The Representation of Women Characters as a Tool of Empowerment in Heart Lamp: Selected Stories by Banu Mushtaq

Contemporary Indian literature has increasingly become a powerful space for articulating women's voices, experiences, and resistance against patriarchal structures.Heart Lamp: Selected Stories by Banu Mushtaq stands as a significant literary text that foregrounds the lived realities of women, particularly those belonging to marginalised and conservative social settings.This paper examines how Mushtaq represents women characters not as silent sufferers but as conscious individuals who negotiate, resist, and redefine their identities within restrictive socio-cultural frameworks.Through an analysis of selected stories, the study explores themes of autonomy, resilience, emotional strength, and silent rebellion, arguing that the text functions as a narrative of women empowerment rooted in everyday struggles rather than overt heroism.The paper highlights how literary representation itself becomes an empowering act by validating women's experiences and granting them narrative agency.