Abstract
One of the most beloved Bengali authors, Śaratcandra Caṭṭopādhyāẏ, is especially well known for his kind and empathetic approach towards his heroines. In his works, many types of female characters can be found: from innocent virgins, devoted Hindu wives and widows to adulteresses, courtesans and even revolutionaries.
Completely independent women who can go wherever they want and talk to men as equals are represented by courtesans (especially Candramukhī in Debdās and Rājlakṣmī in Śrīkānta), by Christians, mostly in his later works (Mary Bhāratī Joseph in Pather dābī and Kamal in Śeṣ praśna), and partially by (daughters of) converts to Brāhmoism (such as Acalā in Gr̥hadāha). While the Brāhmo women are often shown to be trapped between wanting to be independent and being expected to follow the ideal of Hindu womanhood nevertheless, courtesans and Christians - even though they may be occasionally compared to chaste Hindu women by other characters - experience a great deal of freedom in Śaratcandra's work.
The way these three types of women are portrayed is crucial: Śaratcandra's implied author typically first uses focalisation through a male character who presents an unflattering opinion of them (a Brāhmo woman will be dry, arrogant and fickle, a Christian an immoral anglicised traitress, and a courtesan a scheming seductress), views which can very well be in accordance with the prevalent views of the expected/implied readership. Later on, the heroine in question is introduced in person and the male character's (focaliser's) former inimical opinions change to respect and love.
Furthermore, the implied author lets these heroines fearlessly discuss issues of great importance with other characters and uses various narratorial resources to support the heroines' positions. In this paper, Śaratcandra's skilful use of focalisation in introducing courtesans, converts and Christians in selected novels will be analysed in order to show how the implied author leads his readers to change their opinions about these three.