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THE ECOFEMINIST VISION IN “SULTANA’S DREAM”

ABSTRACT

The aim of this paper is to connect the relationship between ecofeminism and feminist

fantasy. The most auspicious characteristics of “Sultana’s” Dream is that it provides simple

and precise solution to phallocentric oppression. The scientific progresses and the reversal of

gender in the story presents Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain’s vision of freedom and

independence. The story incubates an environment where womanhood is fully noticed. The

story is set in the ‘Ladyland’ which is the representation and embodiment of scientific

elements. The gendered exploration of the story has provided us a closure view of witnessing

the energy of nature. The author has left us with the interpretation of the role of power in the

very first place by creating a gendered structure which is “relocated”, “recreated”, “reshaped”

and “reversed”.

KEYWORDS: Ecofeminism, Scientific, Gender, Nature.

INTRODUCTION

“Sultana’s Dream” is an utopian story which was written in the year 1905 and it is

one of the first examples of feminist science fiction. It presents the story of a semi-secluded

Ladyland without any rules and oppressions of men. In the story Begum Rokeya boldly

addresses the idea of women in control of in Geo-political and outside affairs. In the colonial

era Begum Rokeya was one of the pioneers who advocated freedom movements for women.

She was born in the year 1880, and was married at the age of sixteen with the Deputy

Magistrate of Bhagalpur who was much older than of her age. She grew up in a rich, elite

family, where strict purdah system was practiced. Despite of never receiving any
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institutional education , with the help of her brothers, who had British style education she

developed her own desire of education and started developing passion for the manifestation

of women’s freedom in India. Her self-indulged ideal of womanhood gave birth to “Sultana’s

Dream” which is an utopian version of freedom. In the story Rokeya has straightforwardly

criticized Indian men and how these Indian men conduct their own principles. In the Indian

Ladies Magazine, Rokeya had published “Sultana’s Dream” as a short English language

story. The story deals with the motive to under-rule male narrative in a broader perspective

and also studies the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their

physical environment. The story juxtaposes science and nature as a means of liberty with the

idea of travelling the time in a flash-forward way, which makes the story a game changing

one. In this story nature is represented as the symbol of virtue, which is one of the major

element of the story. In the story, Sultana the protagonist and the narrator of the story is

represented as an elite character of a rich woman of Indian Muslim background, well versed

in the purdah or veil system, experiences the extraordinary journey to the Ladyland which

also reminds the readers about how Alice got into the wonderland through the rabbit hole.

The author has “recreated”, “reversed”, “reshaped” and “relocated” the gendered structure

which has left the readers with an overwhelming question---- is power a natural ideal or just a

constructed “real”? In the story Sultana also experiences the “land of garden” which is

interestingly a technological and political paradise created by women for women. The ‘upside

down land’ which is the Ladyland, is a critical and cruel criticism to “zenena” which Rokeya

considers as the unnatural position for women to be independent and creative. The confined

Ladyland has a minimum value to the reader in a broader aspect. The story celebrates the

aspects of ecocritical and ecofeminist reading. The aim and objective of this research paper

is to portray the connection between, ecocritical study of nature and the ‘Eco-feminist’

aspirations of liberty.
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AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

“Sultana’s Dream” is a 1905 Bengali feminist utopian story in English, written by

Begum Rokeya, also known as Rokeya Sahkawat Hossain, a Muslim feminist, writer and

social reformer from Bengal. In this story, gendered reversal and scientific development have

provided us with the aura of liberty envisioned by Begum Rokeya Sakhawat Hossain. This

research paper aims at connecting the relationship between feminist fantasy and Eco-

feminism and to portray the connection between, ecocritical study of nature and the

ecofeminist aspirations of liberty and independence.

METHODOLOGY

This research paper is analytical and descriptive. This paper is based upon primary

and secondary sources. Primary sources comprised of the story “Sultana’s Dream” itself and

secondary sources are comprised of edited books, E Books and articles.

ANALYSIS

The story “Sultana’s Dream” is a science fiction social satire that features a feminist

utopia called Ladyland. The story portrays a world in which women rule the world and men

are the subordinate beings. Women control all aspects and are aided by new technology such

as flying cars and solar energy in order to help maintain their rule. The story revolves around

Sultana, the protagonist who is also the narrator of the story. In the beginning of the story we

can find that she is sitting in her chair without doing anything and is thinking about the

position and condition of women in traditional Indian society. The story’s setting is quite laid

back. We can find a subtle tone of resemblance in the mode of storytelling. When Sultana the
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protagonist got into a deep meditative sleep, then the speed of the narration gains speed. Then

she sees Sara who is her sister. A confusion is created by the author with her Sister Sara’s

identity due to Sultana’s highly delirious state of mind. The setting of the story is at first a

starry night and then it shifts to a well lit morning. The story’s location gets a new makeover

because as soon as the reader gets to realize what the place would be then sister Sara

pronounces it as Ladyland. The author’s idea of transforming of events gets a new

metaphorical meaning from darkness to light. From the mental space to the realm of

supposed “utopian” location the emancipation of womanhood gets a new place. Rokeya

makes us read in this cynical world of distrust an overwhelming innocence as Sultana trusts

the unknown women as sister Sara as her trusted companions. The ‘in-associative’ act of men

who seems to distrust the relational value in a men and women relationship has been

challenged by her. Sultana feels amazed as she see the whole country to be a garden. It is a

sublimity that Rokeya tries to create out of Sultana’s habit. The strolling of her with sister

Sara is a very significant incident of the story. Sultana finds out that , they are present in

Ladyland, the land of women, for women and ruled by women. As the narrator goes into the

Ladyland, its women inhabitants throw joke at her calling her ‘mannish’. The word ‘mannish’

is applied here in a paradoxical sense because ‘mannish’ does not mean bold and powerful as

the traditional connotation of the term suggests, but it means ‘shy and timid’. In this story

men are strategically motivated by women an they are put within the ‘Mardana’, where they

do all sorts of domestic works. Men were exhausted fighting the enemy and they willingly

went into ‘Mardana’, the male-enclosure. They were never brought out of that enclosure

because the Queen said their service was no longer needed.

The eco-feminist consciousness within the story is introduced by the narrative

emphasis on greenery, on gardening and the predominance of verdant landscape throughout

the story. Ecofeminism tries to setup a connection between nature and woman as both are
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sources of reproduction, nurture and growth. An ecological awareness is nurtured by women

in the Ladyland, which is very predominant. Fruits are the major fruit of the inhabitants in

that land. Sister Sara within the narrative shows the narrator unfamiliar nature friendly

inventions by women of their universities. Residing with the resources of nature is an

important aspect of eco-centric vision of life and the inhabitants of the Ladyland, with their

manifold eco friendly scientific discoveries like solar-oven, cloud condenser, water-balloon

and pollution-free aero-planes offer the pioneering effort about using sustainable energy.

Since all these concepts are actually conceived within the mind of Rokeya, we can aptly

describe her as the pioneer figure of not only women’s liberation in Bengal, but also the

advocate of sustainable development.

Hossain explores the close relationship between ecology and feminism by trying the

slavery of women and nature and demonstrating that if women attain emancipation, nature

would thrive as well. The primary ecofeminist goal is to define the interconnectedness of

oppression by simultaneously providing a voice to women and nature. “Sultana’s Dream” is a

celebration of ecofeminism because of Hossain’s creation of the female dominated Ladyland,

which subverts the reality of male dominance in colonial India. Ecofeminism attempts to

highlight the dual marginalization of women and nature as social “others”, because of their

definition in relation to men. It also highlights that feminist “emancipation” rests on

ecological “emancipation”, since both rest on the same or interrelated logics of oppression.

Hossain in “Sultana’s Dream” posits a radically different logic of organizing power and

interpersonal relations as a way to challenge the contemporary ways of thinking that

constituted systems of oppression. She presents a defiant, new vision of society that is

inherently different and starts from fundamentally different foundational values: empathy,

self-reflection, and compassion constitute the cornerstones of social relations in Ladyland.

The women of Ladyland in the story creates a new punishment system without the death
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penalty, wherein people who are otherwise sentenced to death are instead asked to sincerely

repent, after which they will be forgiven. If they do not, they would be obliged to leave the

country. Hossain’s contention and radical claim making go even further, and she asserts that

the only religion in Ladyland is one that is based on love and truth. As Sister Sara tells the

narrator that it is their religious duty to love one another and to be absolutely beautiful.

The ecocritical part of the story is quite intriguing because from Sultana’s description

we get to know that the whole country is a garden, an escape from the battered cities and

ranting countryside that Hossain feels in the colonial India. The slow and powerful initiation

of industrialization that is introduced by the British Raj, as being a colonial country, she had

to pay a large sum for England’s industrialization scheme. India was forced to supply raw

materials for triggering industrial revolution with greater rapidity in England. India was then

forcibly transformed from being a country of combined agriculture and manufactures into an

agricultural colony of British manufacturing capitalism.

This pluralistic proto ecofeminism plays a key role in the story’s politics and

aesthetics. We first find hints and signs of spiritual ecofeminism in Sultana’s repetitions of

terms such as “beauty” or “harmony”, which reinforce the dream-like, or perhaps heaven-

like, quality of the text and contribute to its utopic dimension that breaks free from the

repression of ‘purdah’. The religious or spiritual dimensions in the story are indeed grounded

in the characters’ relationship to their environment. Even though there is no detailed

description of the Ladylanders’ spiritual practices, Sister Sara suggests that their faith and

religious habits stem from their idealised ecofeminist organization . This is in line with

Hossain’s other essays, such as “God gives, man robs” (1927), in which she defends religious

practices that are equalitarian, adapted to and respectful of one’s context.

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In the story, from Sister Sara we get to know that whole country is worried with the

concept of ecological balance as the main food that they consume is fruit from the gardens

which grows concern about the author’s overwhelming support for the relationship between

ecological balance and the animals. The country uses methods of sustainability as it uses

water extracted from the clouds to water the plants, uses flying vehicles for the mode of

transportation as it keeps the outside as well as the inside clean. Sultana gets to see the queen

later. She travels through the state of the art transportation system, called “the air-car”. Upon

meeting the queen, as the queen sounds delighted and welcomes Sultana to her royal place.

The queen talks about her ideas of trade with other countries; she also points out her

overwhelming disgust about trading with countries where women are kept in captivity, inside

the zenanas. The queen also describes men as “lower moral” entities. There is an explicit tone

of anti-colonial sentiment that can be found in queen’s short speech. “Sultana’s Dream” can

be considered as a manifestation of the myth of nature which as the author believes will free

gender biased locale and space.

The vision ecofeminism is a pluralism—the decentralization of power that has been

blocked by men to establish patriarchal dominance . The liberation of nature is one of the

basic tenants of ecofeminist movement. This particular field of theory evolved from various

fields that feminist movement has always been drawn into. One of the major reasons that

ecofeminism evolves as an eclectic vision is not a straight forward answer. It takes a lot of

time before this nature study plus women’s freedom movement joins hands in 1970s, but

before that Simon de Beauvoir points it out from as a conceptual movement that began in

1951.The gendered space, the science and nature, has given this story a well deserved

philosophical roots—the philosophy of Geo-politics and freedom. The Ladyland as

represented to us as the polar opposite of the “male land” of colonial India which restricts

women to ‘purdah’ and ‘zenana’. Devoid of education, the women of India ‘lazily’ sit in their
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respective houses to do chores, or perhaps ‘think’ about the condition of womanhood as

Sultana does in the story. In the story the author believes that women can truly be free when

they harness the use of nature in their daily life. The Ladyland remains as a sharp contrast to

the idea of the male-centrist “utopia” envisioned before by Thomas Moor and Francis Bacon.

The story is constitutionally a pluralistic work of fiction; the author’s ideal image is a

concurrent moving spatial boundary of nature and women’s freedom.

Ecofeminism asserts that patriarchy is quite potentially harmful to women, children

and other living beings and things. It gives rise to capitalistic mode of greed driven

production system—or more precisely from author’s colonial perspective a medieval

monarchical tyranny. It seeks for eradication of all forms of social discrimination against

women and environment. We can easily see the overwhelming factor that the author tries to

portray while advocating the necessity of women’s freedom linked with uninterrupted

education. Nurturing and care-giving are the duties of women. Material feminism tends to

free women from their daily household work like cooking, washing and other traditional

female domestic chores. The Ladyland in “Sultana’s Dream” is an utopia that works in

unison with science and technology in order to empower women and making self-restraint .

The story is the embodiment of self-aware society who leans mostly towards nature and uses

it for the common good of every individual in that society, also it creates a vivid exploration

of gendered pivotal society.

It is clear from the story that nature is cherished and valued in Ladyland. As Sister

Sara says that their noble Queen is exceedingly fond of botany and that is her ambition to

transform the whole country into one grand garden. In this radical new vision of the world,

with the power that women wield, not only are they emancipated from gendered

social and power restrictions, but they also use this power to reverse the ecological

indifference characteristic of the colonial administration. With reversed and reimagined

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gender roles, Hossain attempts to present a world that is able to bring together scientific

innovation, environmental sensitivity, and the emancipation of women and nature from

oppressive social logics.

The articulation of colonialism and environmental changes is perhaps one of the most

innovative discourses in the story, which focuses on the organizational power of ecofeminism

and stands out as a patriarchy rich response. The industrialization of Bengal induced major

changes in landscape and sanitation which caused deforestation, along with water and air

pollution were rampant during the British rule. That the Bengal Smoke Nuisance Act was

enacted in 1905 clearly shows that air pollution arising from industrial furnaces and

fireplaces in towns was already indentified as a concern. Sultana’s comment that she, “found

no smoke, nor any chimney”(Hossain,2005,p.7) in Sister Sara’s bright and clean kitchen can

also be read within that context.

In ecofeminism, elements of feminism an the ecological movement are combined at

the same time critically questioned. In ecofeminism the oppression or subordination of

women gets linked with the exploitation and extermination of nature. “Sultana’s Dream”

significantly questions men’s notion towards nature and the destructive violent nature of men.

Hossain has tried to show how a reversed society can be much better, peaceful and functional

without the effects of imbalance and discrimination. Hossain’s depiction of the dichotomy of

men and women with nature makes it an interesting topic to illustrate. In “Sultana’s Dream”,

we witnesses that the relation between women and nature is projected through their use of

solar energy and rainwater instead of coal energy which brings harm to nature. Women tries

to connect with and save nature through their actions no matter in which position they find

themselves.
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It is to be noted that, during Hossain’s time, women were not allowed to take part in

scientific explorations. In Ladyland, Hossain showed that the world was more efficient and

logically structured by science practiced by women. Women, in Hossain’s Ladyland also

showcases their intellectual power in that they are more qualified than men to protect their

land and then run it peacefully. Sister Sara declares this supremacy of women when she states

that the men of her country were busy in increasing their military power which didn’t even

helped in keeping their country safe, while the women were busy in scientific research. When

the country was threatened, only the women with their power of wit and intelligence

protected their country by using their inventions. So, we can say that only education and

empowerment helped them to save their existence while men just wanted to show off their

muscle power. The isolation of men has been treated in this story as a natural thing to do.

But, it took quite a while for Sultana to sync with the fact that the women in India are treated

exactly like the same way as men in Ladyland. The story of “Sultana’s Dream” is not only a

feminist science fiction, but also an ecocritical answer to the men and their destructive nature.

CONCLUSION

Hossain’s “Sultana’s Dream”, is one of the oldest science fiction stories written by a

woman. Rokeya’s witty narrative about a society dominated by men, also reflects an

alternative ecological feminist science, one that serves society better. This radical ecological

feminist perspective is vividly depicted in the story, as Rokeya points to the social

construction of ‘gender’ and the dismantling of the gender binary. Women and nature are

united through their shared history of oppression. Ecofeminism connects the devaluation and

abuse of women with that of environment. Hossain’s “Sultana’s Dream” is a very significant
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example ecofeminist utopia, which deals with the issues of gender, nature, science and

environment. The Ladyland where the story takes place is an embodiment of scientific

exploration of nature, science and education. The story depicts how nature works for the

benefit of women and gives resources to women to progress and to implement a harmonious

relationship between women and environment.

The story’s double representation of an ecological utopia and of a feminine society

has led many critics to suggest that it enacts ecofeminism as its key principle or premise

before the term was coined by d’Eaubonne in 1974. The diverging ecofeminist concerns

come together in the story where nature is feminine, generous, spiritual and beautiful as much

as it is political. This is conveyed by the internal focalization and the embedded narratives: as

Sister Sara guides Sultana through Ladyland, readers rely on Sultana’s dream, reactions and

questions and witness a dialogic experience of an ecofeminist ideal. A conversation between

Sultana and Sister Sara fittingly exemplifies Hossain’s encompassing approach to eco-

feminism, despite it’s seemingly straightforward structure and nearly allegorical content. As

Sultana argues, “an elephant’s brain is bigger and heavier than a human’s and that a man’s

brain is bigger than woman’s” (Hossain,2005,p.9). By contrast Sister Sara refers to

circumstantial considerations as she explains, “women’s brains are somewhat quicker than

men’s” (Hossain,2005,p.9) and that women just had to wait for the right opportunity to find a

way to evade purdah, embrace natural resources and develop their own system.

Hossain was not just a social reformer with a keen awareness of gender and

environmental issues, but also an innovative writer experimenting with the powers of fiction.

That is why this story is both a convincing example of feminist and utopian science fiction

and an ecocritical answer to androcentric attitudes, as it relies on the fruitful ambiguities of

fiction both as means to depict this intricate and intimate connection and as a vehicle for

exploration. Hossain’s “Sultana’s Dream” liberates the women in society by illustrating an

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opposite reality where women are in the roles of scientists, politicians, rulers of the country.

In the story everyone’s life is directly linked with nature in the space of the Ladyland. The

reshaping, relocating and reversing the gender roles because of the scientific and gender

discoveries has given us a better eco-feminist ideas and it also acts as a way to remove all

kinds of social injustice and discrimination against women and the environment.

WORKS CITED

Bhattacharya, Nilanjana. “Two Dystopian Fantasies.” Indian Literature, Volume 50: Issue

01,2006,pp 172–77.

JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/23346372. Accessed 13 May,2024.

Das,Tanushree. “women and environment: An ecofeminist reading of Rokeya Sakhawat

Hossain’s Sultana’s Dream”.Volume 02: Issue 08,2021,pp 143-145

IRJHIS, https://www.irjhis.com/paper/.IRJHIS2108023.pdf . Accessed 14 May,2024.

Haque, Riffat. "Gender and Nexus of Purdah Culture in Public Policy."South Asian Studies,

Volume 25: Issue 02, 2013, pp 303-310.

Hossain, Rokeya S. “Sultana’s Dream”,Tara Publishing Ltd,2005.

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