Welcome to Thoughts Review Thoughts Review is an international, peer-reviewed, open-access quarterly research journal (4 issues per year) committed to publishing high-quality, original, and impactful research in Arts & Humanities (Miscellaneous). We are pleased to announce that Thoughts Review has been recognized by the Higher Education Commission (HEC), Pakistan in the Y Category under Arts & Humanities (Miscellaneous) for the period 1 April 2026 to 31 December 2027. The journal publishes original research articles, review papers, and scholarly discussions in Arabic, Urdu, English, Religious Studies, Islamic Studies, Linguistics, Literature, Education, History, Philosophy, Culture, Translation Studies, and other related disciplines. Our rigorous double-blind peer-review process, supported by an experienced international Editorial and Advisory Board, ensures the highest standards of academic quality, originality, research integrity, and publication ethics. We welcome researchers, academicians, professionals, and graduate scholars from around the world to submit their original manuscripts and contribute to the advancement of Arts & Humanities research.
Scholar Insight Journal (Press) Jhelum, Pakistan. SCHOLARINSIGHTJOURNAL (SMC- PRIVATE) LIMITED
TOURISM, EXCHANGE RATE, AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN PAKISTAN: A TIME-SERIES ANALYSIS
This study examined the relationship between tourism and economic growth in Pakistan by focusing on tourism receipts, tourism investment, and the mediating role of exchange rate. Annual time-series data covering 1995–2023 were used, providing 29 observations. Economic growth was measured through GDP growth, tourism receipts through international tourism earnings, tourism investment through foreign direct investment net inflows as a proxy, and exchange rate through the official Pakistani rupee–US dollar rate. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, multiple regression, mediation analysis, and diagnostic tests were performed using SPSS. The findings showed that GDP growth averaged 3.91%, tourism receipts averaged US$822.16 million, tourism investment averaged US$1.80 billion, and the exchange rate averaged PKR92.75 per US dollar during the study period. Tourism receipts had a weak negative relationship with economic growth, while tourism investment had an almost negligible positive relationship. Tourism receipts were significantly associated with tourism investment and exchange rate. The regression model explained 11.9% of the variation in GDP growth but was statistically insignificant, F(3, 25) = 1.131, p = .356. Tourism receipts, tourism investment, and exchange rate did not significantly predict economic growth. Mediation analysis showed that tourism receipts significantly affected exchange rate, but exchange rate did not significantly affect economic growth. Therefore, exchange rate did not mediate the relationship between the tourism variables and economic growth. The study concludes that tourism remained economically relevant for Pakistan, particularly through its association with external-sector conditions, but its direct contribution to GDP growth was not statistically supported within the selected model and period.
Copyright (c) 2026 Farwa Akhtar, Tauqir Hussain, Maliha Azhar (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
اسلام اور سکھ مت میں تصورِ خدا: تقابلی جائزہ
This study presents a comparative analysis of the concept of God in Sikhism and Islam, aiming to highlight both similarities and differences in their theological foundations. In Islam, the concept of God is based on absolute monotheism (Tawhid), where Allah is regarded as One, Eternal, Self-Sufficient, Transcendent, and free from all forms of anthropomorphism. The Qur’an emphasizes God’s oneness, divine attributes, and complete distinction from creation. In Sikhism, the concept of Ik Onkar occupies a central position, representing the belief in one supreme, formless, and all-pervading reality. The Sikh scriptures, particularly the Guru Granth Sahib, describe God as both Nirgun (without attributes) and Sargun (with attributes), manifesting within creation while remaining beyond it. The study reveals that both religions reject idolatry and affirm belief in one, formless God; however, Islam strongly emphasizes divine transcendence, whereas Sikhism places greater focus on God’s immanence and presence within the universe. The comparative analysis concludes that despite shared monotheistic principles, Islam and Sikhism differ significantly in their theological interpretation and expression of the divine.
Copyright (c) 2026 Shumaila Ali, Dr. Hafiz Mohsin Zia Qazi (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
اہل سنت والجماعت اور امامیہ اثنا عشریہ کے اصولِ درایت و مشترک حدیثی اصول: اسبابِ اختلاف اور علمی اثرات کا تحقیقی و تقابلی مطالعہ
The study of Hadith is not limited to transmission alone; it also includes comprehension, interpretation, application, reconciliation of apparently conflicting reports, and legal deduction. While the principles of transmission deal with authenticity, isnad, and the reliability of narrators, the principles of dirayah address meaning, textual indication, interpretation, preference, and juristic implications. Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama‘ah and the Imami Twelver Shi‘ah both recognize the authority of Hadith, the importance of understanding it correctly, the necessity of isnad criticism, the investigation of narrators, and the rejection of fabricated reports. Nevertheless, methodological differences exist between the two traditions regarding interpretive authorities of Hadith, the role of reason, the resolution of conflicting reports, the application of textual indications, and the process of ijtihad and taqlid. This article presents a comparative and analytical study of the principles of dirayah, shared Hadith foundations, causes of methodological divergence, and their scholarly and juristic implications. It aims neither to refute nor to prefer one tradition over the other, but to clarify the intellectual foundations and methodological distinctions of both traditions in a balanced academic manner.
Copyright (c) 2026 Asghar Hussain, Dr.Muhammad Mehrban Barvi (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
If She Rejects, She Deserves Punishment: Tracing Incel Logic in Public Comments on the Murder of Sana Yousaf
This study investigates how entitlement-based and punishment-based narratives, often associated with incel ideology, are reproduced and justified in Pakistani social media discourse, focusing on public reactions to the murder of 17-year-old TikTok influencer Sana Yousaf. Violence against women in Pakistan is embedded within patriarchal structures, gendered power relations, and honor-based social norms. Using a qualitative approach and Fairclough’s three-dimensional model of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), the study examines textual, discursive, and social practices within 180 publicly visible social media comments collected from TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and X. The analysis identifies recurring patterns of male entitlement, victim-blaming, moral policing, and religious or cultural justification of violence. Comments often frame female autonomy and rejection as provocations deserving punishment, reflecting the intersection of global incel ideology with local patriarchal values. Findings reveal that online discourse not only mirrors offline social hierarchies but also normalizes misogyny and violence against women, highlighting the urgent need for digital literacy, awareness campaigns, and policy interventions. This study contributes to understanding how transnational ideological frameworks, such as incel logic, manifest in South Asian digital spaces, shaping attitudes toward women’s autonomy and reinforcing patriarchal control.
Copyright (c) 2025 Ayesha Siddiqua (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Imitation, Rebellion and the psychology of learning:A Bandurian study of the unconquered and the obedient in the Anthem by Ayn Rand
This research paper scrutinizes the intricate psychological mechanisms of conformity and resistance within the context of Ayn Rand’s dystopian novel Anthem through the lens of Albert Bandura’s Social Learning Theory. This research analysis intricately examines the divergence and convergence of observational learning and individual agency, where imitation intersects with rebellion by aiming to dissect the characters’ cognitive responses within the pressure of totalitarian conditioning and the constraint of oppressive collectivism. Additionally, it unravels the contrasting relationship between passive obedience and autonomous self-discovery as depicted through the novel’s central figures. Contrasting with the perspective of environmental determinism and behavioral passivity, the paper critically examines Bandura’s framework of attention, retention, reproduction, and motivation as mechanisms that enable individuals to embrace cognitive autonomy and break authoritarian traditions. Analyzing the concepts of selective attention, differential retention, and motivational reorientation, this paper elucidates the relationship between the psychology of learning and behavioral outcomes within oppressive systems. Ultimately, this paper presents a compelling argument about the psychological conditions under which resistance emerges, exhibiting how Anthem elucidates the interrelation between observational learning and the capacity for rebellion. The study arrives at the conclusion that the unconquered and the obedient are distinguished not by environmental exposure but by the cognitive processes through which they interpret, retain, and enact observed information under totalitarian control.
Copyright (c) 2025 Amna Ilyas (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Elegy for a Dying Order: Narrative Form and Historical Consciousness in Lampedusa’s The Leopard
This paper explores the aesthetic and structural brilliance of Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s The Leopard (1958), with particular attention to its unique narrative form, historical context, and the philosophical resonance of its central character, Don Fabrizio. The novel’s fragmented chronology, tableau-style chapters, and reflective tone subvert conventional plot-driven storytelling, offering instead a deeply textured portrait of a society in transition during Italy’s Risorgimento. Drawing on Paul Ricoeur’s theory of narrative temporality, this study interprets the novel as a work that transforms historical time into human time through the mediating function of narrative. Rather than presenting history as linear progress, Lampedusa configures it as a series of reflective, sensorially rich tableaux that foreground memory, resignation, and the dissolution of aristocratic identity. Through Ricoeur’s concepts of emplotment and the narrative self, the paper argues that The Leopard is less a conventional historical novel and more a lyrical meditation on mortality, cultural memory, and the ethical significance of storytelling. The novel's enduring power lies in its capacity to evoke a vanishing world through narrative forms that mirror the fragmentation and refiguration of time itself.
Copyright (c) 2025 Dr. Muhammad Mubashar Nawaz, Muhammad Abbas (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Ecocritical discourse analysis of The Echoing Green
This study undertakes an ecocritical discourse analysis of William Blake’s The Echoing Green, using Arran Stibbe’s ecolinguistic model as the theoretical framework. As environmental degradation and ecological disconnection intensify in the modern era, examining historical literary texts through an ecological lens has become a vital scholarly endeavor. Blake’s pastoral poem, rooted in Romantic traditions, is revisited here not merely as a literary artifact but as a linguistic ecology that encodes regenerative narratives about human-nature relationships. Stibbe’s model, outlined in Ecolinguistics: Language, Ecology and the Stories We Live By, offers a set of discourse features including framing, metaphor, evaluation, identity, and underlying ideology which are employed in this study to uncover the ecological meanings embedded in the poem.The analysis, conducted qualitatively through close textual reading, reveals that it constructs a pastoral-regenerative ecological story where nature is framed as an active, nurturing presence and human life is harmoniously situated within natural rhythms. Blake’s linguistic choices foreground themes of intergenerational continuity, ecological empathy, and the cyclical nature of time, while erasing conflict, environmental degradation, or domination.The significance of this study lies in its demonstration that literary texts, especially Romantic poetry, can serve as vehicles for ecological consciousness when analyzed through contemporary discourse frameworks. The implications extend to environmental humanities, literary studies, and ecolinguistics, suggesting that reinterpreting canonical works can aid in the cultivation of environmental values aligned with ecological reciprocity and resilience. This research contributes to ongoing scholarly efforts to identify “stories we live by” that support rather than undermine ecological integrity.
Copyright (c) 2025 Dr. Muhammad Ansar Ejaz (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Exploring Diasporalgia; An Akhtarian Study of the Psychological Impacts of Migration in Shamsie’s Burnt Shadows
A profound struggle, a search to construct a new identity while handling the aching absence of a homeland, often distinguishes a diasporic journey. Sometimes migrants experience continuous distress from the loss of cultural roots and community support as they are adjusting to new surroundings. Diasporalgia, a self-coined term, helps to explain the psychological pain individuals experience in diaspora due to the trauma of exile, identity displacement, and a constant yearning for their birthplace. By focusing particularly on the psychological concept of diasporalgia and using Akhtar's work on psychological effects of migration as framework, this paper adds to the body of knowledge already in existence and offers a sophisticated awareness of the emotional and psychological dimensions of displacement in Shamsie's Burnt Shadows (2009). The need to appreciate and repair the emotional scars caused by migration is underlined in this paper. It defines the immigrant experience and shows how the difficulty of relocation influences mental health as well as the continual search for a feeling of belonging in new surroundings.
Copyright (c) 2026 Nimra Razzaq (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Faith, Freedom, and the Journey of Selfhood: A Kierkegaardian Reading of Paul and Norman in A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean
This study examines how moral inwardness and existential choice shape the narrative world of Norman Maclean’s A River Runs Through It. Drawing on Kierkegaard’s conceptual framework of the aesthetic, ethical, and religious stages of existence (Kierkegaard, 1843/1987,1968), the research argues that the novella presents selfhood as a dynamic process constituted through reflective deliberation, ethical responsibility, and faith-informed engagement. The divergent trajectories of two central figures one oriented toward immediacy, sensation, and aesthetic gratification, the other guided by sustained ethical reflection and religious attentiveness—foreground the tension between impulse and inward commitment. Recreational pursuits, familial interactions, and contemplative engagement with nature operate as sites where freedom, moral responsibility, and selfhood intersect, revealing both the limits of external influence and the necessity of personal inward resolve. Episodes of aesthetic indulgence, ethical deliberation, and spiritual awareness illustrate the progressive movement through Kierkegaard’s stages, highlighting the precariousness of selfhood when inward reflection is absent and the transformative potential when ethical and religious inwardness is cultivated. The analysis demonstrates that Maclean’s narrative not only dramatizes the emergence of authentic selfhood but also illuminates the relational and existential dimensions of moral development, showing that selfhood is realized through deliberate choice, ongoing inward engagement, and a sustained negotiation between personal desire, ethical responsibility, and spiritual faith.
Copyright (c) 2025 Minahil Ali (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Paranoid Structures and Fractured Identities: A Postmodern Reading of A Streetcar Named Desire
This article explores the ways in which paranoid tensions and fractured identities shape the dramatic universe of A Streetcar Named Desire. The analysis argues that the play anticipates key postmodern concerns by presenting characters whose sense of self is unstable, fluid, and continually challenged by competing versions of truth. Blanche emerges as the central figure of psychological dislocation, shifting between multiple performed identities in an attempt to manage her unraveling inner world. Her desire to remake reality according to personal fantasy exposes the fragility of the self when confronted with traumatic memory and social judgment. In contrast, Stanley embodies an aggressive insistence on certainty, order, and dominance, yet his behavior also reflects a deeper insecurity that fuels his need to control the narrative surrounding him. Stella becomes caught between these conflicting perspectives, revealing how subjectivity is shaped not by clear truths but by the narratives individuals choose—or are compelled—to believe. The play’s setting and structure further reinforce this atmosphere of uncertainty. The cramped apartment, shifting emotional landscapes, and Blanche’s weakening grasp on past and present dissolve the boundaries between illusion and fact. As the characters navigate a world marked by suspicion, competing realities, and the erosion of stable meaning, the drama reveals a deeper cultural condition in which identity can no longer be grounded in unified experience. Ultimately, the article contends that Streetcar portrays not only personal collapse but also a wider postmodern sensibility characterized by fragmentation, distrust, and the continual negotiation of truth
Copyright (c) 2025 Afaq Ali (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Specters of the Past: Linda Hutcheon’s Historiographic Metafiction and the Haunted House in Oscar Wilde’s The Canterville Ghost
Examining Oscar Wilde's, The Canterville Ghost through the lens of Linda Hutcheon's theory of historiographic metafiction, this article questions how the novella simultaneously employs and subverts conventional ideas of historical portrayal. Examining the text's self-conscious engagement with gothic tropes, the novella's portrayal of anachronistic ghost, and the conflict between the antiquated British setting and the rational American family, the analysis will show how The Canterville Ghost questions the way historical narrative is constructed. Moreover, the sardonic tone and intertextual references of the book are taken as proof of Wilde's conscious participation with historical norms. In the end, this article contends that Wilde's novella serves as an example of historiographic metafiction, therefore encouraging a reevaluation of how we fictionalize the past.
Copyright (c) 2025 Maria Sajid, Nimra Razzaq, Asjad Mehmood (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Scrutinizing Violence and Identity in Makoha’s poem At Gunpoint: A Fanonian Reading
This paper analyses Nick Makoha's poem "At Gunpoint”. This paper aims to study the human body as a site of violence and revolt, this paper also aims to uncover how violence is inevitable in order to proclaim identity. The research uses Frantz Fanon's concepts of colonialism and violence. This study finds that this poem shows that the violence due to colonialism affects the body, it portrays the broken sense of self caused by colonialism (including betrayal within the oppressed). Additionally, this study explores the way this poem deals with the complicated idea of revolutionary violence as a path to freedom. This poem finds that the violence is inevitable in the quest for identity. By connecting the poem to Frantz Fanon's concept of Colonial violence and also interpreting the poem in the historical context of Idi Amin's controversial regime in Uganda. The study exposes that there is a lasting psychological impact upon the colonized who experience the wrath of violence. The lost of identity and psychological dilemma is also an outcome of this research. This study concludes that the political impact of colonialism is present in both, the postcolonial societies and literature produced in the societies once colonized, whether by some external power or the natives.
Copyright (c) 2024 qurat ul ain (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Decoding Power and Patriarchy in The Pakistani Bride: A Critical Discourse Analysis
This study investigates the construction, reinforcement, and occasional contestation of patriarchal power and gender inequality through linguistic practices in Bapsi Sidhwa’s The Pakistani Bride. Set against the backdrop of Pakistan’s socio-culturally rigid tribal regions, the novel provides a compelling literary space for examining how discourse reproduces broader structures of dominance, subjugation, and resistance. Employing Teun A. van Dijk’s socio-cognitive model of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA), the research analyzes selected textual passages to reveal how linguistic features—such as transitivity patterns, modality, and lexical selection—shape the representation of male dominance and female marginalization. The study also sheds light on narrative strategies that craft subtle forms of female agency, including metaphorical expressions, interior monologues, and shifts in narrative perspective that allow women characters to challenge or renegotiate oppressive social norms. Findings indicate that patriarchal ideologies are embedded not only in explicit social hierarchies but also within the cognitive structures and discursive habits of both characters and readers. By bridging linguistic analysis with socio-cultural context, the research offers a nuanced understanding of the ways literature can reflect, critique, and reshape perceptions of gendered power relations. Integrating van Dijk’s theoretical model into literary discourse analysis, the study contributes meaningfully to feminist CDA, postcolonial literary inquiry, and gender-focused narrative studies. Ultimately, the research affirms that literary texts serve not merely as artistic expressions but as ideological instruments capable of influencing readers’ understandings of power, resistance, and gender dynamics within culturally specific settings.
Copyright (c) 2025 Dr. Muhammad Ansar Ejaz, Intazar Hussain, Arooj Anwar (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Gramsci’s marxist analysis of short story “Engine Trouble” by RK Narayan.
This research examines R. K. Narayan’s short story Engine Trouble through Antonio Gramsci’s Marxist theoretical lens, arguing that dominant ideologies are not forcibly imposed on individuals but are subtly woven into cultural structures through language, institutions, and collective beliefs. This integration makes social inequalities appear natural, inevitable, or even invisible. Using critical concepts such as hegemony, commodification, the illusion of progress, and bureaucratic indifference, the study investigates how the characters either internalize, resist, or question the ideological forces shaping their lives. The analysis highlights how capitalist ideology commodifies human relationships, values, and even suffering, transforming them into objects of exchange and control. At the same time, the narrative exposes the deceptive promises of progress that keep genuine social transformation perpetually deferred. By tracing these mechanisms of ideological signification, the research reveals not only the pervasive weight of ideological control but also the small yet meaningful spaces within the text that allow for potential resistance, agency, and counter-hegemony. Ultimately, this study demonstrates that literature functions not merely as a passive reflection of societal structures but actively participates in shaping social consciousness. Through narrative strategies, symbolic representations, and character experiences, literature quietly instructs readers on how to live within existing social frameworks—or how to imagine alternatives beyond them.
Copyright (c) 2025 Zain Hashmi, Qurat ul ain (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Self-Sufficient but Emotionally Starved: A Thematic Analysis of Emotional Maturity and Relationship Failures in Selected Indian Movies
In recent years, women’s financial independence and expanding social roles have transformed the structure of modern relationships, especially within South Asian contexts. However, this progress has not eliminated the persistent issue of emotional deprivation experienced by many self-sufficient women. This study examines the gap between material autonomy and emotional fulfillment through a thematic analysis of selected Indian films. Guided by a feminist theoretical perspective, the research explores how emotional maturity, communication patterns, and gendered expectations contribute to relationship instability and emotional distress. Using qualitative thematic analysis, the study closely investigates narrative choices, character interactions, and cinematic techniques that highlight emotional imbalance between partners. The findings reveal that women frequently carry the weight of emotional labor, while male characters often display emotional immaturity, resistance to communication, or a lack of reciprocal emotional engagement. These factors collectively lead to unresolved conflicts, relational breakdowns, and inner turmoil for women. By analyzing these portrayals, the study sheds light on broader cultural issues surrounding emotional wellbeing, gender roles, and evolving relationship dynamics, making the discussion relevant to both contemporary social discourse and film studies.
Copyright (c) 2024 Ali Hamza (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
The Lived Experience of Failure: Psychological and Emotional Impacts on Intermediate-Level Students
This paper investigates the psychological and emotional repercussions of academic failure among Intermediate-level students through the application of the grounded theory method. While existing research frequently identifies the structural and pedagogical causes of student failure, far less attention has been paid to the subjective experiences and mental states of students in the aftermath of failure. Grounded theory enables close, sustained engagement with affected students, allowing the researcher to inductively trace the emergence of key psychological conditions—including shame, diminished self-worth, and heightened anxiety—that shape their responses to academic setbacks. The study further reveals that confrontational or punitive attitudes exhibited by parents and teachers intensify students’ feelings of guilt and emotional distress. By foregrounding students’ lived experiences, this research contributes to a more holistic understanding of failure and underscores the need for empathetic, psychologically informed educational practices.
Copyright (c) 2024 Dr. Muhammad Mubashar Nawaz (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Lexico-Semantic Mapping of Mortality: Emily Dickinson’s Stylistic Choices in Focus
This study undertakes a qualitative stylistic analysis of Emily Dickinson’s poem Because I Could Not Stop for Death, employing Mick Short’s stratified model as presented in Exploring the Language of Poems, Plays and Prose (1996). The model’s layered linguistic framework spanning phonology, graphology, morphology, syntax, lexis, semantics, pragmatics, and discourse enables a holistic exploration of the stylistic features that construct and reinforce the poem’s central theme of mortality. Through detailed analysis of each stanza, the study uncovers how Dickinson’s precise lexical choices, metrical subtlety, syntactic structures, and discourse framing collaboratively personify Death as a civil companion and reframe the passage into death as a serene, philosophical journey rather than a fearful end. The findings illustrate that Dickinson’s manipulation of linguistic layers conveys profound temporal and existential paradoxes where death becomes timeless, and the speaker’s realization of eternity transforms her perception of life. The significance of the study lies in its demonstration of how Short’s model supports a granular yet cohesive analysis of poetic language, revealing the interplay between stylistic choices and thematic depth. Implications extend to literary pedagogy, offering teachers a systematic framework for guiding close textual analysis; to students, a clearer pathway to interpreting poetic meaning through linguistic evidence; and to researchers, a replicable model for examining other literary texts across genres. The integration of stylistic theory and poetic analysis enriches literary scholarship, bridging linguistic form with literary function.
Copyright (c) 2024 Dr. Muhammad Ansar Ejaz, Muhammad Owais Ifzal, Intazar Hussain (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Gender role reversal in Dostoevsky’s “The Meek One”
This research investigates the shifting of gender roles in Fyodor Dostoevsky’s short story The Meek One, focusing on how these shifts contribute to the ultimate tragedy of the characters. Traditional gender expectations typically assign authority, dominance, and emotional restraint to men, while associating passivity, submissiveness, and emotional expression with women. However, this study explores how Dostoevsky reverses these roles, portraying the male protagonist as emotionally unstable, insecure, and obsessively controlling, while the female character, though silent and meek in appearance, exhibits emotional resilience, psychological strength, and moral superiority. The research draws upon existing literary and gender studies, incorporating a multidisciplinary approach to better understand how literary narratives reflect and challenge established gender norms. A significant part of the theoretical framework is informed by Copenhaver's dissertation, which provides valuable insights into the gender dynamics present in 19th-century Russian literature. Through close textual analysis, this study reveals that the inversion of gender roles destabilizes the relationship between the characters, creating a power imbalance that intensifies emotional alienation and leads to the eventual demise of the female character. Thus, the tragedy in The Meek One is not merely personal but rooted in a broader conflict of reversed roles and societal expectations. By examining this complex interaction, the study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of gender in literature and bridges the gap between literary criticism and gender theory.
Copyright (c) 2025 Zain Hashmi (Author) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0