Charulata: The Search for Women in Literature and Cinema

• Arun Kumar Yadav

  Author

“Charulata: The Search for Womanhood in Literature and Cinema” Literature and cinema are both mirrors of society; they continually reflect human thoughts, emotions, and struggles. When we look at the portrayal of women in these mediums, it becomes clear that their voices are often suppressed or confined within narrow boundaries. In this context, Rabindranath Tagore’s story Nashtanirh (The Broken Nest) and Satyajit Ray’s film Charulata offer a different perspective. Here, the protagonist Charulata is not merely a wife or caretaker of the household, but a sensitive, intelligent woman engaged in the search for her own identity and self-expression.

In Tagore’s story, Charulata’s desires and inner thoughts are not explicitly stated but are revealed subtly through emotions and gestures. In contrast, Satyajit Ray, through his cinematic adaptation, brings these emotions to the forefront — through the camera’s gaze, Charulata’s silence, and the portrayal of her solitude.

This research seeks to understand how literature (the story) and cinema (the film) each portray a woman’s inner desires, loneliness, and self-conflict — her quest for identity. Tagore expresses Charulata’s silence through words and narrative pauses, while Ray gives that silence a voice through the visual language of cinema — through camera movements, glances, and moments of quiet introspection.

The study explores how Charulata’s “search” is represented in these two distinct artistic mediums and how this search remains relevant even today — resonating with every woman who questions her identity and existence.

1. Arun Kumar Yadav

   Research Scholar, lalit kala sansthan, Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Agra
   Dr. Arvind Kumar Rajput
   Supervisor, Research Scholar, lalit kala sansthan, Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Agra

• चरुलता: साहित्य और सिनेमा में नारी की तलाश (Hindi)

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