Negotiating Tradition and Modernity: Women’s Voice, Identity, and Empowerment in the Poetry of Sarojini Naidu

Mr. Bhagwant Rao Nandeshwar ¹,  Dr. Rituraj Trivedi ²  

1  Research Scholar, Department of English & Foreign Languages, Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, Amarkantak, Madhya  Pradesh, India  

Corresponding author: Mr. Bhagwant Rao Nandeshwar,   E-mail: bhagwantrao030@gmail.com

2  Assistant Professor, Department of English & Foreign Languages, Indira Gandhi National Tribal University, Amarkantak, Madhya  Pradesh, India

E-mail: riturajtrivedi.bog@gmail.com

Issue: Vol. 2 No. 3 (September 2026) – Anubodhan

Received: 23 September 2026 / Revised: 27 September / Accepted: 30 September 2026 / Published: 30 September 2026

DOI: https://doi.org/10.65885/anubodhan.v2n3.2026.132

Abstract

This paper looks at Sarojini Naidu’s poetry. It reflects her ability to harmonise ancient Indian customs and beliefs with contemporary thought. It is about the lives of women during the colonial era in India. Four poems are studied here: “The Pardah Nashin,” “The Indian Gipsy,” “The Song of Princess Zeb-un-Nissa in Praise of Her Own Beauty,” and “The Gift of India.” These poems are read in the context of purdah, arranged marriage and the nationalistic transition. Naidu doesn’t attempt to balance tradition and change. She maintains suspense and tension. Each poem takes a different place on the line between confinement and self-assertion. “The Pardah Nashin” portrays tradition as both beautiful and burdensome. It concludes in a tranquil sadness. In “The Song of Princess Zeb-un-Nissa,” a historical woman can sing about her beauty without any embarrassment. “The Indian Gipsy” portrays a woman who is unconfined by domestic circumstances. “The Gift of India” transforms a mother’s personal anguish into a public appeal in the First World War. The paper uses postcolonial and feminist ideas, including Partha Chatterjee’s thoughts on nationalism and Gayatri Spivak’s views on silenced women. It takes Naidu’s female speakers to the limit and beyond their time. Naidu’s true brilliance is in her incomplete voice for her women. They are partial and difficult to identify. It is still a loss that it carries. But this voice serves as a basis for later Indian women writers in English.

Keywords: Sarojini Naidu, tradition and modernity, women’s voice, identity, empowerment, colonial India.

How to cite: Nandeshwar, B. R. & Trivedi, R. (2026). Negotiating Tradition and Modernity: Women’s Voice, Identity, and Empowerment in the Poetry of Sarojini Naidu. Anubodhan, 2(3), 362–368. https://doi.org/10.65885/anubodhan.v2n3.2026.132