Prose in Marathi Literature during Indian National Movement was an outcome of the various social and political events that were shaping the country`s nationalist struggle during this time. Most of the works of this time reflect the attitudes that were being propagated and adopted in the face of such national turmoil, and a number of opinions and views can be found to have flavoured the works of the time.

In the field of novel writing, two novelists, N. S. Phadke (1894-1978) and V. S. Khandekar (1898-1976), dominated the two decades before Independence in terms of popularity. However, other novelists made significant contributions to the development of the genre. They included V. M. Joshi (1883-1943), S. V. Ketkar (1884-1937) and B. V. Warerkar (1883-1943). Joshi took the Marathi novel beyond the issues of Apte`s novel, i.e., social reform and nationalism. His novels have women with a sense of identity as main characters. Joshi`s Ragini (1915) deals with the rights of women and the tension felt by middle-class, educated women of the time. Even though the novel is weak in structure, the fact that it deals with such contemporary issues itself is rather refreshing. Women who had begun to acquire education and were able to participate in the Gandhian moment of national struggle faced these questions. His other novels, Ashram Harini (1916), Nalini (1920), and Sushilecha Deva (1930), explore similar social themes. In Sushilecha Deva, he raises the issue of the conception of God and takes the discussion beyond the notion of an idol to interpret it as an ideal of service to humanity. The influence of Gandhian thinking is quite visible in this novel.

S. V. Ketkar was the first person to edit and publish an Encyclopaedia in the Marathi language in the year 1920. Entitled the `Maharashtriya Dnyanakosha,` it was modelled along the lines of the Encyclopedia Britiannica. He used novels as vehicles for his social thoughts. His novel Brahmakanya (1930), for example, takes up the issue of the status of a child in society from the marriage of a Brahmin and a prostitute. In Paraganda (1926) and Gavasasu (1930), he picks up the theme of emigration to a foreign country and marriage there. The choice of settings for his novels, for example, Vidarbha, England, and the United States, also reveals his reaction to dominant tendencies in literature to focus on Pune and Mumbai.

V. Warerkar`s novels present angry women characters reacting against their social circumstances. In his Vidhava Kumari (1928), for example, we see a rebellious child widow, and in Godu Gokhale, the heroine reacts strongly against social injustices and the subservient position of women in the institution of marriage. Warerkar`s Dhavata Dhota (1933) presents with authentic realism the life of a textile mill worker facing an imminent strike. In Saat Lakhatil Eka (1940), he paints a somber picture of life oppressed by poverty and superstition in Konkan. There can be seen reflected in these works, a strong influence of Gandhi`s philosophy of upholding village life which re-kindled reformist awareness among middle-class writers. It later developed into a subgenre, Gramin Sahitya, or rural literature.

N. S. Phadke was a prolific writer who handled novels, essays, and short stories with equal ease. His literary output is steeped in the lives of educated, urban, middle-class people. The middle class of Maharashtrians was divided into relatively small section of upper-income professionals and a large lower-income, white-collar group. While the first section claimed itself to be the intelligentsia and showed more affinity to the West, the lower middle class aspired to move up, but its objective economic condition remained close to that of the working class. These classes provided large and sustained readership for Phadke and Khandekar for different reasons. The upper middle class found itself setting the social norms and fashions through Phadke`s characters. The lower middle class found the happy love stories situated in beautiful settings where the couples are young and smart, economically secure, and accomplished in music, painting, or sports extremely enticing.

His characters, at times, indulge in political activities but do not have to deal with oppressive or difficult issues. Phadke himself did not believe in an explicit social role of literature. The function of literature, to him, was to provide an escape from harsh realities of everyday life and make readers feel good about themselves and their lives in this superficial and imagined world. Phadke`s novels may have lacked social commitment, but they were always well crafted. That may also be a reason for his popularity. His novels Jadugar (1928), Daulat (1929), Atakepar (1931), Akherch Band (1944), Kalanka Shobha (1933), Bharari (1967), and Kulabyachi Dandi (1971) are representative of his work.

V. S. Khandekar represents the idealistic line borrowed from Gandhism along with a faintly socialistic concern for the downtrodden. His writings are characterized by excessive sentimentality, compassion, and fragility. His belief in selfless service to uplift the downtrodden and to usher in a world without oppression and injustice is evident in his work. Khandekar`s early novels, like Hrudayachi Haaka (1930) and Kanchanamruga (1931), differ from the subsequent Ulka (1934) or Dona Dhauva (1934) in organization. Khandekar was not as prolific as Phadke, but he enjoyed a wider appeal, even outside Maharashtra. His novel Yayati was given the prestigious Jnanapith Award.

Women Writers
Women writers had made their mark on Marathi literature even in the decades before Independence. Malatibai Bedekar (1904), `Vibhawari Shirurkar,` published her Kalyanche Nishwas (1933), a collection of stories, with an introduction by S. V. Ketkar. In her stories, she raised complex social issues like women and marriage, or frustrations and mental anguish of educated, middle-class women. She argued that women`s education had neither made them happy nor helped them in facing newer problems. In her novel Hindolyawar (1934), she discusses the issue of extramarital love and a woman`s yearning to bear a child out of that relationship. This novel represents the defiant mood of educated women of the time. At the same time, her use of a pseudonym indicates the fear of orthodox retaliation. Her maturity as a novelist is evident in Bali (1950), a sympathetic story of inmates of a criminal tribal camp. Other women writers of the period included Geeta Sane (1907), Prema Kantak (1906), and Girijabai Kelkar (1886-1980).

Prose in Marathi literature was thus quite a diverse field to which a number of writers made immense contributions. They helped understand and deal with the complications and unease arising out of the turmoils of a changing society.