Social Class and Access to Education in Pyarichand Mitra’s Literary Works

Author(s)	Dr. Biman Mitra
Country	India
Abstract	The intricate relationship between social class and access to education in the literary works of Pyarichand Mitra, one of the earliest novelists in Bengali literature. Set against the backdrop of 19th-century colonial Bengal, Pyarichand Mitra's narratives reflect the socio-economic stratification of his time, where education functioned as both a symbol of modernity and a means of social mobility—yet remained largely inaccessible to the lower classes. By analyzing key texts such as Alaler Gharer Dulal, this study highlights how Pyarichand Mitra critically engages with the disparities in educational opportunities among different social strata. His characters often embody the tensions between tradition and progress, privilege and deprivation, thereby exposing the systemic barriers that restricted educational advancement to the elite. Pyarichand Mitra’s nuanced depiction of these dynamics underscores the broader colonial and indigenous forces at play in shaping access to knowledge and reform. The paper argues that Pyarichand Mitra not only documented these inequalities but also subtly challenged them by advocating for moral and social reform through literature. In doing so, he contributed to the larger discourse on education and social justice in colonial India.
Keywords	Novelists, Access, Nuanced, Colonial.
Field	Sociology > Education
Published In	Volume 16, Issue 2, April-June 2025
Published On	2025-06-25

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