women's+roles

 **Topic: Women's Role** 

In the novel, Heat and Dust, the role of women in society varies between that of a married woman and of single or widowed women, suggesting that wives in the Indian society are powerless whereas single and widowed women are not. The role of women also varies between Indian and European women, because of their different lifestyle, based on their status and hierarchy.
 * Thesis Statement:**

 >    >      
 * Quotes:**
 * “She was not intelligent, also she had not had much education-his mother had not wanted him to marry a very educated girl; she said there was nothing to expect from such a quarter.” (43)
 * “a grain merchant has died” the wife was “forced by her relatives to burn herself with him on his funeral pyre”
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">“mind or … her will is not strong either, that she is the sort of person who’d give way quickly.” (44)
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">"It is she, not Ritu, who does everything for him like serving his food and laying his clothes out" (47)
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">about 50 but strong and healthy, and full of feminine vigor, unlike Ritu, she doesn’t spend all her time at home but has outings with her friends who are mostly healthy widows like herself.”
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">     <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">“although she is a widow, the best part of her life is now. She does not seem to have a high opinion of married life. She has told me that the first years are always difficult because of being so homesick and thinking only of the father’s house: and it is difficult to get used to the new family and to the rule of the mother-in-law” (46-47)
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">“had a very relaxed manner and made no secret of the fact that sitting on a chair was uncomfortable for her” (25)
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">"is the only person that the Nawab really cares for" (31)
 * <span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'"><span style="FONT-SIZE: 10.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">"the next few moves were up to me" (111)