Imperial Women's Representation of India: A Study of Indira Ghose's Memsahibs

Abstract

Memsahibs Abroad (1998), edited by Indira Chose is a collection of letters on the 19th century British India by English women. During the colonial era, many English women came to India with different motives. Some of them accompanied their relations, while some came to look for husbands and a few to see the country as well. Many of them wrote letters to their relatives living in England. These letters reflect their diverse reactions to Indian nature, lifestyle, culture, religions, languages, people etc. There is a vast body of formal and informal male writings on British India which reflect essentially imperial attitudes. Women-writing on India is rather meager and is composed of letters, journals etc. However, it would be interesting to see how Jar women's writing is coloured by imperial prejudices. In this article, in the light of the letters in Memsahibs Abroad, I have examined how far tile female writing shares the imperial attitudes of their male counterparts and what difference of view sets the two genres apart.