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Women Empowerment In Literature

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The subjugation of women by the age old norms of the hegemonic society led women to endeavor in paralyzing the circumstances; the insights to raise their voice varied, but the one which is effective is writing as life is reflected in literature where readers are enlightened with the knowledge which can revolutionize and bring change in tradition. The reasons for feminism has its roots in the western world which is reflected in Virginia Woolf’s ‘A Room of One’s Own’ which dates back to 1924 and Simone de Beauvoir’s ‘The Second Sex’ (1949) .These works have come as a reaction to the society where women are restricted to play submissive roles. Some of the significant themes which befit are: subjugation, marginality, patriarchal society, and …show more content…

In western countries empowerment of women is linked with personal recognition segregated from the society irrespective of their kinship where as a woman in India is associated recognition with cooperation from members of family and society. As for the women novelists who focused on the problems regarding women are Kamala Markandaya, Nayantara Sahgal, Anita Desai, Bharati Mukherjee, Shashi Deshpande, Githa Hariharan, Arundathi Roy, Manju Kapur, Shobha De etc. Shashi Deshpande is a prolific writer reflecting the role played by the middle-class educated women in the hegemonic Hindu society in majority of her novels. Her characters seem natural ,and so come as typical stereotypes of the modern generation. Her novels bud natural and effortless throwing light on the common problems faced by women in the society. Deshpande does not make her women characters stronger than they actually are in their real life. She told her interviewer Vanamala Viswanatha that her “characters take their own ways” and that her “writing has to do with women as they are.” Woman as presented in her novels a partial being, and is in need of someone to shelter her, be it her father, brother or husband. Indu the protagonist in Roots and Shadows, says, “This is my real sorrow that I can never be complete in myself” (Deshpande 34). But from the stage of incompletion the protagonist endeavors to a stage where she makes her mind to face the challenges which is the characteristic feature of woman of the modern generation. Bogged down by existential insecurity and uncertainty, women in her novels are in quest of refuge, which in Roots and Shadows is portrayed through the image of the house. In the current novel Shashi Deshpande artistically portrays the transformation of women in the modern generation. Indu the protagonist of the novel realizes the truth and makes strong decision to fight the problems and find a solution to them. Suman

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