DOUBLE MARGINALIZATION AND BEYOND: REPRESSION OF WOMEN IN NADEEM ASLAM’S THE GOLDEN LEGEN

Abstract

This research paper conducts a feminist analysis of Nadeem Aslam’s novel The Golden Legend (2017). The study is grounded in feminist literary theory, which challenges historically and socially constructed gender hierarchies that render women as subordinate, irrational, and the “Other” in relation to men. Drawing upon key feminist thinkers from Mary Wollstonecraft and Virginia Woolf to Simone de Beauvoir and contemporary theorists, this paper examines how literature both reflects and perpetuates patriarchal structures. The novel is set against the backdrop of religious extremism and minority persecution in contemporary Pakistan, making it a significant text for feminist inquiry. The study is qualitative in nature, employing an interpretative method to analyze secondary data collected from the novel, research articles, journals, and theoretical texts.

The findings reveal that The Golden Legend portrays a society that imposes strict, specific norms upon women, including mandatory modesty, restriction of movement to the domestic sphere, and primary assignment to kitchen and household chores. Any transgression of these norms leads to social ostracism or violence. Furthermore, the novel demonstrates the concept of double marginalization: women are oppressed not only on the basis of gender but also, in the case of non-Muslim characters such as Helen and Nargis (Margaret), on the basis of religious minority status. Religious extremism is shown to deny widows the right to remarry, while patriarchal honor culture justifies honor killings based on unconfirmed rumors. Additionally, government officials and state policies act as further agents of repression, as seen when a widow is forced to forgive her husband’s killer.

The study concludes that feminist literary theory provides a robust framework for exposing the multiple, intersecting systems of oppression that constrain women’s lives. In The Golden Legend, the repression of women is not monolithic but operates through the interlocking mechanisms of patriarchy, religious fundamentalism, and state authority. The novel thus serves as a powerful critique of how gender-based, religious, and institutional forces collectively deny women their fundamental rights and agency.