The Interplay of Power, Love, and Freedom in Jibanananda Das’s “Tale of City and Village”

Abstract

Aim: This paper examines the intricate interplay of power, love, and freedom in Jibanananda Das’s 1930s short story “Tale of City and Village.” Moving beyond a reductive gendered binary of oppressor and oppressed, the study argues that Das presents power as a diffuse and pervasive force shaping all individuals.

Methodology and Approaches: The study adopts a close textual and theoretical approach informed by feminist criticism, socio-historical reading, and Foucauldian concepts of power and biopolitics. Character analysis is used to examine how personal relationships intersect with institutional and ideological forces, revealing the tensions between liberal agency and structural constraint.

Outcome: The findings reveal that while the character’s exercise limited autonomy in intimate spaces, they remain deeply constrained by broader social systems. Shachi demonstrates a degree of agency within marriage yet remains bound to domestic identity. Prakash, though emotionally supportive, becomes a “docile body” within capitalist office hierarchies.

Conclusion and Suggestions: The study concludes that Das offers a nuanced critique of modern subjectivity in which freedom is fragile, partial, and constantly negotiated. True liberation exists only fleetingly between personal desire and social conformity, ultimately compromised by the socio-political panopticon. Future research may further explore Das’s fiction through biopolitical or affective frameworks to deepen understanding of power, memory, and human vulnerability in modern Bengali literature.