Shobha De heralds a new wave in the realm of traditional thinking. Her novels are notable for the externalization of a positive sense of feminine identity. Being a modern novelist, Shobha De recognizes the displacement and marginalization of women and attempts to change it through her writings. Unlike the heroines of Kamala Markandaya and Shashi Deshpande, her women characters have been portrayed as confident and independent beings with a strong identity of their own. They are educated ambitious, glamorous and assertive women who refuse to be dominated and exploited by men. Right from her first novel, Socialite Evenings, to Snapshots, Starry Nights and the rest, Shobha De has given the message that a woman is born free to live like a human …show more content…
She became obsessed with matters of sex and lust which seemed quite normal to her prevented mind. There was no woman who could make her realize what was right or wrong which is of primary importance in a young girl going through the adolescent age. At the age of thirteen, Meenakshi started feeling attracted towards her father. Since her mother was always ill and, therefore, unable to fulfill her husband's sexual desires, Meenakshi felt that it was her duty to satisfy her father's physical needs. She was too young to understand that this incestuous relationship, or rather the thought of it, was totally against the norms of society and also a very unhealthy one. In her confused state of mind, Meenakshi could see nothing wrong in it and even managed to convince herself that it was her father who needed her. As Neelam Tikkha has remarked: "She rather pities her father for his sexless life and believes it her duty to fulfill his needs. This creates a psychological rift and leads to a pathetic condition. She is able to get what she wants but here she fails. She thus becomes a sexual competitor of her own mother. She also experiences a kind of patriarchy and also associates it with her childhood beatings which she had got from her father. This also makes her counter revolutionary to the existent culture and society."3
"Woman is not born," feminist Andrea Dworkin wrote. "She is made. In the making, her humanity is destroyed. She becomes symbol of this, symbol of that: mother of the earth, slut of the universe; but she never becomes herself because it is forbidden for her to do so." Dworkin’s quote relates to women throughout history who have been forced to conform. Although women can be regarded highly in society, representing images of fertility, security, and beauty, many people still view them in stereotypical ways; some people believe that all women should act a certain way, never letting their true selves shine through. Amy Lowell’s "Patterns" and Helen Sorrell’s "From a Correct Address in a Suburb of a Major City" accurately portray the struggles of women in relation to conformity. Through contrasting descriptive details, symbols, and language, the authors depict the plights of two remarkably similar women who wish they could break free of their social confinements as women.
The exterior influences of society affect a woman’s autonomy, forcing her to conform to other’s expectations; however, once confident she creates her own
Woman used to live in a time era, where women didn 't have the voice or privilege to speak for themselves. Men were superior and predominant, a woman was forced to obey the guidelines of society 's views of how a woman should be. Being a shrew was not acceptable, don’t tease or tempt a man and that a good women depends on four characteristics. But as time progressed slowly women have been fighting for their voice; changing the views and perspectives society onces used to have on the “ideal” women and giving it a whole new concept and ideology.
Ihara Saikaku’s Life of a Sensuous Woman written in the 17th century and Mary Woolstonecraft’s A Vindication of the Rights of Woman written in the 18th century are powerful literary works that advocated feminism during the time when women were oppressed members of our societies. These two works have a century old age difference and the authors of both works have made a distinctive attempt to shed a light towards the issues that nobody considered significant during that time. Despite these differences between the two texts, they both skillfully manage to present revolutionary ways women can liberate themselves from oppression laden upon them by the society since the beginning of humanity.
In a stereotypical society, the reader expects for the protagonist of a novel to be a strong, heroic male who saves the day and gets the girl. However, in the classic works “The Awakening” (Kate Chopin), “The Color Purple” (Alice Walker), and “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings” (Maya Angelou), a different kind of protagonist is portrayed. In these novels, the protagonist is a heroine who grows throughout the novel into a strong and independent woman. The heroines all seek to overcome a series of obstacles in the search for her identity. Even though the female characters have different individual quests, they all prove themselves and grow confident in male society.
illuminated her disparity of being a woman in a man's world. As one reads her
These highly regarded and well-respected female authors are showing that women can and do hold power in our society. These authors send the message to readers that women throughout time have been and still are fully capable of thinking for themselves. They can hold their own ground without having to subject themselves to the dominance of the males, be it in writing novels, raising a family, working in a factory, or pursuing a singing career. Thus, they as all women, deserve to be held in respect for their achievements and deserve equality.
In this chapter Mahasweta Devi’s anthology of short stories entitled Breast Stories to analyze representations of violence and oppression against women in name of gender. In her Breast Stories, Devi twice evokes female characters from ancient Hindu mythology, envisions them as subalterns in the imagined historical context and, creates a link with the female protagonists of her short stories. As the title suggests, Breast Stories is a trilogy of short stories; it has been translated and analyzed by Gayatri Chakraborty Spivak and, in Spivak’s view, the ‘breast’ of a woman in these stories becomes the instrument of a brutal condemnation of patriarchy. Indeed, breast can be construed as the motif for violence in the three short stories “Draupadi,” “Breast-Giver,” and “Behind the Bodice,”
Ramamoorthy, P. “My Life is My Own: A Study of Shashi Deshpande’s Women” Feminism and Recent Fiction in English Ed. Sushila Singh. New Delhi: Prestige, 1991.
In Annita Desai’s novel, the treatments between male and female characters are totally different. It is described in the novel that the male characters are always lazy, selfish drunkards while the female characters are diligent and always keeping the family together. Annita tried to illustrate the readers how Indian people live in the village of Thul and how urban Indians live in the capital city of India, Bombay.
This book tells the story of twelve women from the ancient era of Indian epic Mahabharata and showcases various dimensions of truth. The book revolves around women who are a part of this epic, their life and also shows how the women speak about the importance of truth and explains how it can never be an absolute statement. The book shows how present day women are a reincarnation of these ancient characters. It explains how women want the same things from men in contemporary times, as they did thousands of years ago. The book gives a very unique perspective of the
As they write their works from the perspectives of male viewpoints, the image of women is found in a very derogatory condition. In their works, all main incidents take place around the male protagonist; contrary to that, voices and feelings of the women are suppressed and marginalized. They are also provided a very minor role only to fulfill the criteria of a story. Women are not allowed to choose writings as their profession and to take participant in the public places like market, pub or park. But these marooned images of women get revamped in the beginning of the twentieth century, and are solidified at the middle of that age by the hands of some female figures, especially by Virginia Woolf, Simone De Beauvoir, Kate Millett, Helene Cixous etc. At that time female sensibility gets upper hand position, and they start to find their own voice and definite cultural identity in the society. The main focus of this paper is to show how female characters are able to find their definite self, voice and cultural identity in the social arena, and how female sensibility gets due importance in Virginia Woolf’s novel “Mrs
Indian Writing in English has a special status in English Literature owing to its treatment of women characters. Short stories help the writers to project select characters in an impressive way to the readers. In Indian context the status of woman in a society and her treatment is very different from those of her European or American counterparts. Women are depicted both as a good and evil in literature by various writers. However, in no literature is a women stereotyped as was done in Indian literature. Away from the mythical stereotyping of women, Ruskin Bond portrayed his women in a different way. The female characters of his short stories range from a small child to a grandmother. These characters are as powerful as men and have left a strong impression on the readers. I have chosen following eight short stories for the critical analysis of Ruskin Bond’s Women in this paper.
Raji Narasimhan, a writer, translator and journalist, has skilled hand in portraying women’s world. She has written five novels - The Heart of Standing is You Cannot Fly, Forever Free, Drifting to a Dawn, The Sky Changes and Atonement. Her novel Forever Free, which is shortlisted for Sahitya Academy Award, is the story of a young woman Shree, who sets out in search of freedom and fulfillment of her life in the patriarchal society. It became famous due to its realistic depiction.
Garg in ‘Hari Bindi’ discusses the story of a common woman and made it extraordinary by the active force she was experiencing in herself to live her life. The husband of the protagonist symbolises the power and control of patriarchy that had restricted her life in such a way