarchy. It is a scathing
attack on the patriarchal society that subjects the female race to
discrimination and oppression, accords them a lower status and provides lesser
opportunities and almost no choices to them in comparison to their male
counterparts from their very inception into this world; it is a cursed life
from the very beginning.
The given statement also
brings out how female sexuality is never paid heed, her needs and desires are
not acknowledged even in marriage. Women are conditioned against expression of
their sexuality. The Nawab was totally oblivious of or rather chose to ignore
the existing sexuality of his new bride. He fails to realise that she had
entered this marriage with certain hopes and desires, which included sexual
fantasies. As he romanced his young boys “in
translucent kurtas” and “fitting churidars”, he never
bothered to acknowledge the sexual expectations of his own wife, who lay
confined and neglected. Agreed Nawab’s homosexual tendencies prevented any
sexual interest on his part for his wife, but even a concern for her starved
sexual life was completely missing. The very fact that he wilfully imprisoned a
young girl to meet the societal obligation of marriage, never bothering about
how he would never be able to fulfil her sexual needs speaks in length about
the repression and lack of agency given to female sexuality.
How such inequality and
oppression can lead a woman into a sense of complete loneliness, detachment and
depression is another important aspect that the quoted line throws light on.
While the Nawab fulfilled his homosexual desires, Begum Jan, peeping from the
chinks in the drawing room, “felt
she was rolling on a bed of live coals”. Such was her pain and desperation
at the Nawab’s complete oblivion to her presence. As all her prayers and vows
to the Almighty, and her efforts to charm the Nawab proved completely
fruitless, she was heartbroken and her self-esteem was destroyed. She stopped
dressing up or deriving joy from any royal privileges. “What’s the use of applying
leeches to a stone?” she
would ask herself. She turned to literature for solace, but even this proved to
be in vain. Romantic novels and sentimental poetry made her all the more aware
of her own starved desires and fantasies and left her feeling even more lonely,
neglected and dejected. Gripped by a sense of failure and disillusion at
failing to attract the Nawab, Begum Jan sinks to a pitiable condition, losing
sleep and peace of mind; and becoming “a
bundle of regret and despondence.”
In conclusion, it can be
said that the redeeming feature of this story, however, lies in the fact that
Chughtai does not leave Begum Jan in this state of complete desolation and
immense depression, but allows her the agency to make a bold ‘choice’ of
homosexuality in indulging with the maidservant Rabbu “who pulled her back from the
brink”. Irrespective of whether the story in the end, endorses homosexual behaviour
or not, the very fact that Begum Jha is allowed some sort of sexual autonomy in
the midst of a scenario of confinement, subjugation, repression and social
ridicule leaves behind an emphatic message.
Best Regards
K.K SINGH
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