A short biography of Palan Sarkar

Palan Sarkar was born in Bagatipara village of Natore district on September 9, 1921. His birth name was Harez Uddin Sarkar. But since his birth, his mother used to call him “Palan”. His father Hayat Ullah Sarkar died when he was only five months old. After studying till class four, he stopped studying because of financial problem. Then his maternal grandfather Moyen Uddin Sarkar brought Palan Sarkar along with his mother Moifun Nessa in his own house at Bausha village in Bagha upazila of Rajshahi. There he took admission in a school where there was no scope of studying after class six. After completing studies till class six, Palan Sarkar brought an end to his academic education. But he cultivated the habit of reading books. 

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Palan Sarkar’s grandfather Moyen Uddin Sarkar was a local small landlord. At first, he used to collect tax for his grandfather’s landed property. The zamindari system was abolished after the partition of the country. Then he got the job of a tax collector in Bausha union in 1962. He inherited 40 bighas of land from his grandfather. He joined a Jatra or local theater group during the British period. He used to perform the role of a jester. He also used to copy the manuscript of the plays by hand. On the other hand, he would tell the actors dialogue from behind the stage. In this way, his hobby of reading books grew. For a long time, he performed the role of chairman of the board of directors of Harun-ar-Rashid High School. In 1965, after donating 52 Shotangsho of land during the establishment of the school, Palan Sarkar was elected chairman at the request of local people. He has a rice mill in Bausha bazar.

Palan Sarkar used to give books as gift to those who earned the first ten places on the merit list in their respective classes in Bausha Harun-ar-Rashid High School since 1990. After that, when other students also insisted on him getting books, he decided that he would give them books too, but they would have to return the books. Then village people also started asking him for books. This was the beginning of his movement of reading books. In 1992, having being diagnosed with diabetes, Palan Sarkar had to grow the habit of walking. At that time, a new idea came to his mind.

He broke the tradition of distributing books centered on school and decided to deliver and take back the books by physically visiting them. In marriage ceremonies, he would present books along with other gifts. Besides, he also gave books to those who paid their debts in his rice mill. In 2009, the Rajshahi District Council established a library in his courtyard.

At first, people of some villages at Bagha upazila of Rajshahi came to know about this outstanding education movement of Palan Sarkar. On December 29, 2006, Palan Sarkar was portrayed as an enlightened person in an episode of Ityadi, a popular magazine program on state-owned television channel BTV. Later on February 17, 2007, a cover report was published on him in the Shamoyiki section of Chutir Dine of the first-lined daily newspaper, Prothom Alo. The title of the report was “Distributing books for free”. Since then he got recognition across the country.

In 2011, he received Ekushey Padak, the country’s second highest civilian award, for his contribution to the society. On September 20, 2014, on the occasion of ‘Impact Journalism Day’, a report was published on him on the daily newspapers of various languages around the world. Golam Sarwar Dodul made an Eid drama ‘Obodan’ for BTV based on his life story. Unilever Bangladesh awarded him with the title ‘White-hearted human being’ for creating the interest of reading books among the people by distributing books for free. 

On March 1, 2019, at the age of 98, Palan Sarkar died at his village home. At that time, he was surrounded by his family members. According to his son, Haider Ali, the legendary person had been suffering from old-age related complications. His departure was a great loss for our society. It is really hard to get such a benevolent person in this materialistic world. May his soul rest in peace.

Source:

https://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/পলান_সরকার

https://bdnews24.com/bangladesh/2019/03/01/palan-sarker-the-founder-of-book-reading-movement-in-rajshahi-passes-away

http://www.newagebd.net/article/66153/articlelist/323/index.php

https://www.jugantor.com/national/150212/পলান-সরকারের-আলোর-ফেরিওয়ালা-হয়ে-ওঠার-গল্প

http://www.kalerkantho.com/online/national/2019/03/01/742579

https://en.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/news/191880/%E2%80%98Alor-Ferrywala%E2%80%99-Palan-Sarkar-dies

Khairan Aman Qazi: A nine-year-old college student

Taking the phone from his mother, Khairan wanted to know about the reporter’s well-being, “Hello, Assalamu Walaikum. How are you?”

The reporter became surprised hearing the greetings in correct Bengali in Khairan’s mouth. It is unexpected to hear such a Bengali from a child of his age, who was born in a family migrated to the USA quite a long ago.

The reporter was talking to Julia Kazi, mother of Khairan. While giving surprising information about her son, she handed the phone to him. Then the reporter heard the story of Khairan’s likings. It is almost like question-answer session.

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What is your favorite TV program? Khairan said, “Young Children.” What is your favorite color? He said, “Blue.” In this way, the reporter came to know that his favorite actor is Daniel Radcliffe, actor of Harry Potter series. Like many American kids, Khairan’s favorite sport is basketball. In between questions, he also added, “I also play basketball myself.”

Who is that Khairan? In the American press, Huffington Post, Khairan Aman Kazi wrote a column about himself. Reading his writing, many people were dazed. He is only nine years old. He was supposed to study in school. But at this age, he got himself admitted to a college. After the article got published in Huffington Post, Khairan’s story got published in various other media, including the British newspaper ‘The Daily Mail’ and ‘The Irish Times’ of Ireland.

The reporter was talking to Julia Chowdhury Kazi, mother of Khairan, with reference to that news. She is, by profession, an executive of an organization named Wall Street. They live at Bay area in San Francisco, USA. Khairan’s grandfather’s house is in Manikganj. His father, Mustahid Kazi, is an engineer by profession.

School in two years:

It is the story of 2011. Khairan Kazi was just two years old. Family members were busy with him. He was far ahead of other children in intelligence. He could utter full sentences at that age. Then Khairan’s parents had consulted with a doctor. Following various types of examinations, it was fond out that he not only has more IQ or intelligence, but he has more EQ or Emotional Intelligence. Julia Kazi said, “My son’s intelligence is very sharp. He has his own opinion in every matter.”

Being advised by the doctor, they got the two-year-old Khairan admitted to a school. But the problem appeared after his school admission. Teachers had to give more attention to him. He used to understand things as soon as the teachers wrote on the board. He would complete one semester’s tasks in just two weeks.  

Julia Kazi continues, “Brains of children like him continue working whole day. They move from one subject to another subject. So, he was given therapy sometimes in school. Or taking him to the gymnasium, he was told to run.”

According to the rules, he is now fourth grade student. But parents of this intensely meritorious child have decided to enroll him in college. Khairan Aman Kazi was admitted into Las Positas College in California in September 2018. There he is doing associate in mathematics and chemistry. But he has name in the notebook of the gifted school. Julia Kazi said, “Besides college, he has been kept in school too so that he gets the company of kids of his age. Because his father and I both stay busy, my sister-in-law (brother’s wife) usually takes care of him.”

Not only just school and college studies, Khairan is also involved in many activities including playing piano, learning Mandarin language of China, appearing in Karate school in the weekend.

He is mythological like his name:

The name “Gazanfar Ali” is familiar to old Bengali residents in New York city. He is a pioneer to those who started publishing newspaper in Bengali language in that city. Khairan is the grandchild of Gazanfar Ali. Khairan’s mother, Julia Kazi, came to the USA from Moulvibazar along with her family at the age of two. She was grown up in Astoria-Jamaica. Later she got married to Mustahid Kazi and settled down in San Francisco. Khairan came to the family on January 27, 2009.

What is the meaning of the name ‘Khairan’:

What is the meaning of the name ‘Khairan’? The reporter asked the question to Julia Kazi during the conversation. She smiled. Then she started talking about her own liking. Julia Kazi loved to read mythological books since her childhood; especially she was very fond of Japanese stories. She also took her son’s name from Japanese mythology. The meaning of “Khairan” is opening of one door from another under the sea.

Like his name, Khairan’s desire to know is endless. His wish is to go from one door to another in the world of knowledge. Everyone expects Khairan to go ahead towards that goal.

Source:

https://www.prothomalo.com/pachmisheli/article/1576182/৯-বছরেই-কলেজছাত্র

A pathetic story of a father and his daughter

‘I tell the moon you are not beautiful like my mother. I tell the rose you are not sweet like my mother….’ This song painfully comes out of the voice of a six-year-old affectionate child, Jannatul Islam Mawa.

Jannatul is not like any other child. Her life is strange. She has her mother, but is still deprived of her care. Since she was two years old, her father has been both her mother and father. She shares all her emotions- joys and pains, huffs and egos- with her father. When other kids spend this time in playing and learning alphabets, most of her during the day is spent in the street.

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Her father is a driver of battery-run Easy Bike. For having no one to take care of her in safety, Jannatul Mawa spends the whole day with her father in an Easy Bike. She takes food three times every day at hotel. And she sleeps with her father in one corner of the garage where Easy Bike battery is given charge. She does things including taking bath and answering the call of nature at the garage owner’s house.

Two and half years after the birth of Jannatul Mawa, her mother leaves her. For the sake of riches, leaving her father’s hand, Moriom settled with someone else. Since then, she has grown up roaming with her father in his Easy Bike, which is a barrier for her physical and mental development.

The reporter talked with them at the garage at the Sankarpur Chatal junction in Jashore city in the morning last Friday. While the reporter was talking to her father, Jannatul was singing that song on her own sitting beside her father.

Muradur Rahman, father of Jannatul Mawa, said his family background was not that bad. About nine years ago, he fell in love with Mawa’s mother and married her. For getting married against his family, Muradur Rahman had to leave his ancestral home. At that time, he used to do embroidery work on cloth. Afterwards, for decreasing the demand of embroidery work, Muradur fell into a financial crisis. Then Mawa was two and half years old. He took up a salesperson’s job for products like notebook, pen and brush.

At that time, his wife eloped with another person for the greed of money. Muradur did not have anyone to look after the child when he went out to work. When he took his child with him at work, staff of the brush company used to get annoyed with him. For this reason, he left that job and now he is driving Easy Bike. And he is forced to keep his adorable child with him.

Muradur said, “I do not want to keep my daughter in such an environment. My kid catches cold and cough. But what will I do? I do not have any other option. So, I am forced to keep my beloved child with me all the time.”

Thinking about the future of the child, Muradur does not think about getting married for the second time. The child is growing up day by day. Now, Muradur’s only concern is how to provide the child with a clean environment in which she can grow up well.  

Shamimur Rahman, the owner of the garage, said, “I felt sad seeing the painful life of both the father and daughter. So, I have allowed both of them to stay in my garage.”

But if it goes on like this, the child’s natural development will be hampered, said Abul Kalam Azad Litu, the doctor of Jessore’s 250-seat hospital.

Source-

http://www.kalerkantho.com/online/miscellaneous/2019/02/11/736118?fbclid=IwAR1FJmH796OJTqHbmro69kQ9ZFiZw_O1svGVcC1oitOUXkucdzxfmplXyx4

Comparative study between Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Great Expectations and Lord Jim

It is hard to make comparative study between the novels- Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Great Expectations and Lord Jim. As all these novels deal with love and marriage, it is natural that we will find some similarities between them, though they are written by different writers. We can find very less dissimilarities. We will also make comparison between characters. Here, readers will also find compare and contrast between these novels.

Except Pride and Prejudice, the other three novels- Jane Eyre, Great Expectations and Lord Jim belong to the Victorian Age. For this reason, we can find the treatment of love and marriage in two different periods. Love and marriage have direct connections with society and culture. With the use of these two themes, the writers also tried to portray the condition of the women of contemporary England. In England, during the Victorian Age, women did not have any rights and they could not inherit their fathers’ property. They always had to depend on male members of the family. Their only duty was to take care of the house, give birth to children, cooking and cleaning. That is why, they chose to marry rich person and by doing so they could gain financial security and saved themselves from spinsterhood. In Pride and Prejudice, we can see that Mrs. Bennet’s only tension is to get her daughters married with rich grooms. In Jane Eyre, the heroine Jane loves Rochester and wants to marry him, but she is at the same time well aware of the social division. In Great Expectations, Pip loves Estella and wants to marry her. To be able to marry her, he wants to become gentleman and rich. However, in Lord Jim, Jim loves Jewel and wants to become happy with her. But love and marriage get less importance in this novel.

The interesting thing is, though Jane Austen belonged to the Romantic Age, her ideals were totally different compared to that time. Instead her ideas were more or less similar to that of the Victorian idea. It looked like that she was not that much influenced by events like the French Revolution. The main reason behind this is she mainly lived inside her house and did not go out that much. Therefore, we cannot find that much romantic elements in her novels.

Compared to other three novels, Lord Jim is different because there is very short description about love and marriage. Love and marriage is not the main focus of this novel. Readers can find the love relationship between Jim and Jewel at the last part of this novel. Till now, we can see Jim’s suffering after he abandons the ship ‘Patna’ and his establishment in Patusan. Neither of the characters gets married. It seems that Joseph Conrad has showed this relation just to show tragic end of this novel.

Like Lord Jim, Great Expectations did not have a happy ending. This novel ends without any clue whether Pip and Estella get married or not. Their marriage was the most anticipated one as Pip tirelessly pursued Estella for love. None of the important characters of this novel had a happily married life except Joe and Biddy. In Lord Jim, we can see that Jim died and Jewel stays alone in her whole life.

We can find many similarities both in Jane Eyre and Pride and Prejudice. Both these novels had a happy ending. Jane Eyre suffered a lot in her life but at the end of the novel, she is united with Rochester. They get married and live happily ever after. We can see almost similar ending in Pride and Prejudice. Bennet sisters- Jane Bennet and Elizabeth Bennet- get married with rich grooms. Lydia was an exceptional one. She eloped with Wickham. Later they get married.

Elizabeth was the central female character of Pride and Prejudice. Similarly, Jane Eyre was the central character of the novel Jane Eyre. If we look at them carefully then we can see similarity between them. Both these characters cannot be considered as ideal heroines. There is very less description about their outlook appearance. As a heroine of the novel, they are not that much beautiful and attractive. However, both of them have strong personality. They did not want to sacrifice their independence and honor for silly things.

Both Jane and Elizabeth are romantic heroines. They esteem love and want to marry a person who will love them and respect them. They do not want to lead a married life lack of love. Jane Eyre did not agree to marry Rochester when she came to know that Rochester is married and his wife is still alive. But when Rochester lost everything, including his wife and eye sight, she came back to him and tried her best to take care him. Same thing can be said about Elizabeth. When she meets Darcy at the Marryton ball, she develops a kind of attitude towards him. After realizing that Darcy really loves her, she accepts Darcy’s proposal.

Jane Eyre is different from other novels in a sense that Charlotte Bronte not only depicted the condition of Victorian women but also tried to depict love and marriage from a woman’s point of view. Jane Eyre wants to love and wants to be loved without sacrificing and harming herself. Her fear of losing her independence motivates her refusal of Rochester’s marriage proposal. Jane believes that “marrying” Rochester while he remains legally tied to Bertha would mean rendering herself as a mistress and sacrificing her own integrity for the sake of emotional gratification.

Like Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre is also written by female writer. For this reason, condition of women gets much focus in these two novels. Love and marriage are two things which can beautifully portray women’s condition of the contemporary England. So, it can undoubtedly be said that love and marriage play the most vital role of these novels.

Unlike Jane Eyre, Great Expectations does not show happy marriage. At the end of the novel, Pip learns his lessons and reconciles with his friends and family members. But there is no hint of marriage between Pip and Estella. So, readers cannot come to know whether Pip and Estella get married or not. Love and marriage are shown more like part of the overall experience of growing up. None of the major characters of this novel had a happily married life except Joe and Biddy. However, in Jane Eyre, Jane is united with his lover Rochester and they get married and live happily ever after. In this novel, love and marriage are shown connected to each other. From this point of view, Great Expectations has similarity with Lord Jim. In Lord Jim, we do not see happy marriage. Jim, who is the title character of this novel, dreamt of becoming happy with Jewel, but in the end, it did not happen. Jim sacrifices his life and establishes the truth.

Both in Jane Eyre and Great Expectations, the central female characters Jane Eyre and Elizabeth Bennet mainly struggle to establish themselves as human beings in the society. In order to get love or being married with a rich groom, they did not sacrifice their individuality and self-respect. Elizabeth accepts Darcy’s proposal when she realizes that Darcy is no more an arrogant and proud person. Same thing can be said about Jane Eyre. She returns to Rochester after he loses everything, including his wife and eye sight. 

In the conclusion, it can be said that all these novels perfectly dealt with the themes of love and marriage. Writers showed both good and bad sides of these two themes. By going through these novels, one can come to know how love and marriage affects a person’s life. However, true love has been rewarded and fake love or love for specific purpose has also been discouraged. They have also discouraged people choosing their life partner whom they do not love or respect either. So, in the end, it can be said that to be happy in life we should lead a very simple life and try to be happy with our life partner. So, we can say that Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Great Expectations and Lord Jim are romantic novels. These novels are full of examples of love and marriage. Except Lord Jim, the main focus of other three novels was love and marriage.

Love and marriage in Lord Jim

Joseph Conrad’s Lord Jim is one of the best novels of the twentieth century. This novel is considered to be one of the major literary works of his life. From the beginning to end, the story of this novel revolves around Jim. Jim is a young British seaman serving aboard the ship ‘Patna’. Inspired by popular sea literature, Jim dreams of doing heroic activities, yet he has never faced any real danger. His chance of becoming a hero comes while serving aboard a vessel called ‘Patna’. The ship strikes an underwater object and develops a leak through which water is getting into the ship rapidly. However, Jim abandons the ship and its passengers with other officers. This incident haunts him throughout the novel. However, this incident also plays a very important role for Jim to get a job in Patusan and meets Jewel.

In this novel, Jim is the central figure and Jewel is the heroine. After arriving at Patusan, Jim meets Jewel and falls in love with her. Jewel was much attracted to Jim but Jim notices her love first time when Jewel has become successful to save Jim’s life from a conspiracy. However, Jewel was not the real name. This name was given by Jim as she was very important to Jim.

Jewel is a beautiful and half-native girl. She wanted to lead a happy married life with Jim. She is always worried of the fact that Jim will someday leave her and cannot stay with her lifelong. However, it was her bad luck that she could not enjoy the companionship of Jim. She suffered for his folly. Her sense of desertion often put her to severe stress. She makes him promise never to leave her. When she sees Marlow, she suspects that he has come to Patusan in order to take Jim far away from her. Marlow observes her passion and said,

“Her tenderness hovered over him like a flutter of wings. She lived so completely in his contemplation that she had acquired something of his outward aspect, something that recalled him in her movements, in the way she stretched her arm, turned her head, directed glances.”

Their intimacy develops with the passage of time they start to spend all their leisure-time in each other’s company. Marlow, who comes to visit Jim at Patusan, sees from his own eyes the intimate relation existing between Jim and Jewel. Jim tells Marlow that Jewel is very dear to him and he will never leave her in any circumstances.

In this novel, the idea of love is very meager. Though Jewel appears very late, still she has an impressive role. She is an embodiment of romance and love. Jewel has also an important role in Jim’s life. She encourages Jim to fight for his life. Joseph Conrad shows love between two couples, but in the end of the day, they cannot be united. It is a miserable situation for Jewel. Her dream is broken by Jim. Jim is driven by fantasies. He is concerned about his own identities. Actually, this novel deals with the theme of fidelity, isolation and especially quest for individual identity. That is why, at the end of the novel, we can see that Jim has sacrificed his own life for fidelity. Through the protagonist, the writer tries to show a seaman’s desire and his perspective. In this novel, Jim is presented as a romantic hero. It is his dream that he will perform heroic deeds at the crucial moments. It is his dream to lead a life of a hero. He is ready to face any difficult situation of sea life. However, at the moment of Panta’s collision he failed to do his job. It brought disgrace on him. He thinks his deed has brought shame and humiliation to his life. That is why, in the end of the novel, we can see that he sacrificed his life in Patusan. He did nothing, still he surrendered himself. His death makes him a man of fidelity. Actually, Jewel could not understand Jim’s motives. She believed that Jim could fight against the men of Patusan.

The writer mainly focuses on the idea of individual identity. That is why, the idea of love and marriage does not get priority in this novel. Nevertheless, the writer has portrayed a beautiful love line between hero and heroine. They both were very affectionate. Jewel loves Jim and she is warm and tender towards him. She cares very deeply for him and that is why, once she saved his life. They both are unfortunate that they could not get married. Though she burst out in anger, and showed disrespect towards Jim, it is actually her sorrow to lose her love. 

There is no doubt that Jim loves Jewel, but for him it is important to achieve love of the men of Patusan. So, he does not escape from Patusan rather he faces the situation. Actually, Jim always tries to help the people of Patusan and that is why, they believe that Jim has the supernatural power. For any kind of problem, they just ask for help from Jim. It is his fortune, that he has achieved the trust, respect, and love of the native of Patusan. Jim is always haunted by the sense of guilt, disgrace, and humiliation. At any cost, he does not want to lose the respect. He does not choose the path of happiness. For his idea of fidelity and solidarity, he does not think of Jewel’s love. He does not want to show any ignoble fear in the face of danger. So, Jim has sacrificed his own live.

In Lord Jim, love and marriage is not the main focus. What gets much importance in this novel is finding one’s identity. It looks like that Joseph Conrad did not like the idea of love and marriage. That is why, we cannot find any indication of marriage throughout his novel. He has dealt with the theme of love but much emphasis was not given on it. Jim meets Jewel almost at the last part of the novel. It would not happen if he did not go to Patusan. The love relationship between Jim and Jewel was a complicated one. From Jewel’s conversation, we come to know that her father is a foreigner. One day her father leaves the country and never comes back. That is why, Jewel is always worried of the fact that Jim, like his father, will one day leave her and never come back. So, she makes Jim promise not to leave her. 

Love and marriage in Great Expectations

Great Expectations shows the development of a single character, Philip Pirrip, better known to himself and to the world as Pip. In this novel, we see Pip narrating the story- his world, the people around him and how they changed and grew. Love and Marriage is one of the important themes of this novel. Love and marriage is a recurring theme in Great Expectations. Throughout the novel, we see several characters fall in love and get married but the effect of love and marriage was different for each of them.

First, let us look at love and marriage in Pip’s life. Pip is the central character of this novel. He fell in love with Estella but Estella never respected him. Estella may be beautiful, but she was very cold and cruel. She froze the hearts of everyone around her—including her adopted mother, Miss Havisham. She was “proud and refined” as an adult, and “beautiful and self-possessed” as a child", and for some reason Pip fell desperately in love with her, even though she was very rude towards him. In this novel, we see that in their first meeting, Estella told Pip that he had “coarse hands” and “thick boots”. Despite her rude behavior, Pip loved her with all his heart and pursued tirelessly for her love. Pip said, “I loved her against reason, against promise, against peace, against hope, against happiness, against all discouragement that could be” (Charles Dickens 263).

It was Estella who sowed the seeds of ambition in Pip’s heart. The only reason behind Pip’s desire to become a gentleman was to get Estella’s hand. Pip did not like the place where he lived. He felt embarrassed about Joe and his poverty. It is clear to us that Pip felt inferiority complex for his position in the society. He felt that Estella did not like her only for her poor social position. That is why, throughout the novel, we can see that Pip wants to be a man of means so that he can marry Estella.

This meaningless love did not bring any happiness in Pip’s life but made him more miserable. In his quest to gain higher social status, he ignored and distanced himself from the people who mattered most in his life. In this regard, we can say that Pip’s one-sided, selfish love for Estella became the ultimate cause of his downfall. Pip aided by Abel Magwitch got the opportunity to go to London and fulfill his dream, but he failed to use this opportunity. In order to become a gentleman, he associated with a band of spoilt rich boy and got into debt. In his time of distress, he got no one but Joe who he once ignored after coming to London beside him. However, in the end, we see that Pip understood his selfishness and madness. He finally reconciled with Joe and Biddy. He also gave up his dream of becoming a “Gentleman” and works hard and clears his debts.

Miss Havisham is another major character of Great Expectation. She is a wealthy spinster who takes on Pip as a companion for her adopted daughter. She suffered a serious mental blow at her young age. In this novel, we come to know the reason behind her mental illness. She was the daughter of a wealthy country brewer. Being the only child of her father, she was being dotted upon and it spoiled her. She had no idea about reality. She believed in “Fairy Tale love” where the man and woman live happily ever after but the real world was very different. Despite being warned by her cousin, she falls in love with an evil man named “Compeyson” who was after her fortune. She was jilted on her wedding day. It hurt her very much that she always wore her wedding dress. This shock changed her view towards life and the world. She lost her faith on men. She had no love or positive feeling towards the men of the world. In order to exact her revenge on “men” she adopts Estella and trains her in seducing young men and breaking their hearts. She advises Estella, “Break their hearts, my pride and hope, break their hearts and have no mercy!”. Her madness for revenge not only destroyed her life but also Estella’s and Pip’s. If she did not raise Estella as cold then Pip and Estella could fall in love with each other and get married and lived happily ever after. She eventually understood her mistake and asked Pip for forgiveness and committed suicide. Like Pip, love and marriage caused major heartache for Miss Havisham.

Miss Havisham is portrayed in this novel a mentally ill woman. In her whole life, she wants nothing but taking revenge. She adopts or takes Estella as a tool of her revenge. It is sure that she was successful in making Estella cold but it destroyed Estella’s life as well as Pip’s. In this novel, we can see that Estella could never love anyone. She only broke men’s heart. This upbringing was the major cause of her suffering in her married life. She married a person who never loved her and physically tortured her. She got a rich and handsome husband, but her married life was lack of love.

Estella is the love interest of Pip. She is very beautiful and intelligent but love and marriage also caused pain and suffering in her life. She is the daughter of Abel Magwitch, a coarse convict, and Molly, a gypsy girl. In reality, her social position is further lower than that of Pip’s. Estella was adopted by Miss Havisham. She was her weapon of revenge. She trained her to break men’s heart. This upbringing destroyed Estella’s life. She could never understand her true feelings. In Chapter 11, we see that on his second visit, Estella slapped Pip but at the time of leaving the house, she let him kiss on her cheek. It was a very joyful experience for Pip. This very act shows that deep in her heart Estella liked Pip and might have loved him but her upbringing forced her to suppress her true feelings. She even warns Pip that she would never be able to love him. Estella said to Pip,

"Do you want me then", said Estella, turning suddenly with a fixed and    

  serious, if not angry, look, "to deceive and entrap you?"

  Do you deceive and entrap him, Estella?"

  Yes, and many others—all of them but you" (Charles Dickens 334).

In the end, fitting to her upbringing and Miss Havisham’s training, Estella even treats Havisham with coldness and gets married to an abusive noble man named Bentley Drummle. She also explained why she chose to marry such an arrogant person like Drummle. She was raised to torture men and break their hearts, so she chose to marry a man who would torture her. She said,

“As to leading me into what you call this fatal step, Miss Havisham would have had me wait, and not marry yet; but I am tired of the life I have led, which has very few charms for me, and I am willing enough to change it” (Charles Dickens 254).

Her married life was very unhappy as Drummle often beat her. Eventually, her unhappy married life taught her great lesson and she became a changed person. In the end, we see Estella, like Pip, becomes a changed person. She treats Pip with respect.

Love and marriage did not bring happiness in the lives of Pip, Miss Havisham, and Estella but that was not the case always. Joe Gargery and Biddy is an exception in this case. Both these are minor characters in this novel but through them, Dickens showed that the true virtue of love and marriage is also present in the society along with men like Compeyson and Drummle. Joe is a very simple man. He was a blacksmith and led a simple life. Unlike Pip, Joe had no ambition. He was happy in his small world. Mrs. Gargery, to whom Joe was married to, was a quarrelsome and domineering woman. Despite her rough behavior, Joe never treated her badly. Joe was always good to Pip and took care of him when he was ill.

Biddy was an orphan just like Pip but she was very simple and had more common sense than Pip. She was not so beautiful like Estella but what makes us love her was her simplicity and love. Biddy liked Pip but she also knew that Pip was madly in love with Estella. She warned Pip about the consequences of such love. After Mrs. Gargery’s accident, Biddy moves to Joe’s house to take care of the ailing Mrs. Gargery. She worked very hard and took great care. Eventually, Joe and Biddy got married and led a happy conjugal life. 

Love and marriage in Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre was written by Charlotte Bronte who was one of the top novelists during Victorian Age. The central character of this novel is Jane Eyre and all the events happened around her. We find Jane from childhood and the novel ends with the happy ending when she marries Rochester and lives happily ever after. So, it can be said that this novel is all about Jane Eyre, an orphan girl. Life was not smooth for her and she had to go through a lot of suffering and all these things have been beautifully portrayed in this novel. It seems that there are some fairy tale elements in the novel but the reality is that it was very complex and sophisticated novel and criticized many of the things of the Victorian Age. The thing that has been highly criticized of the age was the Victorian notion of love and marriage.

Primarily of the bildungsroman genre, Jane Eyre follows the emotions and experiences of its title character, including her growth to adulthood, and her love for Mr. Rochester, the Byronic master of fictitious Thornfield Hall. Jane’s moral and spiritual is also shown in this novel. The novel contains elements of social criticism, with a strong sense of morality at its core. Narrator of this novel is Jane Eyre. She narrates the story.

If we look at Jane Eyre then we will notice that many things of an ideal heroine are absent in her. First of all, she was not a pretty girl. On the other hand, she was not obedient to Rochester. Instead she had some kind of independent mentality and sometimes she used to get angry and sometimes she used to act cold. Jane said, “I am no bird; and no net ensnares me: I am a free human being with an independent will” (Charlotte Bronte 268). In short, Jane Eyre was not at all a romantic heroine, but there are some exceptional qualities in her. First of all, she was a very dedicated person and she was a dedicated woman. She was a pure and good girl who was dedicated to her husband. She always stands by Rochester through thick and thin. If we look at her from this point of view then we will notice that she was better than many heroines of many novels.

In Victorian Age, many people used to consider marriage as an act of duty and responsibility and women used to be considered as a significant in a marriage. The first duty of a girl should have been to become dependent on her father then on her husband and be totally obedient to her husband. So, whatever the husband says she must act or comply. She must not have an independent mentality. However, Charlotte Bronte has challenged this idea in love and marriage in this novel.

Jane could not get married at first because Rochester had a wife who was mad. Because the wife did not die, there was no divorce so Rochester could not marry. Rochester was not a bad husband. We cannot find any indication in the novel that he was bad to his first wife. He became mad for a pretty girl but the girl did not have any good quality. The first wife became mad. Jane Eyre was the woman that Rochester perhaps wanted as such for whole life but never found. So, Rochester proposed Jane, but when the time of marriage came, the first wife came to the scene and the wedding got destroyed.

In this novel, a great deal of emphasis has been put on the idea of morality which was very important to most Victorian people. The Victorian age society was changing and there were new ideas related to morality but many people were traditional or conservative and they wanted to hold on to past ideals. If Jane Eyre wanted, she could have run away with Rochester but she gave importance to morality and that is why she herself left Rochester’s house. However, if she wanted, she could live in Rochester’s house as his mistress, but she did not do it. Later, when she came to know that Rochester’s wife had died and also Rochester had become blind, she came back to Rochester and tried her best to take care of him. Jane said, “Reader, I married him. A quiet wedding we had: he and I, the parson and clerk, were alone present” (Charlotte Bronte 474).

In Victorian Age, the idea was that marriage was mainly related to men. The only work of a woman is to get married and be obedient to her husband in her whole life and the husband or man will control everything. They did not have any freedom in the society. Their life was full of instability. Charlotte Bronte challenged this idea seriously. She showed that getting married does not only mean to take responsibility or take charge of a family. But love and equality are related to marriage. Jane Eyre wants to be loved but she does not want to sacrifice her freedom. She wants to be valued. Thus, Jane says to Helen Burns,

“To gain some real affection from you, or Miss Temple, or any other whom I truly love, I would willingly submit to have the bone of my arm broken, or to let a bull toss me, or to stand behind a kicking horse, and let it dash its hoof at my chest” (Charlotte Bronte 91).

Rochester was a rich man but he was not happy with his first wife and life became miserable for him. As he has already a wife, Jane Eyre refused her seriously. Jane Eyre did not get tempted with the idea that he was a rich man. At the same time, St. John Rivers was a clergyman and he wanted to marry Jane and take her to India. But Jane knew that St. John did not love her and she did not love John either. John only felt that Jane was a good girl and she would have been a good wife to do his responsibility as a missionary in India. However, Jane did not agree to this marriage. St. John used to love another girl called Rosamond Oliver. But Rosamond was not a fit person to become a wife of a missionary. So, John did not want to marry him and even he did not admit that he used to love her.

We see a lot of conflicts in Jane Eyre. Jane loves Rochester but on the other hand, she wants to be a free woman. Rochester was not a bad man and he was a very attractive man too. Jane wants to marry her but she does not want to sacrifice her independence and honor. This conflict is very important for women in Victorian Age. It was time that society was becoming modern in England because of industrial revolution. Economic activities were changing and many girls were becoming educated and at the same time, earning money by working in factories. On the other hand, the society wanted girls to play traditional roles. In Victorian Age, most people wanted to feel that a girl would be obedient to her husband and she will not have any kind of independence. On the other hand, it is a duty of a man to find a good girl who would take care of the house hold matters. St. John wanted to do the same thing. St. John and Rochester both wanted to marry Jane. However, Charlotte Bronte favored Rochester over St. John. The real reason is that St. John was not a bad person and in fact compared to Rochester, he had many good qualities. Still Charlotte Bronte favors Rochester because Rochester really loved Jane Eyre and wanted to become happy. On the other hand, St. John did not bother about love or happiness. All he cared was that Jane would do her responsibility and this way they will have a couple life.

Normally, we can find that heroine is always very pretty. But Jane Eyre was not a pretty woman. On the other hand, Rochester’s first wife and Rochester’s girlfriend both were pretty but they were no match for Jane because Jane had inner quality and inner strength. Charlotte Bronte wanted to say this thing that a man cannot be happy with a pretty woman only. Instead a man should search for a wife who has inner quality and inner strength just like Jane Eyre. Rochester’s first wife was beautiful but he was not happy with her because the marriage was entirely based on passion. Jane had another very good quality and it was that she was a very courageous woman. Rochester’s first wife and his girlfriend Blanche Ingram both were pretty but they were not courageous like Jane. They did not know how to support their husband or boyfriend or lover in time of distress. On the other hand, Jane was very good in it and Charlotte Bronte wanted to say that life is a long lesson and inner beauty and strength are more important than outer beauty or physical appearance.

After reading Jane Eyre, a person can easily understand that love can be a very ordinary thing and it is very easy to fall in love but marriage is a complicated thing. Rochester wanted to marry Jane but in the last moment the marriage broke off. Jane suffered a terrible shock and ran away. St. John wanted to marry her and he was a good man too, but he does not love her. Thus, it is a very complicated novel and the ending has some fairy tale elements, but it is a sophisticated novel. Most of the novels in Victorian Age did not contain so complicated love story like Jane Eyre. Charlotte Bronte portrayed a realistic picture of the society and love and she gave importance to emotion rather than physical appearance and beauty. 

Love and marriage in Pride and Prejudice

Love and marriage are two most important themes that have been dealt with in Pride and Prejudice written by Jane Austen. However, love and marriage not only show love and marriage between fictional characters but also shows the condition of women in the society and their sufferings. These themes cannot be ignored. In one way or another, they played a very important role in shaping the characters. The writer has shown both good and bad reasons of love and marriage in her novel. However, I will discuss about love and marriage of this novel one by one.

Pride and Prejudice is one of the best novels written by Jane Austen. Jane Austen has written only a few novels, but all of her novels are taught at the university level. Her novels mainly talk about the relationship between men and women. Though she is a writer of Romantic Age, we can find elements of the Victorian period. The main reason behind this is she lived mainly inside her house and she did not have that much opportunity to travel. She was not exposed to the other world as much as other Romantic Age writers. Naturally, her knowledge of outer world did not develop to the extent she could write on issues other than those she found in her limited social boundaries. So, she did not find enough of opportunities to associate with many people. She just portrays in her works what she has experienced in her society.

It is a novel that focuses mainly on marriage. As I have mentioned earlier, in the 19^th century England, women did not have any rights. Women were not supposed to go out and earn money like men. They had no ownership over their finances and physical property. After growing up, a woman’s only concern was to find a suitable husband. Here, “suitable” means one who has steady income, who can provide her a good house. The richer a man is the better. The novel opens with the line, “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife”.

Mr. and Mrs. Bennet lived in Longbourn, Hertfordshire, England. The Bennets have five daughters- Jane Bennet, Elizabeth Bennet, Mary Bennet, Catherine Bennet and Lydia Bennet. Mr.Bennet is a landed gentry. He owns an estate in Longbourn. Mrs. Bennet’s only concern is to get her daughters married. The reason behind this is, after the death of Mr. Bennet, all his property will go to a male heir. In this case, the property will go to the son of Mr. Bennet’s closest relative, Mr. Collins. Mrs. Bennet is afraid that if her daughters are married to a man of lower social status, he will drive her out of the house. Hence, the only goal of her life, after Jane turned 16, to get her married to a man who is “financially secure.” She became very excited when she came to know that a wealthy man named Mr. Bingley, moved into Netherfield Park. Speaking about Mr. Bingley, she said, “Oh! Single My Dear to be sure! A single man of large fortune, four or five thousand a year! What a fine thing for our girls!”.

In the Merryton ball, Mr. Bingley and Jane meets and they fall in love immediately. Jane is beautiful and gentle. Her beauty and gentleness won Bingley’s heart. Since, Jane was the most beautiful of all her sisters, she got a rich husband. There were some minor hiccups. Bingley’s sisters and his friend Mr. Darcy did not like the Bennets. It was Darcy who pursued his friend not to marry Jane. Eventually, Darcy understood his mistake and convinces Mr. Bingley. Jane and Bingley’s marriage was a successful one.

Eventually, we see two more marriages- Charlotte Lucas and Mr. Collins; Lydia Bennet and Mr. Wickham. These two marriages actually revealed the negative aspect of marriage without love. Charlotte Lucas is a close friend of Elizabeth Bennet. Initially, Mr. Collins proposed Elizabeth but she refused to marry him. Charlotte took the opportunity and accepted his proposal. All this comes as a big shock to the readers because the speed in which after Elizabeth's refusal of marriage to Mr. Collins was made, he practically immediately asked for Charlotte's hand. This tells us that Mr. Collins is very interested in getting a wife and his view on marriage does not involve love but only an agreeable woman whom he can call his own, and a woman who is more likely to agree with him on his views, like Charlotte, rather than a fiery woman, like Elizabeth, who would challenge his every high and mighty statement or remark out of pure hatred for him. Mr. Collins has given an idea of his view on marriage in chapter 19. He said to Elizabeth,

“My reasons for marrying are, first, that i think it a right thing for every clergyman in easy circumstances (like myself) to set the example of matrimony in his parish; secondly, that I am convinced it will add very greatly to my happiness; and thirdly-which perhaps I ought to have mentioned earlier, that it is the particular advice and recommendation of the very noble lady whom I have the honor of calling patroness.”

Charlotte immediately accepts Mr. Collins. Ignoring Elizabeth's advice to reconsider, she marries him. Charlotte knows that Elizabeth is not jealous and understands her point of view in marrying the most ridiculous man in Britain. She told Elizabeth, “I am not romantic you know. I never was. I ask only a comfortable home.”

When Elizabeth visits Charlotte after marriage, she could clearly see the lack of love in their relationship. Charlotte lives in a well-furnished house and gets three meals a day but she is not happy. The writer says, “When Mr. Collins could be forgotten, there really was a great air or comfort throughout. And by Charlotte’s evident enjoyment of it Elizabeth supposed he must be often forgotten.”

The marriage between Lydia Bennet and George Wickham was nothing but deceit. There was no love in their relationship. Wickham is an evil person and likes to take advantage of women. He is a military officer with good looks and charm. Initially, he gets Elizabeth’s attention but when she came to know about his affair with another woman named Miss King, she did not see him anymore. However, her younger sister, Lydia, falls in love with his charm. Being the youngest and most stupid girl of the family, she is the most open and willing to be led into any trap. Persistently flirtatious, she is noticed by Mr. Wickham. Wickham runs away with young Lydia. Lydia is obsessed with men. She likes to live the dream of marriage and could not wait for her future to roll out in front of her very eyes. When Mr. Wickham takes her away she definitely believes they will be married. Neither Wickham nor Lydia cared about how it would affect the family. Eventually, Mr. Darcy cleared Wickham’s debts and paid a huge sum of money to him in exchange of marrying Lydia. Lydia and Wickham’s marriage is a bad example. No one should enter such a marriage.

Finally, we come to the marriage of Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, the most desired one. Elizabeth and Darcy are the central characters of this novel. Elizabeth is an exceptional woman. Unlike traditional women, she is opinionated, strong-minded, rationale, sensible and intelligent. Elizabeth believes that a husband must be worth of his wife. She believes that one should be in love to get married. Like Jane Eyre, she never compromises with her ideals. In the beginning of the novel, Darcy seems a proud and pompous man, but deep inside he was also very honest person. Like Elizabeth, Darcy also believes that his wife has to be worthy of him. He does not want just to marry a rich girl. He wants a woman who has self-respect and would challenge him in every way possible. This is the reason Darcy fell in love with Elizabeth. Unlike other women, Elizabeth did not care about Darcy’s rich and wealth. She never cared about it. The strength of her character won Darcy’s heart. So he tries heart and soul to prove that.

The love relationship between Elizabeth and Darcy gets much attention of this novel. If we carefully observe this couple then we can see that their relationship cannot be regarded as a romantic one. Both of them develop a negative thought against each other in their poor first impression. When Darcy makes his first proposal to Elizabeth, he was too much pride and acted as if he was offering a prize which no sensible woman can refuse. However, Elizabeth rejects his proposal but accepts it for the second time after Darcy sheds his pride and becomes really gentleman. Darcy wins Elizabeth’s love by acting nobly and generously. Between them developed a mutual affection that shapes the foundation of a sound marriage. She said, “It is settled between us already that we are to be the happiest couple in the world.”

The oldest couple of this novel is perhaps Mr. and Mrs. Bennet. Very little thing has been said about this couple. They are said to be the most unmatched couple of this novel. From this couple, readers come to know that things like fermenting anger, loneliness and madness can explode between two people if they are married without love. Though there is not enough description of how Mr. and Mrs. Bennet get together, it can be assumed of their conversations that their relationship was similar to that of Lydia and Wickham. Mrs. Bennet’s partiality towards Lydia and her comments on how she was once as energetic as Lydia reveals this similarity.

Mr. Bennet marries Mrs. Bennet being seduced by her good looks and youth, but later she realizes that she is an unintelligent woman. Their marriage was lack of love. The outcome of this marriage is that Mr. Bennet isolates himself from his family, finding refuge in his library or through mocking his oblivious wife. This becomes his only happiness. We cannot find them spending some good time together. Mr. Bennet is highly educated. On the other hand, Mrs. Bennet was not that much educated. That is why, we can see a big difference in their culture. This unhappy conjugal life had negative impact in the psychological development of their five daughters. Elizabeth is very strict and practical while Jane is soft and gentle. Mary becomes a vain. Lydia is a stupid and flirtatious girl who elopes with Wickham. Though Kitty was elder than Lydia, she followed her younger sister. Jane Austen has showed the importance of finding a right partner when it comes to marriage. Otherwise, married life will be an unhappy one.