Examining Cultural Space and Gender Embodiment in Tagore’s The Home and The World
Abstract
Aims: The paper examines the concepts of ‘masculinity’, ‘femininity’, and ‘embodiment’ within the context of gender studies. It also analyzes how Tagore employs the spatial metaphors of ‘home’ and ‘world’ to investigate gender embodiment and the constraints on individual agency within the nationalist discourse.
Methodology: The methodology includes a close reading of the text in the historical backdrop of the Swadeshi Movement. The concept of “embodiment” is also used to comment on the evolving consciousness of characters due to the shared experience with cultural settings.
Outcome: Through this paper, it can be claimed that identities are constructed and shaped by external factors. Though cultural space determines the roles that individuals pick in each social situation, it is up to one’s personal choice to exercise autonomy and agency or to conform and tread the beaten path.
Conclusion: The characters of Bimla, Sandip and Nikhil are studied through the lens of gender studies to understand how each of them embodies gender roles differently and how their embodiment is shaped by the cultural space each of them occupies. Nikhil resists the ideals of hegemonic masculinity, while Bimala finds autonomy as she withstands the patriarchal grounds.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Khushi, Manjari Johri

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