Why Sheena would be Bronte's ideal female heroine for unreciprocated love

Jane, the protagonist of Jane Eyre, and Sheena, the only possible antagonist in the drama, Dhoop Kinarey are similar in various ways. Both were women who pursued what they wanted in terms of their occupation. Sheena, however, has a full-fledged career which throughout the drama is shown to require a complete dedication and commitment to the field. Although Bronte does not designate Jane as a professional, but a teacher, who becomes a governess and then runs a village school brings up the bold idea of an aspiration among women to immerse themselves in a service-oriented occupation. Jane could very well have become an educationist by the end of the novel and Sheena is already a doctor in Hasina Moin’s drama, which would have been Bronte’s female ideal.

Jane and Sheena are to be admired for the courage they show in disclosing their feelings to the men they love. Both exist in social circumstances that forbid this expression; instead the norm is to conceal any form of love between men and women. Jane expresses her love when Mr Rochestor plays a game pretending to get married to Blanche, as an act of resisting the torment to her feelings. Sheena, on the other hand, sometimes playfully, sometimes seriously gives subtle (and not so subtle) hints of her affection.

Their methods differed but they not only expressed themselves regardless of social conventions but went on to actively fight for their love rather than allow it to be compromised. Jane does not allow St John to denounce Mr Rochestor when he recounts to her the communication he received about the bigamy. She refuses St John’s offer of marriage to return to Thornfield and seeks Mr Rochestor out. Sheena openly expresses her honest love to Dr Ahmer and, actively attempts to eliminate her competition, Zoya. She is disappointed when he does not reciprocate and rather than quietly disappearing she tells Ahmer that she in marrying Nasir Jamal, she was crushing the dreams she had for Ahmer (“tum se Nasir Jamal tak ka fasla mein apny khaabon ki dhijoon per chal kar tey karun gi”)

Sheena is not materially acquisitive- it is only her way to reconcile herself to a marriage she is not interested in, condemned to loneliness. Jane, after a life of poverty, finds herself an heiress and decides to enter into a happy union as an already wealthy woman. Either way, wealth is not the motivator but what either destroys one or creates favorable circumstances for the other. Both women enter a life of wealth towards the end of their narratives though the consequence for each is different.