RHETORICAL ANALYSIS OF THE REPRESENTATIONS OF FEMALE CHARACTERS IN PRADIP NEPAL SSWAPNIL SAHAR

Pradip Nepal, in addition to being a popular novelist, is a renowned political figure of Nepal. His political ideology is well reflected on the plots of his novels, and his characters seem strongly influenced by the socialist doctrine. Nepal seems toposit female characters asmale equals tacitly or overtly, and at some point even shows female characters surpassing their male counterparts. This paper analyzes female characters who preform varied roles alongside their male counterparts and strive to show how females too can walk with men neck and neck. These female characters undergo perceptible transformation with the passage of time and changing contexts and defy the patriarchal conventions. That said, however, it would be no overstatement to state that Nepal?s portrayal of women characters is often governed by his own positionality as a male writer. Despite presenting women as strong managers and decision makers, often he places them as sidekicks who end up supporting the other male characters or rendered less significant to the other prominent male characters in the novel. However, it would be unfair to say Nepal presents women as frail characters since it is the female characters that have heavily contributed to the success of the male characters.