Gender Discourses in Ali’s Twilight in Delhi: A Hallidayan Perspective

Abstract

This paper explores the influence of gender roles on power relations between men and women in Ahmed Ali’s Twilight in Delhi. Using Halliday’s systemic functional linguistics, the paper examines how language shapes social realities. By analyzing linguistic choices such as existential, mental, and material processes, the study reveals how societal hierarchies, particularly related to gender, are embedded in character discourses. Interactions, especially between characters like Begum Nihal and Begum Waheed, highlight gender- and class-based power imbalances. The study finds that Twilight in Delhi uses language to reflect societal hierarchies, particularly highlighting the pressures faced by women in a patriarchal setting. Dialogues among characters, especially Begum Nihal and Begum Waheed, reveal subtle attempts by women to assert influence within male-dominated structures. The study also finds out the women’s limited intervention and deep-rooted expectations of obedience within both family and society.