Voicing the Unvoiced: Exploring the Themes of Prostitution through Verbal Irony in Gangubai Kathiawadi

Abstract

Using the theoretical framework of I.A Richards’ New Criticism, the researcher reveals the covert realities of society and the social treatment towards prostitutes through the plot of Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s movie “Gangubai (2022)”. The researcher, by depicting verbal irony in conversations, signifies the character’s delineation, social critique, and narrative subversion in the movie. These conversational moments are taken as the primary context for the research analysis which follows the qualitative research methodology. It decodes the social conditioning of prostitutes, labeled untouchables and unacceptable, by evaluating the pretentious morality of well-reputed patriarchy and socially accepted against fairgrounds of true morality. It also signifies the truth of political power dynamics by revealing the influencing capabilities of prostitutes. Thus, any fair and moral individual, capable of social guardianship should be given the responsibility of society for prosperity, moral and social peace irrespective of any pathetic conditioned codification. Other practical principles of New Criticism including formal analysis, attentive reading, and attention to textual ambiguity are also implemented by the researcher.