Education, A Defiance Against Oppression Represented in The Select Works of Jean Sasson

Abstract

The world has progressed technologically, and we are now dreaming of a life on Mars. But is this progress being reflected in all spheres of life or in all strata of society? The answer would be negative. Especially when we speak about the condition of women. Education and good jobs have placed women in a safe position; still, in many parts of the world, she faces tremendous, shell-shocking calamities. Whether it’s in a democratic republic like India, a military-ruled Pakistan or a religion-controlled Saudi Arabia. Writers throughout the globe have tried to voice the voiceless, to portray the deplorable condition of women in every aspect of life. The last two decades have witnessed the portrayal of the lives of women behind the veil by writers like Taslima Nasrin, Latifa, Jean Sasson, etc. Jean Sasson’s work centres on the women in the Middle East. She focuses on the lives of Saudi Women and their sufferings living in a patriarchal society. Her Princess Trilogy narrates the pathetic conditions of women in a religion-centred, male-oriented society. The paper tries to analyse how far education helped women to question the patriarchal structures and narratives and how the women in Saudi Arabia used education as a tool against patriarchy.