The Diverse Female Characters Of Lakshminath Bezbaruah’s Short Stories : An Overview

Abstract

Lakshminath Bezbaruah is the father of Assamese Short Stories. Along with the contemporary Assamese society, the background of his stories also included the population of Orissa and Bengal. By inventing stories out of those backgrounds, Bezbaruah has painted the joys and sorrows, the laughter and tears, and the ups and downs of the men and women of his time. Among his subjects, Bezbaruah has given special attention to his female characters. Many of his stories highlight the issues of woman rights, woman’s independent identity and woman’s position in a patriarchal social structure. Our discussion here throws light on the female characters reflected in these eight stories, namely ‘Bhadari’, ‘Jayanti’, ‘Patmugi’, ‘Laliti Kakoti’, ‘Jene Sur Tene Taangun’, ‘Malati’, ‘Xeuti’ and ‘Sur’.