By the final decades of the nineteenth century, the child-wife had come under the purview of reformist legislation in British India. Infant marriage was widely prevalent in most parts of the subcontinent and in imitation of the high dogmatic standards set by brahmanical castes, other lower castes and classes too adopted early marriage. Besides religious directives, believers in child marriage put forth many other ‘practical’ reasons for the continuance of this practice. They argued that such indissoluble marriage that practically lasted from birth to death signified a higher form of love and bonding that surpassed mere physical desires. Magniloquence about infant marriage, however, hid from immediate view its evil effects. More pernicious and direct effects of infant marriage were sexual abuse of child-wives, their premature motherhood, and widespread widowhood. Though largely overlooked, women writers did use their pens to raise awareness on this issue. This chapter concentrates on short stories by Cornelia Sorabji and M.P. Seelavathi Amma.
Writing to Delight. Italian Short Stories by Nineteenth Century Women Writers