Scenario- Society and Women during 19th century in West Bengal

Abstract

A patriarchal society is about "Rights of the Man", which means men’s rights and women’s deprivation. Women were tied to a caste called samara. Women spend their entire lives under the control of men to the father in childhood, to the husband in youth, and to the son in old age. Women are really trapped in the net of society's rules. Just as Ghosha, Apala, Gargi, Maitreyi were in the Vedic period, most of the women had a dark life. From the Middle Ages, the condition of women became more deplorable. Social evils like veiled life, illiteracy, ritual burning of sati, polygamy, child marriage was rooted in the society. The social reform movement was started by a group of social reformers in the 19th century. So that women's issues were a priority. The social reformers of the 19th century understood that the only way to change society was through women's education. In the 19th century, several women broke the barriers of society and entered the educational field. Besides, women joined the nationalist movement of the country.