Question: “Khol Do” by Saadat Hasan Manto. Image: A refugee train, Punjab, 1947. Photograph in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.   Khol Do   Manto's historically progressive work also details the forms of violence that particularly affected women, including sexual assaults on both sides of the border - considered a threat to the 'dignity of women and their communities, and led to mass suicides to prevent this 'disgrace'. For a long discussion on the spectrum of violence against women in the Hindu, Muslim, and Sikh communities, see here in the short story Khol Do. For a detailed reading, see Analysis of “Khol Do” by Saadat Hasan Manto.   The Horrors of Rape and Trauma in Khol Do by Saadat Hasan Manto Khol Do (Khol Do) is a story that is told in parallel to the depths of human misery that was witnessed during the partitions and after independence. The short story is told in the context of Sirajuddin, whose daughter Sakina goes missing when the train on whi...

  Question: Toba Tek Singh by Saadat Hasan Manto Saadat Hasan Manto (1912–1955). Portrait in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons . Toba Tek Singh Saadat Hasan Manto (11 May 1912 - 18 January 1955) was a short story writer from Pakistan who migrated from Mumbai. He is well known for his short stories, he has written a large number of short stories and is considered one of the best short story writers in Urdu. Among his short stories, Toba Tek Singh is one of his short stories. It was one of Manto's last stories. It was published in 1955 in Maktab Jaded Lahore.   Saadat Hasan Manto's short story " Toba Tek Singh " is the most remarkable story about partition. An analysis of the story is given in Analysis of “Toba Tek Singh” by Saadat Hasan Manto. This story is deeply rooted in the tragic event that India and Pakistan faced before, during, and after independence. The story is a beautiful satire on the partitions and bitter accusations on the political pr...

Waiting of Godot as an Absurd Play   The word "Absurd" means "a literary and philosophical term that expresses the irrational or pointlessness of the human condition from an existential point of view." The word "absurd" is derived from the French word "absurdum" which means "Out of harmony".   The Theater of Absurd depicts a mood, and a tone towards life, where human existence is a dilemma of purposeless, meaningless, and pointless activity. This is a complete denial of the old values. It has no plot, no characterization, no logical setting, and no extreme. This is completely unconventional. Theatre of the Absurd is one of the ways in which the universe has lost its meaning and purpose. Theatre of the Absurd transmits the irrationality of life to the stage. The words and deeds of the characters do not give any meaning. In fact, there is no plot in the play.   Samuel Beckett's "Waiting for Godot" fall into the co...

Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw Pygmalion is a play written by George Bernard Shaw in 1912 and first performed in 1913. It is based on the Greek myth of Pygmalion, a sculptor who falls in love with his own creation, a statue of a woman. Shaw adapts this myth to explore the themes of class, gender, and identity in early 20th-century society. He also uses the play as a vehicle to express his views on language, education, and social reform. Shaw presents Pygmalion as a problem play, a feminist play, and an anti-romantic play. These concerns are rooted in Shaw's broader intellectual and dramatic outlook , which developed through his engagement with social criticism and theatrical reform. Pygmalion as Problem Play A problem play is a type of drama that deals with controversial social issues and challenges the audience to think critically and morally about them. Shaw was known for writing problem plays that addressed topics such as poverty, prostitution, marriage, and religion. In Pygm...

Feminism Feminism is a social and political movement that aims to achieve economic, political, and social equality of the sexes. Feminist literary criticism is an approach that applies feminist principles and philosophy to critique literary language. This approach examines how literature portrays the history of male domination by exploring the social, economic, political, and psychological forces embedded within it. Background Pygmalion is a play written by George Bernard Shaw in 1912 that depicts the transformation of a poor flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, into a refined lady under the guidance of two phonetic experts, Henry Higgins, and Colonel Pickering. The play is set in the Victorian era of England when women were subjected to many stereotypes and restrictions. Women were expected to behave, dress, and speak in certain ways. They were also denied many basic rights, such as the right to vote, to divorce, to inherit property, and to choose a career. Shaw, who was born and raised in t...

A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen fell like a bomb into contemporary life because it challenged the traditional gender roles and social norms of the Victorian era. It portrayed a woman who defied her husband's authority and left him to seek her own identity and freedom. A Doll's House is a realistic drama written by the Norwegian playwright Henrik Johan Ibsen in 1879. His plays attacked the age-worn values of a male-dominated society. He discarded outmoded dramatic techniques such as soliloquies and monologues. The theme of the play A Doll's House is individual freedom and emancipation of self. The protagonist of the play Nora is the wife of Torvald Helmer and they have been married for eight years. They have three children. A Doll's House is a problem play because Ibsen deals with a social problem: the status of a woman in relation to her husband and home. Ibsen shows the pathetic situation of Nora being treated by her husband as a mere child who knows nothing and is ...