I bring you a ‘Read of the Day,’ so that we can indulge in the joy of reading. You can visit my site to check a short story for analysis and participate in the discussion in the comments.
Read of the Day
Today, we will read Sultana’s Dream by Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, a futuristic short story. You can read the short story online here: Sultana’s Dream full text
Who wrote Sultana’s Dream?
Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain or Begum Rokeya was a Bengali feminist author, educator, and political activist from British India or present-day Bangladesh. She is the pioneer of women’s liberation in South Asia. Her most significant work includes Matichur (A String of Sweet Pearls), Sultana’s Dream, Padmarag (Essence of the Lotus), and Abarodhbasini (The Confined Women).
Begum Rokeya was restricted to live in a strict purdah as a child bride. But she chose to break all barriers, founding schools for Muslim girls, and writing vociferously for women’s rights and against forced seclusion under the purdah system.
Sultana’s Dream Analysis
“Sultana’s Dream” by Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain is a pioneering 1905 short story, often also called as a feminist utopian novella—with elements of science-fiction.
It is radical and pioneering considering it was written even before Western feminist utopian literature such as Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s Herland (1915). “Sultana’s Dream” is reflective of early 20th-century Bengali reform movements amid colonial rule, where women’s status was tied to tradition and emerging nationalism.
The story is about the narrator, Sultana’s dream as she lazily contemplates—the condition of women confined to the patriarchal norms in colonial India—in her secluded zenana in Calcutta.
Sultana meets Sister Sara who shows her around “Ladyland,” utopian society where gender roles are reversed completely. Women rule and govern the land, run educational institutions and drive scientific and technological development.
Men are deemed as weak, timid, and unsuitable for public life and hence confined to the mardana (the equivalent of the zenana on earth). In the mardana, men practice the purdah and take care of the domestic responsibilities.
Her Royal Highness sent them a circular letter intimating to them that if their services should ever be needed they would be sent for, and that in the meanwhile they should remain where they were. Now that they are accustomed to the purdah system and have ceased to grumble at their seclusion, we call the system “Mardana” instead of “zenana”.
Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, Sultana’s Dream
“Ladyland” is a far more efficient, peaceful, and technically advanced world than earth, which is ruled by men.
A world ruled by women means lesser crime, more peace, harmony and collaborative intelligence. In Hossain’s utopian “Ladyland”, we see women in charge as scientists and world leaders working empathetically for the wellbeing of all—unlike the man’s world on earth—where it’s brutally competitive, chaotic, and destructive.
We sat side by side. She brought out of the parlour a piece of embroidery work and began putting on a fresh design.
Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, Sultana’s Dream
‘Do you know knitting and needle work?’
‘Yes; we have nothing else to do in our zenana.’
‘But we do not trust our zenana members with embroidery!’ she said laughing, ‘as a man has not patience enough to pass thread through a needlehole even!’
‘Have you done all this work yourself?’ I asked her pointing to the various pieces of embroidered teapoy cloths.
‘Yes.’
‘How can you find time to do all these? You have to do the office work as well? Have you not?’
‘Yes. I do not stick to the laboratory all day long. I finish my work in two hours.’
‘In two hours! How do you manage? In our land the officers, – magistrates, for instance – work seven hours daily.’
‘I have seen some of them doing their work. Do you think they work all the seven hours?’
Certainly they do!’
‘No, dear Sultana, they do not. They dawdle away their time in smoking. Some smoke two or three choroots during the office time. They talk much about their work, but do little. Suppose one choroot takes half an hour to burn off, and a man smokes twelve choroots daily; then you see, he wastes six hours every day in sheer smoking.’
Sister Sara emphasises that most of the world’s problems are man-made and argues that if women take charge, these problems will largely cease to exist. She challenges Sultana by asking why women allow themselves to be shut up.
Why do you allow yourselves to be shut up?’
Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, Sultana’s Dream
‘Because it cannot be helped as they are stronger than women.’
‘A lion is stronger than a man, but it does not enable him to dominate the human race. You have neglected the duty you owe to yourselves and you have lost your natural rights by shutting your eyes to your own interests.’
‘But my dear Sister Sara, if we do everything by ourselves, what will the men do then?’
‘They should not do anything, excuse me; they are fit for nothing. Only catch them and put them into the zenana.’
As Sultana tours the gardens, universities, and laboratories in “Ladyland”, she cannot help marvelling at the efficiency, cleanliness, and peace.
In “Ladyland”, the society thrives without pollution, war or crime. Sultana is witness to the advanced technologies including solar-powered devices, flying cars (air-cars), weather control via cloud condensers, and automated agriculture that eliminates manual labor.
In Ladyland, the women continue to progress steadfastly while the men look on with skepticism and jeer overconfidently at them.
While the women were engaged in scientific research, the men of this country were busy increasing their military power. When they came to know that the female universities were able to draw water from the atmosphere and collect heat from the sun, they only laughed at the members of the universities and called the whole thing “a sentimental nightmare”!
Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, Sultana’s Dream
During a foreign invasion, the men in “Ladyland” failed as warriors and retreated. The women then took charge, defeated the invaders using brains over brawn, and imposed seclusion on the willing men as a pragmatic solution.
“Sultana’s Dream” is a thorough entertainer that takes unapologetic witty potshots at men and the traditional patriarchal system. It balances satire with activism—highlighting the dire need and importance of gender equality, women’s education, and agency.
How my friends at home will be amused and amazed, when I go back and tell them that in the far-off Ladyland, ladies rule over the country and control all social matters, while gentlemen are kept in the Mardanas to mind babies, to cook and to do all sorts of domestic work; and that cooking is so easy a thing that it is simply a pleasure to cook!
Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, Sultana’s Dream
Sultana meets the Queen of “Ladyland” and is further enamoured by not just her brains but also her big golden heart. Despite holding great power, the Queen goes about her responsibility with dignified conduct, strong ethics, and unmatched empathy.
‘Our religion is based on Love and Truth. It is our religious duty to love one another and to be absolutely truthful. If any person lies, she or he is….’
Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain, Sultana’s Dream
‘Punished with death?’
‘No, not with death. We do not take pleasure in killing a creature of God, especially a human being. The liar is asked to leave this land for good and never to come to it again.’
‘Is an offender never forgiven?’
‘Yes, if that person repents sincerely.’
“Sultana’s Dream” is a sharp satirical critique of:
- the seclusion of women irrespective of religion,
- women’s gross neglect, passivity, and lack of proactivity regarding their own rights and potential,
- the restrictions imposed on women’s education and employment,
- indigenous patriarchy, and
- colonialism.
Sharply humorous and ironic, “Sultana’s Dream” is an emboldened, ambitious, and humanitarian story that puts women at the forefront of world peace and progress. The women’s leadership in “Sultana’s Dream” embodies an ecofeminist vision—rejecting the greedy, vulgar, and destructive nature of masculine leadership—while embracing a harmonious blend of nature and technology.
Sultana’s dream ends in the story, but the vision and ideas it plants are intended to awaken bold action.
What did you think of Sultana’s Dream by Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain?
[…] Sultana’s Dream by Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain is a futuristic sci-fi feminist story far ahead of its time, a progressive story that deals with the subjects of feminism, education, and environmentalism. […]