Shashi Deshpande Analysis

Shashi Deshpande was born in 1938 in Dharwad, India. She is the second daughter of the renowned dramatist and Sanskrit scholar, Shriranga. At the age of fifteen, she went to Mumbai where she graduated in Economics. She then moved to Bangalore, where she gained a degree in Law. The early years of her marriage were largely given over to the care of her two young sons, but she took a course in journalism and for a time worked on a magazine. Her writing career only began in earnest in 1970. Deshpande began her writing with short stories which later developed into writing novels.

The objective of this study is to find out if Shashi Deshpande 's women characters are really empowered women or if they are just wearing a mask of tranquility. The study

Shashi Deshpande is known for creating women characters who are contemporary. Deshpande 's women protagonists are victims of the prevalent gross gender discrimination, first as daughters and later as wives. They are conscious of the great social inequality and injustice towards them, and struggle against the oppressive and unequal nature of the social norms and rules that limit their capability and existence as a wife. Fettered to their roles in the family, they question the subordinate status ordained to them by society. Her works have drawn great critical attention and acclaim for her sensitive and realistic representation of the Indian middle-class women. Her sincere concern for women and their oppressive lot is reflected strongly in all her novels

In That Long Silence Jaya 's character in this novel is a magnificent creation. Deshpande has portrayed brilliantly the loneliness of a woman living silently in a cage called marriage.

Deshpande uses this story to paint vividly how the life of a woman like Jaya is She says that their life 's basis can be summarized as, "Stay at home, look after your babies, keep out of the rest of the world, and you 're safe." For all outside appearances hers was a happy family, her husband was in a top position, they had two children - one boy -and one girl - and she was yet another wife and mother whose life revolves around her family and her home - nothing more except typical