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Heer-Ranjha and Sohni-Mahiwal can be read as stories in which women take the initiative in love while men appear comparatively passive. But “turning gender roles on their head” is an interpretation, not a universal verdict on every version: the heroines’ choices unfold in worlds that constrain women, and their resistance does not guarantee a happy ending.
What makes these legends open to a feminist reading?
In Haroon Khalid’s 2017 account, the women are the active lovers: Sohni risks a dangerous river crossing to reach Mahiwal, while Heer maintains her bond with Ranjha after a marriage imposed against her wishes. Khalid contrasts that initiative with the men’s relative passivity. This framing highlights who chooses, acts and bears risk, rather than assuming that romantic devotion is automatically empowering. Khalid’s account in Scroll.in is an interpretation of particular narrative versions, not proof of one definitive original.
| # | Preview | Product | Price | |
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Heer Waris Shah: Translated by M.Munawar Butt | $15.00 | Buy on Amazon |
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HEER-RANJHA (CLASSIC PUNJABI FOLKTALES COLLECTION) | $5.07 | Buy on Amazon |
| 3 |
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Heer Ranjha | $40.00 | Buy on Amazon |
| 4 |
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Heer Ranjha | $1.78 | Buy on Amazon |
| 5 |
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Heer Ranjha: The Romeo and Juliet of Punjab | $6.77 | Buy on Amazon |
How does Sohni’s story challenge expectations?
Sohni chooses action and bears the physical risk
In the version Khalid recounts, Sohni crosses the Chenab with an earthen pot to meet Mahiwal. Her sister-in-law replaces it with a half-baked pot that dissolves in the water, and Sohni drowns. The crossing makes Sohni the story’s active lover: she undertakes the dangerous journey rather than waiting for the man to come to her. Yet the ending makes the cost of that agency stark. Her initiative is not rewarded with safety or freedom.
Khalid also discusses Sufi symbolism in the tale, so the crossing can carry meanings beyond a straightforward story of romance. Neither that interpretation nor the plot details should be treated as universal across all tellings; regional and oral variants are not settled by the available accounts.
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How does Heer’s story challenge expectations?
Heer sustains a choice under an imposed marriage
Khalid describes Heer as married against her wishes and sent away with her husband’s family. Ranjha becomes a jogi, and the two later meet secretly at Heer’s marital home. In this telling, Heer maintains her attachment despite a marriage arranged for her, while Ranjha’s response is comparatively passive. The conflict is not simply between two lovers and their families: it exposes how little control Heer has over the terms of her marriage.
Scholarship focused on Waris Shah’s literary Heer adds an important qualification. Naima Tassadiq and Tazanfal Tehseem describe Heer as courageous and aware of her rights, but still subject to male power. Their article page is dated 13 March 2023, while the journal issue is identified as Volume 10 (2022); the two dates refer to different publication metadata. Read the study in the Balochistan Journal of Linguistics.
Agency does not erase patriarchal limits
A feminist reading need not turn the heroines into uncomplicated modern role models. A 2024 feminist critical discourse analysis of Heer and Mirza Sahiban argues that these narratives can also reproduce patriarchal ideals, including portrayals that emphasize women’s beauty, submission, obedience and devotion to men. That study concerns those literary narratives; it does not establish the same claims about Sohni’s portrayal.
The tension matters: a heroine can act boldly within a plot that still measures women through male desire or subjects their choices to family and social control. In these legends, female initiative and female constraint coexist. The 2024 analysis in Pakistan Social Sciences Review provides a counterpoint to readings that treat the stories as simple reversals of gender roles.
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A useful comparison: who chooses, who risks, and what follows?
| Question | Sohni-Mahiwal in Khalid’s account | Heer-Ranjha in Khalid’s account |
|---|---|---|
| Who initiates or sustains the relationship? | Sohni makes the river crossing to meet Mahiwal. | Heer maintains her bond with Ranjha after an imposed marriage. |
| What is the woman’s physical or social risk? | Sohni crosses the Chenab and drowns when her pot dissolves. | Heer resists the terms of a marriage imposed against her wishes and meets Ranjha secretly. |
| How does the male beloved respond? | Khalid’s comparison presents Sohni as more active than Mahiwal. | Ranjha becomes a jogi; Khalid characterizes him as comparatively passive. |
| Does agency resolve the conflict? | No: Sohni’s action ends in tragedy in this version. | No: Heer’s attachment persists within the constraints of marriage and family authority. |
This comparison captures the feminist question more precisely than saying the legends simply reverse conventional roles. The women’s actions unsettle expectations, but the stories also show how social power limits what those actions can achieve.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why versions and adaptations matter
Heer-Ranjha and Sohni-Mahiwal are not represented here through a comparative survey of oral tellings, regional versions or adaptations. The plot descriptions above follow Khalid’s 2017 account; the scholarly findings about Heer concern Waris Shah’s literary text. A repository record also identifies a 2013 article examining female figures in Heer-Ranjha and Mirza-Sahiban, including contemporary reinterpretations, but that scope does not establish a single reading for every version. See the repository record.
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For readers who want to examine Heer in its literary context, a translation or edition of Waris Shah’s poem is a direct route to the text. The studies discussed here do not establish which edition or translation is best, and the same literary basis is not supplied for Sohni-Mahiwal.
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