Sultana's Dream

The narrative of “Sultana’s Dream” consists of what the narrator, Sultana, sees in a dream. Though the narrator is in her house in Calcutta, the entire story is set in a feminist utopia called Ladyland. Begum Rokeya foreshadows the subject matter of the narrator’s dream in the revelation that she falls asleep while “thinking lazily of the condition of Indian womanhood” (7). The adverb “lazily” suggests that, while Sultana is dissatisfied with India’s gender inequalities, her political consciousness is not yet fully awakened.

In the beginnings of Sultana’s dream, Rokeya highlights how the purdah system is deeply ingrained within Sultana’s consciousness. Her unease at going out unveiled and concern about the male servants seeing her illustrate her preoccupation with appearing virtuous and chaste. Sister Sara’s assurance that Ladyland is “free from sin and […] Virtue herself reigns here” undercuts the traditional association of feminine freedom with immorality (8). The assertion underscores the purdah system as a patriarchal construct. This subversion of the “norms” of the purdah system continues throughout the story. Sultana’s first-person perspective and astonishment at what she encounters in her dream establish an ongoing comparison between the utopia of Ladyland and the patriarchal structures of her own country.