Scholar had been recommended for award of Ph. D degree after her successful public defense held at the Department of English and Applied Linguistics, University of Peshawar on Friday. The topic of her thesis was, ‘Traits of Modernism in Thomas Hardy`s Female Protagonists: Instinctual versus social selves‘.
The scholar in her defense described Thomas Hardy as a versatile genius and one of the most celebrated novelists who have combined the traditional heritage of the Victorian era with modern literary trends. Her research contends that despite being placed in an inevitably Victorian setting, Hardy`s major female characters were neither strictly the product of his age nor do they typically correspond to the standards and sensitivities of the same.
She revealed that the great novelist explored the vulnerability of women heart and mind by depicting the image of modern women in his characters with bold and challenging assertion. The Hardy women were not domestic servants, ideal mothers, typists and teachers, as conditioned by the society, in fact they were activists. He had done away with the stereotypical image of women both physically and morally, she argued.
The researcher concluded her research by narrating that the impulsive quest of self realization directly clashes with the socially acceptable frames of behavior of modern day, in women of Hardy character, thereby culminating in tragedies which might be ethically justifiable but compel the readers to sympathize with these romantically sublime victims.
A series of questions answer session took place on the occasion, after which she was recommended for the award of Ph. D in English, Islamia College University Prof Dr Abdus Salam Khalis was the scholar internal examiner. Prof Dr Zahir Jang Khattak of University of Sargodha was her external examiner.
