Feminism In Indian Literature

The word ‘Feminism’ seems to refer to an intense awareness of identity as a woman and interest in feminine problems. The subjugation of woman is a central fact of history and it is the main cause of all psychological disorders in society. Feminism in Indian literature, particularly in Indian English writing, is a by-product of western feminist movement. The last few decades are marked by a new genre of writing by women, for women and about women. The Indian woman caught in the flux of tradition and modernity bearing the burden of the past and the aspirations of the future is the crux of feminism in Indian literature. In their writings there is a prominence of the female point of view registering its disgust at the male chauvinism and its dissatisfaction

Literature is no more exclusively a man’s domain but is shared by women armed with new voice of resistance and gifted with new sensitivity and experiences. Many Indian women novelists have explored female subjectivity in order to establish an identity. The last three decades has seen the emergence of prominent feminist in Indian literature like Anita Nair, Shashi Deshpande, Arundhati Roy, Anita Desai, Manju Kapur and Shobha De who deal with women in a bolder manner. This article concentrates on “Finding one’s roots with reference to Anita Nair’s ‘ladies coupe’ and Shashi Deshpande’s ‘Roots and Shadows’.
Anita Nair and Shashi Deshpande are the contemporary feminist writers writing in English in India. They mesmerize the readers with their evocative language and descriptions with which their novels are abound. They mainly deal with man-woman relationship and move from tender compassion to sensuality and to raging

The central theme of the novel is the existential predicament of the woman as individual. She portrays six women in a railway compartment who differ in their age, profession, place of living and brought up. They share with the central character Akhilandeswari, their life story, that links her in some way or the other and make her rediscover the possibilities of life. As each woman narrates her experience in her life, Akhilandeswari feels that every woman including her is standing on the threshold of self-discovery to seek for a new destination. Nair has chosen this technique as she believes that there is a lot of power and strength in a woman that does not come out naturally by itself but needs some extra pressure to pull it out. The five women in the coupe are Janaki Prabhakar, a pampered wife and confused mother; Margaret Shanti, a chemistry teacher married to Ebenezer Paulraj, an egoist tyrant too self-absorbed to recognize her feelings, desires and needs, Prabha Devi, a perfect daughter and wife who keeps afloat in life by a glimpse of a swimming pool, Sheela Vasudevan, fourteen year old, who has the ability to perceive which others cannot and Marikolanthu, whose innocence was destroyed by one night of lust. Akhila the protagonist survives alone at the age of forty five. She is born into a middle