Saguna As The New Woman Analysis

Chapter-2: Saguna as the New Woman

The New Woman was a feminist idea that came into being in the late nineteenth century. The term New Woman which was coined by Sarah Grand denoted women who regulated their own personal, economic or social lives. They could also be described as women of thoughtfulness and independent spirit who were not dependent on any man. They through their sense of autonomy pushed the confines fixed by a patriarchal society. The character of Saguna is a byword of this breed; a breed that had made its appearance, in Indian literature, by second half of the nineteenth century.

The young girl Saguna in the novel Saguna written by Krupabai Sathianadhan is often reproved by her mother for being too fond of books by saying “What is the use of learning for a girl? A girl’s training school is near the chool (the fire over which everything is cooked) and however learned a girl must be she must come to the chool” (Saguna 21). Her younger

Both the paternal and maternal representations occupy separate domains, with the father’s domain involving boundaries, reality, and separation while the mother’s domain involves nurturing and comforting. Hence anyone who contains in him/her the paternal domains may become an intrapsychic father for the child. Children don’t have fathers at a cognizant age appropriate one to their fondness, regardless of the fact that they call him "Daddy". This role of an intrapsychic father is assumed by Saguna’s elder brother Bhasker which contributes towards much of her personality. Bhasker played a father figure to her in her childhood. ‘I had, however, a champion in my elder brother who was looked up to by all of us with great respect. He was very clever, had a study all to himself, received the visitors, undertook the correspondence of the family, taught our Sunday lessons and kept us in order (Saguna