Professional Documents
Culture Documents
SUB - ENGLISH
TITLE - WOMANEXPLOITATION IN SAUDI
ARABIA IN JEAN P. SASSONS PRINCESS
BY - SUNIL P. GAIKWAD
DIST.- AURANGABAD
E_Mail : varadsanket_69@rediff.com
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RESEARCH PAPER
WOMAN EXPLOITATION IN SAUDI ARABIA IN JEAN P.
SASSONS PRINCESS
BY- SUNIL P. GAIKWAD
NEW HIGHSCHOOL, GANGAPUR
DIST.- AURANGABAD
ABSTRACT :
Women are considered inferior to men in the society and the formal law. They have to
adopt the traditional values. Even the formal law cannot permit them to change their
traditional attitudes. In Saudi Arabia, women have no freedom, respect or identity of their
own. They cannot vote or be elected to high political positions. It is the only country in the
world where women are not permitted to drive a car or she is murdered for chatting with a
man on facebook.
Fiction book Princess (1993), through Sulatana, the protagonist of the story. Even the
modern world revolution of women, human rights and western cultures have not brought any
respite to the women of Saudi Arabia.
PRELIMINARIES :
Arabia through the character of Princess. Beyond the veils of women there is a secret
society, to the heart of a nation where sex, money and power reign supreme.
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everyday that would be hardly seen in any other culture. Woman is treated like a prisoner
in her own country. They are confined with neither light nor conversation until death
claims them.
TERMS :
a) Exploitation :
[ www.macmilliandictionary.com]
b) Saudi Arabia :
MAJOR THEME :
Despite of her richness, she is bound by a strict society. She lifts the veil and reveals a
history of appalling oppression and human rights violations such as forced marriage and
sex slavery. She defines women as nothing but the vessels for sexual relief and a breeder
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of children. Her story unveils many horrible incidents of women in Saudi Arabia.
The story of the Princess begins with the slapping of Ali to his sister,
Sultana for refusing to hand over the apple, she was given by the Pakistani cook. She was
punished to teach that men were her Masters. At an early stage she realized that,
Her mother also accepted the fact that they had been born on the land
where women are considered low. They have no right to get education as their male
counterpart. Women are ruled by male dominated society. A Saudi father and husband
has complete control over a womans life. On her sister Saras divorce she said,
husband.
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[ Ibid : 66 ]
Only men have the right to take final decision on marriage and divorce. The
feelings of Sara was not considered. She had to come to her fathers home. Sultana gives a
horrifying picture of women of her country. Her country does not maintain the records of
female, but male children are documented in family. While reading the book the reader
shame.
[ Ibid : 22 }
These lines bring the whole theme of the non-entity of women. It leads us
to much more shocking crimes against women are not considered to be crimes in Saudi
Arabian society
rented villa one day and found that her brother was raping an eight year old girl. When she
complained to her aunt and uncle, they ignored the event as a bit of harmless boyish fun.
Sultana hated Kareem when he asked her permission for second marriage.
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She left him for some days to teach him a lesson, but at last they had to settle in a good
relationship bound by custom, tradition and mutual love of their children. She regrets that
their love never fully revived after the incident of the second wife of Kareem. But she had
a hope that there would be a celebration of life in the society, when its women were free to
The Princess depicts that even the women from the royal families are
beaten, executed and enslaved by their father, husband and brothers. The story of Nadia,
who was drowned in the family pool by her father for engaging wild sexual behavior with
non-Saudi. Sultanas sister Sara, who attempted suicide after being sold as a wife to a sick
and sexually brutal elderly man,
working as a housekeeper in a private home. There she learnt her duties included
providing daily sexual release to her employer and his two sons. When she is found
pregnant, she was stoned to death. No one came forward to save her life.
Amal, the friend of Sultana was raped by her brothers friends in her own
house. To save her brother for using drugs, no family member dared to save her life. She was
killed to protect the honor of family.
Sameera, a young woman had to pay the price to love Larry. Her husband
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divorced her by saying that she was no longer pure. She came to her fathers home. She
had been sentenced to the womans room, a particularly cruel punishment. A special room
was a kind of prison for her. She remained for many years and had gone mad.
These stories show how these courageous women can survive in this kind
of life. There are many horrifying incidents depicted by Sultana. She remembered a woman
of a small village, who was found guilty of adultery. She was condemned to die
by stoning a large crowd, gathered and hurled stones at the woman. The stones continued
to thud against her body till the doctor pronounced her dead.
[ Ibid : 140 ]
Saudi women are often forced to suffer a circumcision as young girls and are
married after they begin menstruating. They have to cover all her skin in the presence of men,
A Saudi woman cannot work or drive, so they are strictly reliant upon men.
CONCLUSIONS :
Jean P. Sasson tells us the true story of Saudi Arabian women through a
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Princes, Sultana, who is helpless and exploited by male dominated society. She describes
The issues like honor killings, sexual slavery, arrange marriages and
mutilations of female genitals, all brings the horror and the kind of exploitation that still
exist today. Wont it be fair to say that every human being male or female has the right to
WORK CITED
2 www.macmilliandictionary.com as on 3/1/2013
3 http://www.independent.org/publications/tir_11_02_06_cohen.pdf
as on 28/12/2012
4 http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/saudiarabia/factbook
as on 3/1/2013
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RESUME
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Guided Composition at Secondary Level
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