Paul Bass
D
.
EID: pdb586
Writing Assignment Final
Draft
Due Date: Mar 5, 2014 by 12am

Housewife vs.
Courtesan
in India
In the early 20th century, life as a woman in
Indian ociety
S (and in the rest of the world at the time) was not glamorous. The common consensus was that a woman’s natural place was to be within the domicile and that women held less power than men, despite all their contributions to the family. “In the average
Indian
family the strictest domestic economy is the rule of life, and the household work is done by the women of the household” (Temple 64). It was a woman’s job to keep the household in order, raise the children, and keep her husband satisfied.
“vulnerable in a male­dominated world”, marriage was considered an impending fate for women as India’s workforce was primarily male dominated omen
, w were dependent on men for financial support (Nijhawan 103). Getting married was also a must for women and was seen as the only ‘respectable’ course of action in a womans life. Widows in
Indian
society were treated poorly and had a low social standing, even though they had followed all respectable social norms
“How much the women dread widowhood is exhibited to the full in the fact that to call a woman a widow is to offer her a dire insult” (Temple 65). The courtesans of the time seemed to live outside of these socio­cultural norms. Analysis of courtesan in India and how they are represented in
Bollywood
can help us understand their place in the
Indian
society . Being a courtesan gave a woman the ability to live a life other than that of a normative housewife.
Courtesan life provided an escape from an unhappy and heavily restricted life in the husbands

family/home. It also provided a means