Nefarious stepmothers and childhood formation : patriarchal juxtaposition of female agency in the brothers grimm and Thakurmar Jhuli

Abstract

This thesis offers a comparative study of the iniquitous depiction of stepmothers in the Brothers Grimm fairy tales and Dakshinaranjan Mitra Majumdar’s Bengali collection Thakurmar Jhuli. Despite emanating from distinct cultural and historical backgrounds, both collections demonstrate shared themes of maternal envy, sibling rivalry, economic destitution, and the justified consequences of antagonistic actions. Grimm tales often confront maternal malevolence with vivid punishments referencing Christian moral binaries and patriarchal regulations. Contrarily, Thakurmar Jhuli resolves stepmother ferocity through spiritual justice, where divine intervention disciplines the vile figures instead of punitive retribution. Therefore, this research examines the stepmother as a universal archetype and a culturally inflected representative for mediating patriarchal power as well as maintaining social order, restraining women’s agency, and impacting psychological aspects of childhood by drawing on critical feminist interpretations, violence studies, and psychoanalytical viewpoints. Concurrently, it reveals how children manage their negative emotions while engaging with the function of these fairy tales.