Mahadevi Varma: Political Essays on Women, Culture, and Nation
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Chapter :  Editor’s Introduction
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In her discussions of the institution of marriage, particularly in her essay “Hindu Stri Ka Patnitva” (Wifehood of the Hindu Woman), Mahadevi levels a powerful critique against Hindu tradition, going as far as to say that marriage can be akin to slavery.

In women’s lives, the absence of political authority and financial independence certainly remains. In addition, there is no hope for [her to have] a place in society. [Women] understand their first goal to be that of wifehood, and their last, that of motherhood. Therefore, a single path of livelihood and a single means of life were fixed. If we can bear the harsh truth, we would have to accept it with humility: that society has given to woman the most debased means for building up her life. She must live, having been made a means for the exhibition and enjoyment of man’s wealth. No weight is given to her worth in the form of an individual and a citizen. Motherhood is honourable for the upkeep of society, wifehood is also praiseworthy for individual fulfilment, but can it be said that only these two are appropriate for the physical and mental health of all women? Could not a woman direct her physical and mental capabilities towards some other worthy goal?60

During this historical period when Mahadevi was writing, the “worthy goal” was in keeping with Gandhi’s call for swaraj (freedom) through various forms of social service, noncooperation, and moral self-purification. Despite her otherwise impeccable Gandhian stance, the goal, as far as Mahadevi was concerned, was education and self-empowerment. It was through the acquisition of education, Mahadevi argued, that women would gain a distinct sense of self and, by extension, would be in a better position to bring about social change.

While in “Hamari Shrinkhala Ki Kariyan”, Mahadevi finds fault with Indian society’s treatment of women, in her other essays, “Hindu Stri Ka Patnitva” (Wifehood of the Hindu Woman, 1942), “Ghar Aur Bahar” (The Home and the World, 1942), “Adhunik Nari” (The Modern Woman, 1942), and “Hamari Samasyaen” (Our Problems, 1936), she delves deeper into the different social and economic aspects of Indian (especially Hindu) womanhood. In “Adhunik Nari”, a piece that could be read autobiographically,