Conclusion Identity is not inherent. It is shaped by circumstance and Sensitivity and resistance to self-pity”- Dorothy West
Self –identity plays a large and significant role in shaping each of our lives. Contemporary Indian women writers have focussed a women’s “Self image” and their attitude to their bodies, enabling them to transcend narrow confines defined by patriarchy. Shashi Deshpande represents the half century since 1947 and the changing concerns of feminist thought. She deconstructs the traditional image of Indian womanhood by creating female characters that break the shackles of docility and compliance. Deshpande explores and exposes the prominent patriarchal premises and …show more content…
She is a revolutionary woman. She is seen to be acting against dominance right from her childhood. At her ancestral home, she hated obedience and passivity as a girl child. After the death of her mother, she was brought up by her aunts as her father left home. Indu refuses to be cowed down by Akka, the rich family tyrant who dominated this family. Here, we see that feminism not only raises a voice against male dominance, but also against women who cherish the values of patriarchy. As a revolt, she married Jayant who belongs to other caste and breaks traditions. After years, she went to her ancestral home at the time of her Akka’s death. To her great astonishment, Akka has left all her property to her. For Indu, it is the time of questioning, of rethinking her life, her journalistic career, her marriage and her hard-won independence. She meets Naren, her cousin and feels that he understands her more than Jayant. She shared her problems and everything with him. But at last, she returned to Jayant with a complete new self. Indu portrayed as a indomitable new woman, as an educated and lives in close association with the society, brushing aside all its narrow …show more content…
She wants to explore and confirm her feminity through ‘self realization’ and ‘self discovery’. Indu represents the symbol of “New woman”. Indu has a lot of hurdles to cross and achieve freedom. Being smothered in an oppressive male-dominated and tradition-bound society, she attempts to explore her. The novel discovers the pain suffocation of the protagonist Indu in the male-dominated society. She tries to escape from this to find her real ‘self’, but every time she is deceived. After a long time and much introspection her journey ends with the realization that she has been chasing shadows, leaving her roots behind. Thus, Deshpande makes her heroine choose security through reconciliation. The ethos in the novel is neither of victory nor of defeat but of harmony and understanding between two opposing idea and conflicting selves. “This is the quite representative of the basic Indian
Self –identity plays a large and significant role in shaping each of our lives. Contemporary Indian women writers have focussed a women’s “Self image” and their attitude to their bodies, enabling them to transcend narrow confines defined by patriarchy. Shashi Deshpande represents the half century since 1947 and the changing concerns of feminist thought. She deconstructs the traditional image of Indian womanhood by creating female characters that break the shackles of docility and compliance. Deshpande explores and exposes the prominent patriarchal premises and …show more content…
She is a revolutionary woman. She is seen to be acting against dominance right from her childhood. At her ancestral home, she hated obedience and passivity as a girl child. After the death of her mother, she was brought up by her aunts as her father left home. Indu refuses to be cowed down by Akka, the rich family tyrant who dominated this family. Here, we see that feminism not only raises a voice against male dominance, but also against women who cherish the values of patriarchy. As a revolt, she married Jayant who belongs to other caste and breaks traditions. After years, she went to her ancestral home at the time of her Akka’s death. To her great astonishment, Akka has left all her property to her. For Indu, it is the time of questioning, of rethinking her life, her journalistic career, her marriage and her hard-won independence. She meets Naren, her cousin and feels that he understands her more than Jayant. She shared her problems and everything with him. But at last, she returned to Jayant with a complete new self. Indu portrayed as a indomitable new woman, as an educated and lives in close association with the society, brushing aside all its narrow …show more content…
She wants to explore and confirm her feminity through ‘self realization’ and ‘self discovery’. Indu represents the symbol of “New woman”. Indu has a lot of hurdles to cross and achieve freedom. Being smothered in an oppressive male-dominated and tradition-bound society, she attempts to explore her. The novel discovers the pain suffocation of the protagonist Indu in the male-dominated society. She tries to escape from this to find her real ‘self’, but every time she is deceived. After a long time and much introspection her journey ends with the realization that she has been chasing shadows, leaving her roots behind. Thus, Deshpande makes her heroine choose security through reconciliation. The ethos in the novel is neither of victory nor of defeat but of harmony and understanding between two opposing idea and conflicting selves. “This is the quite representative of the basic Indian