The Pakistani Bride- Voice of an unheard gender

Abstract

Bapsi Sidhwa an ambassador of Pakistan Literature is not only a story teller but an artist who has very enigmatically related the plight and exploitation of women in the patriarchal society. Marginalisation is the powerlessness and exclusion experienced by a group, resulting from an inequality of control of resources and power structures within society. Feminism argues that women are marginalised due to the patriarchical structure of society. Woman is marginalised defined only by her difference from male norms and values in every country and culture. The existence of woman living in Pakistan society in one hand is valorized as the symbol of piety, purity, love and honour. But on the other hand her body is defiled, and tortured in the name of morality, religion and tradition. Pakistani-Anglophone women novelist Bapsi Sidhwa’s The Pakistani Bride depicts the heart rending life story of a sixteen years old young girl Zaitoon from childhood until she escapes her ill matched marriage. The novel depicts the contrast between the outside male world and the inside female world focussing on the theme of female sexuality, their struggles and challenges in the orthodox society. The novel explores some social issues as marriage, sexual commodification and victimization of women in Pakistan’s society. The plot of the novel highlights the biased and gender discriminating attitudes towards female sexuality. Sidhwa wants the readers to watch the misery torture and suffering that Zaitoon undergoes as she has broken the tribal, barbaric and authoritative code of conduct. The essence of this paper is to draw the attention of readers and lovers of literature to the bleak situation that women face in society.