Feminist Thought of Rokeya: Re-Explication of her English Works

Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain was a pathfinder of the emancipation of Muslim women in Bengal. She was born in east-Bengal (present Bangladesh), but she lived in west Bengal or some time in another states of India for the sake of her husband’s job. For educating Bengali women Sakhawat Memorial Girl’s School has been set up by her. This institution has brought a drastic positive change in the history of female education in Bengal. On the other hand, Rokeya wrote on a number of social problems against the terrified condition of Muslim women. She imagined a ‘Ladyland’ through literary work Sultana’s Dream, where women are free from all sorts of social prejudice and male domination. She showed here if women get chance to prove their intellectual faculties, they can do everything even scientific exploration. She brought up her feminist thought in Sultana’s Dream. Basically, Rokeya criticized tartly to the patriarchal society of Bengal. As a result, she faced a lot of social obstacles, but she never stopped. This noble woman got the title as a ‘Mother of Feminism’ of Bengal. It should be noted, this article deals with Sultana’s Dream, God Gives, Man Robs and Education Ideals for the Modern Indian Girl’s. Sultana’s Dream is the most focused area here. Therefore, this paper has been composed on the basis of two particular research questions, 1. How does Rokeya utilize the concept of a utopian society to critique androcentric society and advocate for women’s advancement? 2. How does Rokeya’s vision for a gender-equal society where always men deprived the women in various ways? These questions explore several facts like feminist ideals, gender roles, patriarchy, women emancipation and empowerment, and overall conditions of Bengali society.