Woman and Challenges of Romanticism and Realism in Bozorg Alavi’s Novel ‘Her Eyes’

Woman have always had various roles and impacts on the society and literature throughout history; influences that were both positive and negative from time to time. ‘Her Eyes’ by Bozorg Alavi is a political-romantic story. This study intends to investigate women’s features in this book through a descriptive-analytical approach. ‘Her Eyes’ depicts sacrifice of love to political pursuits and represents women’s position in Reza Shah’s society. According to this article, women are nothing but tools for men. In this book, the main character is a woman who is engaged in her romantic affairs that is to love Master Makan on the one hand, and has sociopolitical issues on the other. Woman is a symbol of beauty, seduction, misery and courage; one who is hopeless and oppressed; one who is between innocence and guilt. Misogyny in this story is a reflection of an era in which the writer intends to transform; an era in which patriarchy rules. Misogyny is considered a public disorder in this society; women exist in the shadow of men. In this book, women attain a relative superficial freedom through influences from the West. The results show that ‘Her Eyes’ by Bozorg Alavi is a realistic work to which romanticism is intermingled and it reflects the writer’s lifetime that is amalgamated with love and social-political issues that has led to creating a celebrated work.