critical analysis of character of nirmala
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Nirmala (The Second wife)
Nirmala novel cover.jpg
Nirmala novel cover
Author Munshi Premchand
Original title Nirmala (निर्मला)
Translator Alok Rai and David Rubin[1]
Cover artist Orient Paperbacks (Alok Rai) and Oxford India Paperbacks (David Rubin)
Country India
Language Hindi, Urdu
Genre Fiction
Published January 1927[1]
ISBN 9780195658262 (translated version by Oxford India)[2]
Nirmala (Hindi: निर्मला, Urdu: نرملا (virtuous or pure) or The Second Wife [A]) is a Hindi -Urdu fiction novel written by Hindi and Urdu writer Munshi Premchand. The melodramatic novel is centered on Nirmala, a young girl who was forced to marry a widower of her father's age. The plot unfolds to reveal her husband’s suspicion of a relationship between her and his eldest son, a suspicion that leads to the son’s death.
A poignant novel first published in 1927, Nirmala's reformist agenda is transparent in its theme which deals with the question of dowry, and consequently mismatched marriages and related issues. The story uses fiction to highlight an era of much needed social reform in 1920s Indian society. Nirmala was serialized in 1928 in Chand, a women’s magazine in which the novel’s feminist character was represented. Nirmala is somewhat like Godaan (published in 1936) in that it deals with the exploitation of the village poor, and was translated by multiple scholarly translators. It was first translated in 1988 as The Second Wife by David Rubin, and in 1999 as Nirmala by Alok Rai, Premchand's grandson.
The melodramatic novel is centered on Nirmala, a young girl who was forced to marry a widower of her father's age. The plot unfolds to reveal her husband's suspicion of a relationship between her and his eldest son, a suspicion that leads to the son's death.