Status Of Women In Traditional India Essay

The above description gives an idea about the status and expectations for women in the traditional Indian society. It is the fact that the Indian social structure never allows women superior to men. Right from the birth, women are indoctrinated to be subservient to the men. If we consider the place or position of women in India since the ancient age to the present, one cannot deny the fact that once women were egalitarian to men in the ancient time. They were supposed to be an image of Goddess in Indian mythology. However, since the medieval age, woman is considered as the property of father, brother and husband respectively. Her freedom seems restricted and confined to limited boundaries and she is supposed to be a misery and burden. In the 19th century, social reformers like Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Jyotiba Phule revolted against the suffering, exploitation and mal-treatment given to women in the society. They tried their best to make women educated, to make them free from the shackles of slavery and discrimination on several grounds. As a result, the same women proved their ability by working for the freedom of the country. Yet their suffering and distress remained endless. Even in the 20th and 21st century, when women are at the peak of success, they suffer a lot due to the violence and relegated status both in the family and in patriarchal society. The close

It has always been a favorite canvas to explore the gender and social discrimination against women in the society. Almost all fictionists have portrayed a woman as submissive to the patriarchy. They described her as oppressive under the reinforcement of age-old tradition and customs. It seems that the projection of female sensibilities became the trend of the writing. Indian women novelists in English literature explored the pathetic plight of a woman forced to suffer from birth to death in a male dominated social