S.R.S.D. Memorial Shiksha Shodh Sansthan, Agra, India
UTOPIA OF GLOBAL EDUCATION
A Peer Reviewed Refereed International Research Journal
ONLINE ISSN-2454-7387
Volume II, Issue I, June 2016, pp. 17-22
www.srsshodhsansthan.org
Women, Living Silence in Jean Sasson’s Works
Dr. Vijay Mehta1 & Ms. Dinesh Sharma2
1
Professor & HOD, Department of English
Arni University, Kathgarh, H.P., India
2
Research Scholar, Department of English
NIMS University, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India
Abstract
Life of women in Arabian Peninsula is graphically and vividly drawn by Jean Sasson as if they are mere
living shadows and silence in their respective society. The paper explores how the women as depicted by
Jean Sasson in her novels lead a very isolated and bleak life on social, familial, cultural and religious level.
They are not provided name in the birth to death record. They are mere living silence in the society despite
the effort of the feminist movement all over the world.
Keywords: oppressed, living silence, patriarchy, masochistic, gynocritics.
Introduction
“A Woman cannot be herself in the society of the present day, which is an exclusively
masculine society, with laws framed by men and with a judicial system that judges feminine
conduct from a masculine point of view.” (1) Jean Sasson, at once in line with other feminist
writers like, Tehmina Durrani has revealed the life of Muslim women as living silence in the
Middle-East countries through her works. She is well-known today as the Voice for MiddleEastern women. In Daughters of Arabia, Jean Sasson writes, “Despite her fierce love for her
daughters, Princess, Sultana says that the saddest aspect of her life is watching the black forms of
her two young daughters, now wrapped in cloaks and veils, that, after all the years of rebellion,
still cling to a new generation of young women in Saudi Arabia- as always primitive customs
determine women’s roles in Saudi society.”(2)
In Sexual Politics, Kate Millet points out that “patriarchy subordinates the female to the male
or treats the female as an inferior male,”(3) In being oppressed, weak and masochistic, such
women can be compared to the Negroes in the U.S. and working class anywhere. In the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in the U.S., the Whites bought the Negroes as slaves and
treated them as possession. There is a close resemblance between the plight of the Negroes in the
U.S. and that of women as described in the works of Jean Sasson.
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Patriarchal structure
The women were treated as possession in patriarchal society and that is why they were
kept behind the veil. In Desert Royal, Jean Sasson clearly talks of women as possession, when
Sultana says: “For Ali, women were men’s property, possessions whose feelings and well-being
never need enter the realm of thinking.”(4)
Sandra Gilbert makes use of the metaphor of literary paternity in considering the
text’s author a father, “an aesthetic patriarch whose pen is an instrument of generative power like
his penis.”(5) The role of women is confined to be passive and as sexual objects in order to please
men’s minds or bodies in Middle east culture and as such they are mere living silence.
Toril Moi believes that the patriarchal traditions imposed certain social ideals and
standards on women.(6) Those who conformed were termed as feminine but those who failed to
do so begin to be called unfeminine and unnatural. Since women under patriarchal tradition have
been victims intellectually, emotionally or physically. Elaine Showalter suggests that the
attempts of gynocritics should be to illuminate every aspect of women’s writing in a male
dominated society. (7)
Jean Sasson veritably experiences anti-patriarchal rage which gets reflected in her
writings. The themes, subjects, characters and situations created and described by female authors
are bound to be different from those by male writers in a patriarchal society. For Toril Moi, the
feminist writing has a discernible anti-patriarchal and anti-sexist position (8) which is what can be
seen in Jean Sasson’s female portraits-a possible consequence of this anti-patriarchal rage. Most
of these traditions are not based on religion, but the men of the religion claim otherwise,
determined to keep their women in bondage.
Male Guardian, a Mahram for Muslim Women
Jean Sasson puts forth another yardstick of patriarchal society that is appointment of
guardian to lead women out in the society. In Growing Up Bin Laden, Najwa bin Laden feels,
“Osama and his family would soon return to Syria to escort me to Jeddah, as it would not be
proper for me, a Muslim woman, to travel without a guardian.”(P-14, Growing Up Bin Laden)
In Daughters of Arabia, Jean Sasson speaks of Mahram in a similar tone as Sultana said,
“I was pleased to hear that Fayza(a female character) had not committed the sin of traveling
alone. Saudi women are forbidden by our religion to travel without a male member of her family
as an escort.” Further she informs that this particular restriction is taken directly from words of
the Prophet who said, “She who believes in Allah and the Last Day (meaning the Day of
Judgment) must not travel any distance which is normally covered by one day’s and one night’s
traveling unless accompanied by a Mahram.”(P-202, Daughters of Arabia)
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Socio-Cultural Status Accorded to Women
The Veil, as a Necessity
The veil system among Muslims govern the socio-cultural life of women, they remain
living silence in the society. This Purdah system makes them non-persons, living silence and
living shadows. In Jean Sasson’s For the Love Of A Son, Maryam accepted the black veil, the
obligatory disguise called an abaaya, worn by all women in Saudi Arabia when she married
Khalid and was coming to Jeddah. She says, “Every thing was black. Although the costume was
styled very differently from the pleated pastel burqas worn by many Afghan woman, the
intention was same, to hide women behind a curtain. --------the atmosphere on the plane was
transformed as soon as the lively women transformed themselves into black shadows.” (P-218,
For the Love Of A Son)
In Princess, the protagonist, Sultana declares “The history of our women is buried against
the black veil of secrecy. Neither our birth nor our death is made official in any public record.
Although births of male children are documented in family or tribal record, none is maintained
anywhere for females. ---------no country census is maintained by the government of Saudi
Arabia.”(9) The veil for women is the great signature of male driven society. This is the sociocultural status the men of the land accorded to their women.
Neglect of Women in Funeral Ceremonies
Paul Jackson, S.J. in the Muslims of India, Beliefs and Practices writes, “Women do
not usually attend funerals, the male relatives and friends walk behind the bier or cot among
Muslims.”(10) In this context, Jean Sasson in Princess clearly mentions in the words of Sultana:
“Our custom forbids females at the burial- site.”(P-100, Princess)
Jean Sasson brings to our knowledge that women are not given any religious ceremony or
epitaph on their grave. In this context, Sultana informs us “We were leaving Mother behind in
the empty vastness of desert, yet I knew it no longer mattered that there was no stone placed to
mark her presence there, or that no religious services were held to speak of the simple woman
who had been a flame of love during her time on earth.”(P-101, Princess)
It is sad that during their life term, poor Muslim women in Arabian Peninsula remain
living silence in family and society, and lead a bleak life. It is more tragic that such women are
given no ceremonial burial or honorable farewell in the end at their funerals.
Neglect of Women on Religious Level
Paul Jackson, S.J. in The Muslims of India, Beliefs and Practices enumerates pre-conditions of
prayer/namaz:
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
The offering of namaz is obligatory upon every Muslim, male and female, who is sane,
relatively mature and free from serious sickness.

Women usually perform their prayers at home, but they may do so in mosques which
have special enclosures for them. (11)
On the religious level, women are not given much freedom, as we see in men’s cases.
Paul Jackson, S.J. further writes in The Muslims of India, Beliefs and Practices, “Boys are
encouraged from early age to accompany their fathers to mosque for prayers. All children learn
how to perform ablution and namaz and the habit is consciously developed. -------A tradition
directs that the child should be instructed to offer prayers when he attains the age of seven years
and be admonished for it if he does not get used to it by the age of ten.”(12) Female children are
not guided in this manner, they offer prayers at home or in separate places made for them in the
mosque.
Jean Sasson on this issue writes in Princess, “In Saudi Arabia, mosques are built in every
neighborhood, for the Government has placed top priority on providing a mosque within walking
distance of every Muslim male. --------From the age of six, Ali had been encouraged to perform
the five daily prayers. I felt my breath sharpen as I recalled the hurt I had felt as I watched my
father hold Ali’s hand and lead him proudly through the grand entrance of the mosque- always
leaving me , a lowly female , at the side of the road to stare after them in sorrow and anger.”(P76, Princess)) Herein, Sultana, the Princess, expresses her deep anguish for not being guided and
called upon by her father for prayer as her brother (Ali) performed in the mosque. Sultana here
represents the hidden cries and earnest desires of a common Muslim girl to be treated like boys.
Neglect of Women on Family Level
Patriarchy is a social system in which the role of men as the primary authority figure is
central to social organization and where fathers hold authority over women, children and
property. In Arabian Peninsula, the authority lies with the males exclusively and this system is
dependent on female subordination. Jean Sasson in her Princess, exposes the neglect of women
on family level in the following lines, “Since I was a young girl, unloved by my father, and
tortured by a cruel older brother, --------I have lived my life as a princess, ------My father only
loved his sons. I wanted to be loved by my father, but nothing I did or said made the slightest
change in his indifference towards me.”(P-19, Princess).She further emphatically declares, “I
was born free, yet today I am in chains. Invisible, they were loosely draped and passed unnoticed
until the age of understanding reduced my life to a mere segment of fear.”(P-23, Princess)
In Princess, Jean Sasson, clearly mentions through Princess that it is wrong to blame
Muslim faith for the neglect of women in family or society. Although the Koran does state that
women are secondary to men, much in the same way the Bible authorizes men to rule over
women, great Prophet Muhammad taught only kindness and fairness towards those of my sex.
The men who came after Prophet Muhammad have chosen to follow the customs and traditions
of the Dark Ages rather than to follow Muhammad’s words and example.
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The neglect of women on family level begins from a complex situation—from an early
age, the male child is taught that women are of little value: they exist only for his comfort and
convenience. The child witnesses the disdain shown for his mother and sisters by his father; this
open contempt leads him to scorn of all females. Sultana says in Princess, in this context, “And
so it comes to be that women in my land are ignored by their fathers, scorned by their brothers
and abused by their husbands. This cycle is difficult to break, for the men who impose this life
upon their women ensure their own marital unhappiness.”(P-28, Princess)
In Muslim culture, the girls were given no right to decide their future bride-groom. Their
suggestion was never asked. Rather they were asked to follow whatever their fathers had
decided. “The groom was chosen solely because of past and future business deals.”(P-54/55,
Princess) Jean Sasson clearly informs us that girls had legal right on property or children. In For
the Love of a Son, Jean Sasson, through Maryam tells us, “The Saudi government would not
allow her children to accompany her. Those children belonged to her husband. She had given
birth to them, but according to Saudi Arabian law she had no parental rights.” (P-223, For the
Love of a Son)
Hence women behind the veil were neglected badly on all fronts in family. Jean Sasson
thus presents the bleak, oppressed and deplorable plight of women, behind the veil in her works
on the familial, social, religious and cultural level which needs amelioration.
References
 Henrik Ibsen quotes available at <http: //www.notable-quotes.com/i/bsen_henrik.html>
accessed on 23rd April, 2012.
 Jean Sasson, Daughters of Arabia (London: Bantam Books, 1994), pp. 14.
 Subsequent quotations from this novel are from this edition and page numbers are given
in parentheses.
 Raman Seldon, A reader’s guide to Contemporary Literary Theory (Sussex: Harvester
Press, 1985), pp. 131-32.
 Jean Sasson, Desert Royal, (London: Bantam Books, 2000), pp. 81.
 Subsequent quotations from this novel are from this edition and page numbers are given
in parentheses.
 Sandra Gilbert,” Literary Paternity” Contemporary Literary Criticism: Modernism
through Post Structuralism. Ed. By Robert Con Davis (New York: Longman Inc, 1986),
pp. 190.
 Toril Moi, “Feminist Literary Criticism,” Modern Literary Theory: A Comparative
Introduction, ed. By. Ann Jefferson and David Robey (London: B. T. Bats ford, 1986),
pp. 209.
 Elaine Showalter,” Towards a Feminist Politics”, Contemporary Literary Criticism:
Modernism Through Post Structuralism, pp. 216.
 Ibid, pp. 220.
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 Jean Sasson, Princess: A True Story of Life Behind The Veil in Saudi Arabia, (London:
Bantam Books, 1993), pp. 30. Subsequent quotations from this work are from this edition
and page numbers are given in parentheses.
 Paul Jackson, S.J., The Muslims of India, Beliefs and Practices (Bangalore: Theological
Publications in India, 1988), pp. 59.
 Ibid, pp. 12.
 Ibid, pp. 51.
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