Read the passage and answer the questions:
Revolt of 1857: Paintings
Newspaper reports have power over public imagination: they shape feelings and attitudes to events. Inflamed particularly by tales of violence against women and children, there were public demands in Britain for revenge and retribution. The British government was asked to protect the honor of innocent women and ensure the safety of helpless children. Artists expressed as well as shaped these sentiments through their visual representations of trauma and suffering. “In Memoriam” was painted by Joseph Noel Paton. You can see English women and children huddled in a circle, looking helpless and innocent, seemingly waiting for the inevitable – dishonour, violence and death. “In Memoriam” does not show gory violence, it only suggests it. It stirs up the spectator’s imagination, and seeks to provoke anger and fury. It represents the rebels as violent and brutish, even though they remain invisible in the picture. In the background, you can see the British forces arriving as saviours. In another set of sketches and paintings we see women in a different light. They appear heroic, defending themselves against the attack of rebels.
Miss Wheeler was defending herself against the sepoys in which region?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → Kanpur
The passage says that in another set of paintings British women appear heroic, defending themselves against the attack of rebels. The best-known example is the picture of Miss Wheeler defending herself against sepoys in Kanpur. She stands firmly at the centre, single-handedly killing the attacking rebels, while a Bible lies on the floor: her struggle is shown as a battle to save the honour of Christianity.
NCERT (2025-26): “5.2 English women and the honour of Britain … In another set of sketches and paintings we see women in a different light. They appear heroic, defending themselves against the attack of rebels. Miss Wheeler in Figure 10.12 stands firmly at the centre, defending her honour, single-handedly killing the attacking rebels. As in all such British representations, the rebels are demonised. Here, four burly males with swords and guns are shown attacking a woman. The woman’s struggle to save her honour and her life, in fact, is represented as having a deeper religious connotation: it is a battle to save the honour of Christianity. The book lying on the floor is the Bible.”
Fig. 10.12 Miss Wheeler defending herself against sepoys in Kanpur |
