https://ar.iub.edu.bd/handle/11348/1237 Sat, 27 Jun 2026 09:23:15 GMT 2026-06-27T09:23:15Z https://ar.iub.edu.bd/handle/11348/1256 Women in gothic fiction and their critics Islam, Prathama Shuddha Gothic novels have developed a reputation of featuring a certain stereotype of women to the extent that the "damsel in distress" is considered a Gothic trope. In this paper, I re-assess the fairness of that analysis by examining two Gothic classic- Emily Bronte's Wuthering heights and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and one that satirizes and comments on gothic fiction and its audience Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey. By discrediting women in classic gothic fiction, critics of gothic fiction also undermine the women who have written these pieces. Mon, 01 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://ar.iub.edu.bd/handle/11348/1256 2025-12-01T00:00:00Z https://ar.iub.edu.bd/handle/11348/1249 Upward mobility and the naturalization of household norms in Vivek Shanbhag’s Ghachar Oishee, Nurjahan This thesis examines the relationship between economic transformation, class mobility, and ideological change in Vivek Shanbhag’s Ghochar through a Marxist theoretical framework. The study explores how the family’s transition from poverty to prosperity reshapes authority, morality, identity, and interpersonal relationships within the household. Drawing on Marx’s concepts of base and superstructure and alienation, along with Louis Althusser’s theory of ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses (ISA), the research argues that economic advancement in the novella produces not only material comfort but also profound psychological and ideological consequences. Through qualitative textual analysis and close reading, the study demonstrates how the success of the family business restructures domestic power relations, normalizes obedience, and transforms family rituals into mechanisms of ideological control. The narrator’s purposelessness, silence, and emotional detachment are interpreted as forms of alienation resulting from insulation from meaningful labor. Furthermore, the study analyzes how the family naturalizes authority and suppresses dissent through everyday practices, particularly in its treatment of Anita, whose resistance exposes the ideological foundations of the household. Ultimately, the thesis argues that Ghochar presents upward mobility as an ideological transformation that redefines moral values, social roles, and emotional ties under conditions of modern capitalism and neoliberal social change. This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts (BA) in English Literature (EL), 2025. Mon, 01 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://ar.iub.edu.bd/handle/11348/1249 2025-12-01T00:00:00Z https://ar.iub.edu.bd/handle/11348/1248 Exile and Isolation: Transformation in Oedipus at Colonus Sakhawat, Jafna Binte In the second play of the trilogy, Oedipus the King, Oedipus, solves the riddle of the Sphinx, saves Thebes and becomes its king. Proud and nonchalant, he openly criticized the person who is the cause of pollution and the long aridity in Thebes. He also announces a harsh punishment by saying, “Drive him out, each of you, from every home. He is the plague, the heart of our corruption” (275), without the knowledge of him being the culprit. He also promises to bring justice to Laius’ murder, saying, “So, I will fight for him as if he were my father” (301), being unaware that Laius is his father. This highlights the tragic irony of his situation. This thesis is submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts (BA) in English Literature (EL), 2025. Mon, 01 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMT https://ar.iub.edu.bd/handle/11348/1248 2025-12-01T00:00:00Z