Rabindranath Tagore Romanticism

‘The Guide’
Realism is one of the most prominent literature movements which succeeded Romanticism during the second half of nineteenth century, originating from France throughout Europe and subsequently to the United States of America. By definition, realism is an aesthetic movement which aims to describe life particularly focusing on the middle class life as how it is in an accurate manner without prejudice, idealistic elements, and romanticism. Realism is considered as a reaction against Romanticism. Readers are able to communicate and identify with the characters and the world in which they live in easily with the employment of realism in literature. In realism, the characters are more valued than the plot and the events occurring in realist

His poems, novels and short stories are widely read throughout Bangladesh and India. Some of his famous short stories are Kabuliwala and The Ruined Nest. On the other hand, R.K Narayan is most known as one of the first leading Indian writers in English. He is an eminent figure in Indian literature due to his simple, unpretentious styles of writing. His works have given people outside Indian nations to peek into the cultures which revolve a fictitious South Indian town, Malgudi. His works include novels like ‘The Guide’, ‘The English Teacher’, and ‘A Tiger for Malgudi’. Both writers regardless of somewhat different backgrounds share a common trait in which both writers employed the use of realism in their works. Based ‘The Ruined Nest and Other Stories’ and ‘The Guide’, both Tagore and Narayan portrayed the bits and pieces of the Bengali and Indian lives in their true forms eliminating the idealistic

The first feature that will be focused on is the status of a woman in Indian society. Indian women are still seen as objects by society. In some parts of the society, a woman only has 4 jobs, a mother, a wife, a homemaker and a daughter. In Tagore’s Assets and Debts, women are portrayed as nothing more than a trophy to be won which will be left, undusted on the shelves if they are unable to bring anything to the table. One of the roots of evils in Indian culture is the dowry system. Dowry indicates the money provided by the bride to her husband at the time of the marriage. While the groom’s side will be overjoyed upon receiving a certain amount of money agreed on, dowry system is considered a curse to the bride’s family who has to endure the vast cost in order to satisfy the demands of the groom’s family. Failure to fulfil the criteria required could lead the bride’s family to lose face as well as the groom’s family to be given the opportunity to treat the bride horribly. In this short story, Tagore exposed the brutality of dowry system. The main character Nirupama was set to marry a suitor, however her father Ram Sunder has failed to pay in full the amount agreed by both sides. A row broke out between both families with the groom’s side demanding the full amount to be paid in full or the ceremony will not take place. After