Faculty, New LJ Commerce College, LJ University, Ahmedabad.

limited by traditional conventions. The topic of widow remarriage is also covered, which was once taboo but is now

slowly gaining support as a social reform movement. My paper will analyse the study of forbidden wishes and

sacrifices of women especially with reference of the character of Binodini- a widow. Although Tagore was a man of

liberty and a writer, he was nonetheless constrained by the rigid, orthodox customs of the past. Over and over again,

he distorted the image of a widow who is constantly compelled to adhere to the oppressive patriarchal society.

Chokher Bali explains to the reader the taboos associated with being a widow for a woman. The period of Indian

society while it was ruled by the British had a significant impact on Tagore's literature. His characters' depictions

of the conflict between their thirst for independence and a wish to see India as an independent country echoed

Tagore's mental condition.

drawing out their inner meaning.” (Rabindranath Tagore)

Women have essential and intricate roles in the novel. In the setting of a strict culture, the novel, which is set in

late 19th-century Bengal, examines the existences, ambitions, and wishes of women. Tagore drastically

transformed his storytelling and observation styles as he tells the tale of a conventional, affluent Bengali family

deeply grounded in the values of the society that served as the backdrop. In a world of orthodoxy and paganism,

where certain ideas served as the foundation of society or, more accurately, as the primary source of authority

for the entire system of both actions and cognition. It was more of a futuristic and progressive part of Tagore's

thought at the time when he presumed characters like Binodini and Mahendra who did not adhere to conventions

and beliefs. Tagore has crafted dynamic characters who interact with us in our daily lives by talking, acting, and

making mistakes before confessing and making amends. The novel Chokher Bali exhibits great sensitivity to and

were widespread. However, Tagore was forward-thinking in his strategy for eradicating long-standing social

customs and beliefs that hindered the advancement of the female half of the population.

In actuality, what makes Chokher Bali so fascinating is how powerful and robust Binodini is portrayed by Tagore

at a period when it may not have even occurred to him to imagine that a woman could be that forthright and self-

assured. The glimpses of the character portrayal of women are as under:

1. Binodini: The story's protagonist and one of the most notable female characters is Binodini. She is a young

and attractive widow who makes good friends with Mahendra, the main character, and Ashalata, his wife.

Binodini symbolises a widow's hardship in an environment where widows were frequently marginalised and

had few options. As Binodini navigates the intricacies of love, desire, and norms of society, her character develops

throughout the book.

of the time.

The work explores topics including love, resentment, betrayal, and the constraints put on women by society. It

analyses the decisions women make, many of which have huge repercussions, and depicts the hardships they

face in a patriarchal culture. Through the experiences of these ladies, Tagore illuminates the difficulties and

limitations that women in that time faced as they considered their goals and ambitions within the confines of

what society expected of them.

A greater accomplishment than anything else is the way Tagore has depicted the kaleidoscope picture of human

interactions that are tightly entwined inside the rooms of a normal family. The narrative of a prosperous

jamindar family from Kolkata is described through Chokher Bali. Rajlakshmi, the widowed wife of a respected

jamindar, looks after the house. Rajlakshmi's obsession with Mahendra, the protagonist of the book who is a man,

to know that he cares so much for her. After declining so many advances, Mahendra decides to go out with a

girl—even if it's for his buddy Behariand not for himself—and ends up falling in love with her.

Ironically, Mahendra decides to tie the knot over his mother's objections. In order to marry the lady of his dreams,

Mahendra, the mother's boy, defies the wishes of his mother, for whom he once denied to be married. It is

incredibly upsetting to witness Mahendra, the mother's child, disobey her wishes and wed the woman of his

choosing instead of his mother, for whom he was not willing to get married. As soon as he develops sentiments

for Ashalata, Mahendra's devotion to his mother disappears, stunning the readers with his rebellious personality

from the outset of the book. Ashalata, an orphan girl who had been raised by her uncle, joins Mahendra's home

as a bride. She is timid and apprehensive. Her mother's lacking supervision, affection, and care, as well as her

lack of power in other people's homes, had made her a hesitant incompetent person who was unsure of

everyone around him except Asha as the newly discovered attraction of a lately engendered love completely

takes grip of his senses. Due to his inability to tolerate his mother always involving Asha in domestic

responsibilities, his need for physical interaction almost drove him crazy. He wanted Asha around, so he came

up with a plan to get her to start reading. But that was only a pretence to keep Asha close by. Asha felt

overwhelmed to see how much her husband loved her and would take any opportunity to be with her. Tagore

penned:

“But after she came into this unfamiliar house, suddenly an intimate relationship, involving total trust was hers

for the asking; when her husband crowned the hitherto neglected orphan with his own hands, she didn’t hesitate

to rise to the occasion and take what was offered.” (19)

Being a newcomer, Asha was unable to comprehend the course of events that would ultimately result in her own

desired thing. Early on in their relationship, Asha and Mahendra were truly happy. Their sophisticated

relationship was inappropriate in the social setting. Particularly in the Indian context, where the groom and bride

must respect elders and refrain from showing their fondness for one another, explicit manifestations of marital

affection are inappropriate since they undermine the structure of family pattern. Rajalashmi chooses to leave the

house for a while after observing Mahendra and his wife breaking the moral standards of the home in order for

Mahendra and Asha to understand the actual value of their mother and to become conscious of household

responsibilities. The most important turn in the narrative occurs when Rajalakshmi returns to Kolkata after

visiting her birthplace because she comes along with a relative widow named Binodini with her. This decision

becomes catastrophic for Rajalakshmi later on in the story.

Asha and Mahendra's relationship, which has social approval, is the novel's very first viewpoint on romantic

society. Since there was no one else to compare them to, their love was satisfied to have one other despite all of

the anomalies and incompetence in the world. Asha, who lacked parents to teach her the realities of the world,

did not recognise that Binodini, whom she initially introduced to her husband with enthusiasm and whom she

had begun to regard as her most dear and trustworthy friend, had given him cause to wonder about other,

superior options. Since Mahendra hadn't previously met or encountered Binodini, it first appeared that he had

no interest in her. When he saw that Asha had begun spending more time with her "Chokher Bali," which is

Bengali for an irritation that lands in the eye or a particle of sand, that has made him really furious.

Ironically, Binodini truly turns into a grain of sand in Asha's perception later on in the book. Mahendra becomes

interested in Binodini as soon as she demonstrates to him her attractiveness, cleverness, lightheartedness, and

aptitude for household tasks. Binodini appears to be a complete woman who can easily satisfy all of his needs,

carried unsatisfied emotional needs.

She was too young when her spouse passed away. She yearned for the satisfaction of her unfulfilled sexual

feelings and aspirations. She adhered to widowhood conventions, although she didn't adopt them in a rigorous

manner. Even if a widowed woman is too young, at the time, widow remarriage was viewed as a major sin.

Binodini was aware of the reality, yet her needs were still unfulfilled. She acknowledges this in the book, leaving

men after playing with their hearts because there is no chance of a happy ending. Binodini begins playing shady

games of intrigue and passion with Mahendra as well. She takes pleasure in luring guys into desiring her. She

secretly wants every man to be attracted to her because of her intelligence and attractiveness. Binodini is not an

idealised representation of morality and accuracy; rather, she enjoys committing sins. She is unwilling to

make self-denial of herself in order to honour ancient religious texts that contain dead inscriptions. Although

stimulate his interest in her even more. It would be quite difficult to make a judgment on Binodini's personality,

but it is evident that she desired to capture every man's undivided focus. She wanted to show them that she was

a flawless lady. Binodini was jealous of Asha since she was loved by Mahendra and Behari, and she secretly

desired to torment Asha because of their shared affection. As soon as they were acquainted and close, Binodini

and Mahendra started having an affair. On Mahendra's end, his fondness for Binodini was motivated by her

ability to be a nice companion in any situation. Mahendra was considerably more drawn to partnerships that

involved physical contact. Every relationship only had meaning to him if it could be fully experienced. It was the

same again when he began romancing Binodini: For him, romance resided in the world of poetry and fiction,

distant from the world's simplicities.

“He wanted to turn this day into something out of the Arabian Nights, full of sumptuousness and beauty,

should have been—she believed that all men should be drawn to her alone—Binodini eventually came to see

that Behari also cared excessively for Asha. Because of her sense of life's incompleteness, Binodini developed a

whimsical, frivolous streak that made men her focus of entertainment. But as soon as she meets Behari, she

unbeatable as Behari appeared to Binodini, she came closer to him out of wonder and a desire to triumph over

the masculine mentality. Binodini did not become aware of his genuine personality till Behari declared his

sincere affection for him.

Binodini gives up all other desires after she has attained her real devotion in the shape of Behari. Even though

Behari first rejected her, later in the book, when Behari wants to marry Binodini, she refuses the marriage on her

own account because she doesn't want to bring shame upon Behari and because she doesn't want the intensity

and which he refused on the grounds that it was unromantic and dull, was honest and the purest after his covert

romance with Binodini and its restraint at the hands of the object of his desire herself. In one of his letters, Tagore

himself made a similar assertion:

“The more one lives alone on the river or in the open country, the clearer it becomes that nothing is more

beautiful or great than to perform the ordinary duties of one’s daily life simply and naturally.” (Tagore, Glimpses

In addition to Binodini, Behari's restless spirit also achieves absolute fulfillment. Asha develops maturity. As a

result, the novel's analysis fastens the confusion's tangles. The book is a masterful refutation of the creeds and

ideas we hold close to. It's not that other novelists hadn't attempted to depict a progressive or rebellious

character before who wanted to defy expectations and limits and pushed forward with bold choices. There are

In how he approaches the psychology of individuals, Tagore has a different perspective. Chokher Bali doesn't

serve as a spokesperson for a righteous preacher who intends to explain to the reader what kind of devastation

human mistakes may cause; rather, Chokher Bali demonstrates that the more recklessness, the greater the

wisdom it may provide.

Malashri Lal. New Delhi: Sage Publications India Pvt. Ltd., 2015. Print. 309- 13.