Sultana's Dream

The narrative of “Sultana’s Dream” consists of what the narrator, Sultana, sees in a dream. Though the narrator is in her house in Calcutta, the entire story is set in a feminist utopia called Ladyland. Begum Rokeya foreshadows the subject matter of the narrator’s dream in the revelation that she falls asleep while “thinking lazily of the condition of Indian womanhood” (7). The adverb “lazily” suggests that, while Sultana is dissatisfied with India’s gender inequalities, her political consciousness is not yet fully awakened.

In the beginnings of Sultana’s dream, Rokeya highlights how the purdah system is deeply ingrained within Sultana’s consciousness. Her unease at going out unveiled and concern about the male servants seeing her illustrate her preoccupation with appearing virtuous and chaste. Sister Sara’s assurance that Ladyland is “free from sin and […] Virtue herself reigns here” undercuts the traditional association of feminine freedom with immorality (8). The assertion underscores the purdah system as a patriarchal construct. This subversion of the “norms” of the purdah system continues throughout the story. Sultana’s first-person perspective and astonishment at what she encounters in her dream establish an ongoing comparison between the utopia of Ladyland and the patriarchal structures of her own country.

The Gender Role Reversal in Ladyland is emphasized in the country’s concepts of femininity and masculinity. Rokeya exposes these stereotypes as cultural constructs when passersby note that Sultana is “shy and timid like men” (8). Ladyland has also reassigned gender roles within the family unit, on which the foundations of patriarchy are based. While women are confined to zenanas in India, men are restricted to mardanas in Ladyland (“mard” meaning “man” or “potent male” in Urdu). While women take on important jobs and rule the country, men are responsible for domestic work and childrearing. The transformation of zenanas to mardanas demonstrates that the new societal structure requires different vocabulary. The redundancy of the word “zenana” illustrates how certain words are associated with oppressive patriarchal societies. Thus, the feminist literary critic Frances Bartkowski states that “[i]n feminist utopias some of the words that fall into disuse because they no longer signify are ‘prostitution,’ ‘father,’ ‘rape,’ ‘heroism,’ ‘love,’ ‘madness,’ ‘homosexuality’” (Bartkowski, Frances. Feminist Utopias. U of Nebraska Press, 1991, p. 9).

What Sultana experiences in Ladyland is a matriarchal society. According to Sister Sara, men must be secluded because they are “fit for nothing” (9). Sister Sara equates this situation to locking up “lunatics” in an asylum for the safety of others. Sister Sara also uses wild animal imagery to convey the danger men represent to women if allowed to mix unchecked in society, questioning, “How can you trust those untrained men out of doors?” (9). She emphasizes that education has been key to establishing this matriarchal society, establishing the theme of Knowledge as Power. The Queen of Ladyland’s priority of educating girls and women, particularly in science, plays a crucial role in overthrowing a previously patriarchal society. This principle accords with Rokeya’s own efforts to provide schools for girls in India.

Another feature of Ladyland as a utopia is the harmony between humans and nature. Sister Sara’s initial invitation to Sultana is to walk in her garden, evoking the idea that Ladyland is one large, lovingly tended garden. On entering the country in her dream, Sultana is immediately struck by the verdant landscape and the streets carpeted with flowers. Her comparison of the grass to “a velvet cushion” conveys the luxurious bounty of nature in Ladyland (8)—also highlighted by the revelation that the inhabitants live on the fruit they grow. The harnessing of natural elements to provide energy establishes the theme of Ecofeminism. In the utopia of Ladyland, neither women nor nature are harmfully exploited. Scientific inventions provide healthy and sustainable lives for all.

Sultana’s character arc transforms across the narrative. In the story’s early stages, Sultana’s dialogue with Sister Sara expresses a conventional Indian point of view, demonstrating how she is conditioned to accept the purdah system. For example, she states that women endure the restrictions of the zenana, as men are both “stronger than women” and have larger brains (9). By presenting the patriarchal rationale through Sultana, Rokeya allows Sister Sara to logically counter these arguments. For example, she points out that elephants have heavier brains, but humans do not allow them to rule society.

As Sultana is increasingly convinced by Sister Sara’s argument and impressed by what she sees in Ladyland, her character develops. Her unease turns into an eagerness to know how the women of Ladyland succeeded in reversing traditional gender roles. By the end of her visit, Sultana vows she will tell her “friends at home” about everything she has learned in Ladyland (15). This shift in attitude symbolizes Sultana’s awakening political consciousness as she considers how a similar society could be created in India. Rokeya’s use of utopian fiction as an impetus for change accords with Bartkowski’s theory that “[u]topian thinking is crucial to feminism, a movement that could only be produced and challenged by and in a patriarchal world” (Bartkowski, 12).