Women’s Suffering in Manjushree Thapa’s Novel The Tutor of History

Abstract

This MA thesis is the probation into the plight of village women in Nepal, as depicted in Manjushree Thapa's novel The Tutor of History. In this novel, women are found suffering economically, politically and socially in tradition-bound patriarchal society that still holds firm the notions of inferiority of women and superiority of men. Deprivation of education and personal property, lack of self-determination, submission only to household chores and political exclusion make these women vulnerable to the abuses inflicted by men and help patriarchal social system come as an obstacle on the path of women's progress, dignity and freedom. The continuous discrimination, repression and atrocities meted to innocent village women, however, lead these women to decide to form a "mother's group" in order to help each other to relieve themselves from suffering and to defend against exploitation of women. Through this novel, Manjushree Thapa wants to suggest that women must unite themselves and form such a "mother's group", like those formed throughout Nepal after the down of democracy in 1990 as a result of women's growing conscience, to develop themselves and, thus, finally to probably liberate all suffering women from every type of discrimination. In this way, Thapa emphasizes on the development of women and their freedom from being exploited by men in order to bring peace and prosperity in the country.