By 1930, women in Bengal were visible in the public arena with their participation in the national movement. Could this public appearance be taken as proof of their breaking with traditional gender stereotypes?

The author argues that 'purdah' in early-twentieth-century Bengal meant far more than secluding women behind veils and walls; it entailed an all-encompassing ideology and code of conduct based on female modesty which pervaded women's lives. Accordingly, women's political experience and participation, even if its significance can be established, needs to be deconstructed and contextualized by looking at a wider range of discourses.

Women's political activities and their class-specific existence - as mothers, daughters, wives and widows - are thus examined not only to trace developments and differences, but also to identify the underlying hierarchy of concepts which worked to keep women of all classes in a position of general inferiority to their male counterparts. This book will interest students of history, particularly gender history and social history, and feminists everywhere.