Rabindranath and Sharatchandra as novelists

a comparative study

Abstract

Rabindranath Tagore and Sharatchandra Chattopadhyay were contemporaries, the former being senior to the latter by fifteen years. They were arguably the most popular poet and novelist in India, especially Bengal. However, there are marked contrasts between these two literary luminaries of late colonial India, in respect of their family, society, upbringing, status, personality, gender and caste consciousness, religious-spiritual sensibilities, and worldviews. Despite such discrepancies, and some personality conflicts, both Rabindranath and Sharatchandra did share some core values in respect of sexuality and sensuality, albeit with different perspectives.