The Bangle Sellers

BY SAROJINI NAIDU

Summary:
“The Bangle Sellers” celebrates the vibrant, traditional craft of Indian bangle makers. Each color of their wares symbolizes a distinct stage of a woman’s life—from silver and blue for young girls, golden for brides, flame-red for married love, to purple-and-gold grey for mature devotion. The poem portrays the bangle sellers at a temple fair, selling rainbow-hued glass bangles that reflect the emotional journey of Indian womanhood. Rooted in cultural pride, the poem subtly undermines colonial dominance by uplifting native artisans.

Themes:
Tradition, femininity, cultural identity, stages of womanhood, and subtle nationalism.

सारांश:
“द बैंगल सेलर्स” कविता में भारतीय चूड़ी निर्माताओं के रंग-बिरंगे व्यावसायिक जीवन का चित्रण है। हर रंग किसी महिला के जीवन के एक पड़ाव का प्रतीक है—चांदी-ब्लू युवा कन्याओं के लिए, सुनहरे दुल्हन के लिए, अग्नि रंग विवाहित जीवन में प्रेम का और बैंगनी-सोने वाले मध्यम आयु की समर्पितता का प्रतीक। कविता में निर्माताओं की मौजूदगी एक मेला दृश्य बनाती है। यह कविता भारतीय संस्कृति और स्वाभिमान को उजागर करती है।

Section 1: Literal Understanding

Q1. What do the bangles in the poem represent?

a) Wealth and status
b) Stages of a woman’s life ✅
c) British colonial influence
d) Festival lights

Q2. Who are “we” in the opening line?

a) Married women
b) Bangle sellers ✅
c) Temple priests
d) Young girls

Q3. Where do the sellers take their wares?

a) City market
b) Temple fair ✅
c) Village square
d) Riverbank

Q4. Silver and blue bangles are meant for:

a) Brides
b) Mature women
c) Young maidens ✅
d) Widows

Q5. Flame-colored bangles symbolize:

a) Bridal fire and love ✅
b) Sorrow and loss
c) Maturity
d) Peace

Section 2: Inference & Analysis

Q6. “Rainbow-tinted circles of light” refers to:

a) Gods at the temple
b) Colorful bangles ✅
c) Wedding fireworks
d) Temple lamps

Q7. Which phrase evokes imagery of a young girl’s dreams?

a) “Fields of sunlit corn”
b) “Buds that dream…” ✅
c) “Purple and gold flecked grey”
d) “Flame of her marriage fire”

Q8. Purple and gold-flecked grey bangles symbolize:

a) Youthful hope
b) Bridal passion
c) Middle-aged maturity ✅
d) Childhood innocence

Q9. The poem subtly criticizes colonial rule by:

a) Praising Indian craftsmanship ✅
b) Referencing the Queen
c) Using English rhyme
d) Listing British-made goods

Q10. The overall tone of the poem is:

a) Sorrowful
b) Celebratory and reverent ✅
c) Aggressive
d) Satirical

Q11. What do the “crimson and silver bangles” symbolize?

a) Fun and excitement
b) Marriage and happiness
c) Childhood and innocence
d) Old age and wisdom
Answer: b) Marriage and happiness

Q12. According to the poem, who wears “sunlit bangles”?

a) A widow
b) A bride
c) A young girl
d) A maiden
Answer: d) A maiden

Q13. What is the tone of the poem “The Bangle Sellers”?

a) Angry
b) Joyful and lyrical
c) Sad and melancholic
d) Humorous
Answer: b) Joyful and lyrical

Q14. What do the “purple and gold flecked grey” bangles represent?

a) A bride’s joy
b) A mother’s pride
c) A young girl’s dreams
d) A dancer’s freedom
Answer: b) A mother’s pride

Q15. Who is the poet of “The Bangle Sellers”?

a) Toru Dutt
b) Rabindranath Tagore
c) Sarojini Naidu
d) Kamala Das
Answer: c) Sarojini Naidu

Q16. What is the form of the poem?

a) Sonnet
b) Ode
c) Free verse
d) Lyric
Answer: d) Lyric

Q17. Which poetic device is used in “shining loads”?

a) Simile
b) Metaphor
c) Alliteration
d) Onomatopoeia
Answer: c) Alliteration

Q18. Which of the following is NOT a theme of the poem?

a) Indian womanhood
b) Love and marriage
c) Political freedom
d) Beauty of tradition
Answer: c) Political freedom

Q19. What color is associated with the bride’s emotions?

a) Green
b) Yellow
c) Crimson
d) Grey
Answer: c) Crimson

Q20. “Some are flushed like the buds that dream…” This line shows:

a) Boredom
b) Liveliness of youth
c) Dullness of life
d) Pain of old age
Answer: b) Liveliness of youth

Q21. What kind of bangles do unmarried girls wear in the poem?

a) White and red
b) Blue and green
c) Silver and grey
d) Yellow and orange
Answer: b) Blue and green

Q22. What is the central idea of “The Bangle Sellers”?

a) The profession of bangle selling
b) Life stages of an Indian woman
c) Women empowerment
d) The poet’s love for bangles
Answer: b) Life stages of an Indian woman

Q23. What do “lustrous tokens of radiant lives” refer to?

a) Colors of marriage rituals
b) Bright bangles for happy women
c) Expensive jewelry
d) Family traditions
Answer: b) Bright bangles for happy women

Q24. What do “fields of sunlit corn” symbolize in the poem?

a) Fertility and harvest
b) Bridal happiness and prosperity
c) Bright yellow bangles
d) Village life
Answer: b) Bridal happiness and prosperity

Q25. Which stage of womanhood is symbolized by purple and gold flecked grey bangles?

a) Girlhood
b) Bridehood
c) Motherhood
d) Widowhood
Answer: c) Motherhood

Q26. Which of the following lines represents bride’s dreams?

a) “Crimson and silver bangles”
b) “Bridal laughter and bridal tear”
c) “Meet for a maiden’s wrist”
d) “Shining loads to the temple fair”
Answer: b) “Bridal laughter and bridal tear”

Q27. What is the rhyme scheme used in the poem?

a) abab
b) aabb
c) abba
d) free verse
Answer: a) abab

Q28. What do the bangle sellers carry?

a) Golden ornaments
b) Pots of color
c) Shining loads
d) Clay statues
Answer: c) Shining loads

Q29. What does the phrase “tinkling, luminous, tender” describe?

a) Bride’s eyes
b) Unmarried girls
c) Bangles
d) Wedding songs
Answer: c) Bangles

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Q30. What do green bangles in the poem symbolize?

a) Prosperity
b) Nature and freshness
c) Youth
d) Old age
Answer: c) Youth

Q31. What poetic device is used in the line “some are flushed like the buds that dream”?

a) Alliteration
b) Metaphor
c) Simile
d) Hyperbole
Answer: c) Simile

Q32. The line “tinkling, luminous, tender” uses which literary device?

a) Personification
b) Repetition
c) Alliteration
d) Onomatopoeia
Answer: c) Alliteration

Q33. Who is the main speaker in the poem?

a) A bride
b) A mother
c) A bangle seller
d) The poet herself
Answer: c) A bangle seller

Q34. What is the cultural context of the poem?

a) Bengali culture
b) Mughal culture
c) Tribal traditions
d) Traditional Indian society
Answer: d) Traditional Indian society

Q35. The poem celebrates:

a) Marriage rituals
b) Economic struggle
c) Indian womanhood
d) Urbanization
Answer: c) Indian womanhood

Q36. Why are bangles significant in the poem?

a) They are used to attract buyers
b) They represent fashion
c) They symbolize different phases in a woman’s life
d) They represent religious rituals
Answer: c) They symbolize different phases in a woman’s life

Q37. What is the bride’s emotional state as expressed in the poem?

a) Sad and lonely
b) Joyful and free
c) Both joy and sorrow
d) Angry and upset
Answer: c) Both joy and sorrow

Q38. Which stanza talks about motherhood?

a) First
b) Second
c) Third
d) Fourth
Answer: d) Fourth

Q39. What does “flushed” mean in the line “Some are flushed like the buds that dream”?

a) Cold
b) Pale
c) Glowing or blushing
d) Transparent
Answer: c) Glowing or blushing

Q40. Who wrote “The Bangle Sellers”?

a) Toru Dutt
b) Sarojini Naidu
c) Kamala Das
d) R.K. Narayan
Answer: b) Sarojini Naidu

Q41. In which collection was “The Bangle Sellers” first published?

a) The Golden Threshold
b) The Broken Wing
c) Songs of India
d) None of these
Answer: a) The Golden Threshold

Q42. What does “faithful wife’s heart’s desire” symbolize?

a) Loyalty
b) Materialism
c) Wealth
d) Mourning
Answer: a) Loyalty

Q43. What does the poem suggest about the role of women in society?

a) Women are powerless
b) Women go through a series of roles with grace
c) Women should remain silent
d) Women should avoid tradition
Answer: b) Women go through a series of roles with grace

Q44. The mood of the poem is mostly:

a) Melancholy
b) Hopeful and celebratory
c) Angry
d) Tragic
Answer: b) Hopeful and celebratory

Q45. What does “temple fair” refer to?

a) A religious gathering where bangles are sold
b) A market place
c) A bride’s house
d) A fair for children
Answer: a) A religious gathering where bangles are sold

Q46. What is being compared in the line “like the flame of her marriage fire”?

a) Flame to happiness
b) Bangles to marriage ritual
c) Dreams to fire
d) Bride to temple
Answer: b) Bangles to marriage ritual

Q47. What kind of imagery is used in the poem?

a) Visual and auditory
b) Gustatory and tactile
c) Olfactory
d) Minimal imagery
Answer: a) Visual and auditory

Q48. The poem ends with reference to which life stage of a woman?

a) Childhood
b) Old age
c) Motherhood
d) Widowhood
Answer: c) Motherhood

Q49. “Bangle Sellers” as a poem is rich in:

a) War imagery
b) Technical vocabulary
c) Symbolism and color imagery
d) Horror elements
Answer: c) Symbolism and color imagery

Q50. What does the poem emphasize through bangles?

a) Value of gold
b) Beauty and strength of Indian womanhood
c) Competition in business
d) Urban society’s trends
Answer: b) Beauty and strength of Indian womanhood

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