CHAPTER O N . INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

"I'is [ m a r r i a g e ] l i k e a summer b i rd-cage i n a

garden: t h e b i r d s t h a t a r e w i t h o u t d e s p a i r t o

g e t i n , and t h e b i r d s t h a t are w i t h i n d e s p a i r

and i n a consumption f o r f e a r t h e y s h a l l never

y e t o u t . (John Webster The White Devil Act I

s c ( i i ) )

Marriage h a s always been f e l t t o be a cage f o r women. I t is

o f t e n s a i d t o be a n e c e s s a r y e v i l . With a l l t h e a d v e r s e

comments about i t , people have always f e l t t h a t a s an

i n s t i t u t i o n , mar r i age o f f e r s s t a b i l i t y and s e c u r i t y . I n

t h i s i n s t i t u t i o n c a l l e d ' m a r r i a . g e t , it i s t h e woman who is

always t h e underdog. I t is and h a s been a v e r y d i f f i c u l t job

t o change t h e s i t u a t i o n because t h e underdogs do n o t

r e a l i z e - do n o t c a r e t o r e a l i z e - t h e i r p red icament . I n t h e

Ind ian c o n t e x t , t h e woman seems t o l o v e h e r p o s i t i o n . The

P a t h i v i r a t h a concep t and t h e myth about c h a s t i t y and t h e

r i t u a l i s t i c r o l e o f woman a s goddess have k e p t t h e women

permanent ly i n c h a i n s - though t h e c h a i n s may o f t e n be made

2

of gold. The pity is that the western countries are no

better in providing a respectable position for women with

all their claim for modernity.

The women models described by litterateurs and the 0

adjectives used by sociologists contain baffling pairs of

opposites such as submissive-aggressive, emotional-

logical, dominating-self-sacrificing and frigid-lustful. And

what is worse, in a male-dominated society, men and women

are judged by different yardsticks so that what would appear

normal in a man is offen considered to be a negative quality - in a woman. As Ferguson puts it:

/Possessiveness in men is associated with

protectiveness and responsibility, in women

with narrowness and selfishness self-

sacrifice in men is marvelled at, taken for

granted in women. Women are seen paradoxically

as highly materialistic and as devout and

pious; but they carry these traits to

undesirable extremes, whereas men exemplify

admirable restraint when it comes to lovingly

pol i shir~q f ul-r~i Lure or putting on church

bazaars. A woman may be less or more desirous

of sex than a man; either frigidity or lust in

a woman is a negative characteristic because

the male appetite is the norm. (Images of

Women in Literature 7)

Even one's personal images of others are coloured by the

ideas of society, family, country and the age. In every age

LA woman has been seen as mother, wife, mistress, sex object -

their roles in relationship to men. The social stereotypes

of women have been reinforced by archetypes. In

patriarchal societies the woman who willingly submits to her

husband is an ideal wife. From Chaucer's time one can

identify this archetypal portrayal of woman. Griselda in

Canterbury Tales is glorified for her absolute obedience and

meekness. She does not rebel even at the stage of giving up

her children. She is finally rewarded when she is reunited

with her husband and her children whom her husband had only

pretended to murder. On the other hand, in the story of

Cupid and Psyche, where Psyche overrules the forbidden act

by trying to look at her lover, she is condemned to be the

slave of Venus. These two different effects caused by the

varied attitudes of Griselda and Psyche exhibit the reward

for abject obedience and the penalty for disobeying. These

stereotypes have been used as propaganda material to blind

women to the nature of their oppression.

In a coun t ry l i k e I n d i a , r e l i g i o n a long w i t h ' i t s myths and

l egends j u s t i f i e s t h e r o o t s o f gender i n e q u a l i t y . Women are

p o r t r a y e d a s t h e s o l e b e a r e r s of v i r t u e s l i k e l o y a l t y ,

c h a s t i t y and f i d e l i t y . Through t h e images o f c h a s t e women

p r e s e n t e d i n myths, t h e Ind ian woman l e a r n s t o s a c r i f i c e

h e r s e l f t o t h e w e l f a r e and honour o f h e r f a m i l y . I n t h e

Rarnayarla, a f t e r R a r n a ' s v i c t o r y ove r Ravana, h e is n o t >

w i l l i n g t o a c c e p t S i t a . H e makes h e r go th rough f i r e t o

p rove h e r c h a s t i t y i n t h e e y e s o f people . Larousse p r e s e n t s

t h e s i t u a t i o n a s f o l l o w s :

A t f i r s t Rama r e f u s e s t o a c c e p t S i t a a s a

w i f e , f o r he wishes t o prove t o everyone t h a t

she h a s remained t r u e t o him i n s p i t e of t h e

t i m e s p e n t w i t h Ravana. So, S i t a l o n g s o n l y

f o r d e a t h , and h a s a f u n e r a l py re b u i l t .

Approaching t h e f larnes w i th jo ined hands , s h e

c r i e s : ' J u s t a s my h e a r t neve r l e a v e s Rama, s o

may t h o u , Agni, never d e p r i v e me o f t h y

p r o t e c t i o n l ' Then s h e s t e p s i n t o t h e f l ames .

While a l l t h o s e p r e s e n t are l o s t i n

l a m e n t a t i o n , Agni is seen t o r i s e w i t h S i t a i n

h i s l a p , a s r a d i a n t a s t h e morning sun . The

judgement of Agni h a s been g iven . Rama opens

his arms wide to the irreproachable, saying:

'I knew of Sita's virtue, but I wanted her to

justify herself in the eyes of the people.

Without this trial, some would have said: "The

son of Dasharatha yields to desire and scorns

traditional laws." Now, everyone will know

that she is really mine, like the sunbeams,

which belong to the sun, their source'. (World

Myt1)oloqy 217)

From such mythological, ideal models of women, the Indian

woman is not able to disentangle herself. The moral behind

a11 myths and legends is that

... docility in a wife leads to happiness for

all - husband, wife, father; and that

u p s e t t i r ~ g the domestic order may lead to

disrupting social and cosmic order. W o m a n i.n

her place is the cornerstone of society.

ergus us on ,Images of Women in Literature 19)

It is not only the women of lower class but those of the

middle and upper classes who suffer from male dominance and

i l I -treatment. As Maneesha nube says,

The skeleton, which for long had been presumed

to exist in the homes of the depressed

sections of society, was also to be found in

the closets of modest apartments and stately

bungalows. It was the woman next door - the

coy bride, the dutiful housewife, the loving

mother - who was suffering the ignominy of

being beaten, harassed and subjected to

mental and physical cruelty. (Indian Express

Sunday Magazine-, March 8, 1992)

The spread of modern educational facilities, advancing

technological inventions, growing creative innovations,

economic mobility and legislative measures supporting

modernisation have made a subsection of Indian women undergo /

a metamorphosis. And it is necessary to make a systematic

study of the problems which confront women in a changing

social order.

While wornen try to make new choices, there is a need to

reappraise all their existing roles. The quality of being a J daughter, wife, daughter-in-law, and mother needs to be

r e d e f i n e d . Women n o t o n l y c o n f r o n t t h e s e i s s u e s w i t h i n

themse lves bu t o f t e n encounte r p r o t e s t s , doub t s and

r i d i c u l e from without,. To h e r e x e r c i s i n g a c h o i c e o f t h i s

n a t u r e means a c c e p t i n g h e r own l e g i t i m a c y i n t h e wider world

and s t e p p i n g beyorld t h e s te r -eo types . But f o r many a woman

h e r new-found b e n e f i c i a l t h r e s h o l d becomes a s h o r t - l i v e d

f a c t o r because

Fea r , t e r r o r , a n x i e t y abou t be ing i s o l a t e d ,

l o n e l i n e s s , and a c c u s a t i o n s , a l l encourage a

woman t o r e t u r n t o t h e p r i s o n r a t h e r t han t o ./

expe r i ence autonomy and freedom. ( I n d i r a J .

Pa r ikh and P u l i n K . Garg Ind ian Women: An

I n n e r Dialoque 165)

-, /'

For more t h a n t h r e e hundred y e a r s t h e s e i n t r i n s i c and

d e l i c a t e problems have been g iven due importance and

r e l e v a n t t r e a t m e n t by l i t e r a r y w r i t e r s . & w i n g t h e

e i g h t e e n t h c e n t u r y t h e r e were a number o f women n o v e l i s t s

who made a n o t a b l e c o n t r i b u t i o n . W r i t e r s l i k e Hanna More,

M i s s F i e l d i n g , Fanny Burney, Maria Edgeworth, Susan F e r r i e r ,

Mary Russe l l and Mrs .Radc l i f f e p r e s e n t e d t h e female world

e l a b o r a t e l y .

S i m i l a r l y , women n o v e l i s t s of t h e twen t i e th cen tu ry have

rep resen ted t h e world from t h e viewpoint of woman. Among

them, Henry Handel Richardson, Dorothy Richardson,

Irumphrey Ward, Sarah Grand, C l i f f o r d , Rose Macaulay,

E l i zabeth Bowen, Ivy Compton Burne t t , Katherine Mansfield

and Vi rg in ia Woolf deserve o n e ' s a t t e n t i o n .

I n I n d i a , Nayantara Sahgal , Ruth Prawer Jhabvala , Anita

Desai and Shashi Deshpande have s e t a new t r e n d i n Indian

English f i c t i o n by t h e i r s e l e c t i o n of themes c e n t e r i n g

upon women.

The outs tanding t r a i t of Anita Desai and Shashi Deshpande is

t h e i r preoccupat ion wi th t h e i n d i v i d u a l whi le o t h e r s s t r e s s

t h e s o c i a l , economic, p o l i t i c a l and c u l t u r a l m i l i e u of t h e

t ime. The new woman who is d i s s a t i s f i e d wi th t h e ass igned

r o l e s and h e r r e s u l t a n t i n n e r s t r u g g l e a r e p i c t u r e d by both

of them. Thc!ir w r i t i n g s r e p r e s e n t t h e gradual growth i n t h e

awakening and awareness of women. The new c u l t u r a l m i l i e u

which makes i t i n e v i t a b l e f o r women t o f a c e t h e emerging

r e a l i t y of r i s i n g a s p i r a t i o n s , h a s p laced them i n a

t r a n s i t i o n a l phase. The f e a r s and a n x i e t i e s c r e a t e d i n t h i s

p e r i o d , and t h e i r sense of g u i l t a t t h e abandoning of r o l e s

rorm the canvas for- Ani1;a Desai ar~d Shashi Deshpande. To

urlderstand tile steady growth of female awareness a brief

study of feminist movenlents will be of help. Women's urge to

discover and identify their personal resources does not come

overnight. Richard Evans underscores its multi-faceted

nature:

The origins of this historically novel

devel opment 1 i e in a con juncture of histori cal

forces operating at three different levels -

intell ectual , economi-c and social , and

political.(~he Feminists: Women's Emancipation

Movements in Europe , America and Australia

The ideological origins of feminism must be sought in the

first place in the eighteenth century intellectual

Enlightenment. The intellectual ferment of the Enlightenment

was expressed in an almost infinite range of theorising and

empirical investigation In the years 1789-93, in Paris and 3 the major provincial cities women began to organise

themselves in their struggle for their rights. They formed

wornen's political clubs and exerted strong pressure on some

of the leading men's political clubs which formed the

equivalent of politial parties in the Revolution. The

leading figure in this movement was Etta Palm, a woman of

Dutch origin, who spoke in favour of equal rights for women

in education, politics, law and employment. During the

French Revolution, women actually tried to band together to

fight for their rights and showed that social groups - above

all, the middle classes, to whom the feminists belonged -

did possess the power to shake off legal and institutional

restraints n r ~ d achieve eyual i ty of status for women.

The feminist movement in the United States began earlier

than elsewhere. The women led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton,

Susan B. Anthony, Lucy Stone and Lecuretia Mott concentrated

on the political and economic subjection in civil law. In

1860 they won their right to collect their own wages, to sue

in court, and to inherit their husband's property. The

feminists suspended women's rights activities during the

Civil War and rallied to the support of the Union in a

number of ways. They believed that they would be rewarded

for their support after victory was won. But they were to be

disappointed. When the Republican Party introduced the

Fo~~rt~c~nth Arnendrrrcr~ t. to the consti tutj on in 1866, the

Amendment expl i ci tly denied the vote to women. The feminists

were outraged by t h e r e f u s a l of t h e Republicans t o accede t o

t h e i r den~ands.

They had expected t h e a n t i - s l a v e r y movement t o suppor t t h e i r

c la im t o the v o t e a s t h e y themselves had suppor ted t h e

a b o l i t i o n of s l a v e r y and t h e v i c t o r y of t h e Union. The black

l e a d e r Freder ick Doug1 a s had seconded E l i zabe th Cady

Stan ton . But l a t e r he wi thhe ld h i s suppor t . The f a i l u r e

convinced Stan ton and Susan B. Anthony t h a t t h e f i g h t f o r

women's r i g h t s now had t o be waged by women a lone .

S t a n t o n , Anthony and t h e i r f o l l o w e r s f o r m a l l y withdrew from

t h e Anti -Slavery Equal R igh t s Assoc ia t ion and founded a

Nat iona l Woman Suf f rage Assoc ia t ion . I t s tood f o r s o c i a l

p u r i t y and moral re form, and it be l i eved i n women's

independence i n f a m i l y l i f e . Above a l l , it was

i n d i v i d u a l i s t t o t h e c o r e .

Many American f e m i - n i s t s , l e s s bo ld than Stan ton and Anthony,

were n o t prepared t o fo l low them. Under t h e l e a d of Lucy

Stone, t h e y succeeded i n formi.ng t h e American Woman Suf f rage

Assoc ja t ion . I t r e p r e s e n t e d t h e more c o n s e r v a t i v e wing of

t h e movement. I ts aims d i f f e r e d from t h o s e of t h e

New Yorkers under S t an ton and Anthony i n s e v e r a l r e s p e c t s .

I t . cortc:err Lr3at;c.d 011 tklc? v o t c arld pa id no atter1t.i on t o Inany

i s s u e s such a s t h e c o n d i t i o n of working c l a s s women, which

S tan ton and Anthony c o n s i d e r e d impor t an t . I t c o n s i d e r e d t h a t

t h e c o r r e c t way t o win t h e v o t e was i n a g r a d u a l s t a t e -by -

s t a t e campaign. I t t h u s r e j e c t e d t h e Stanton-Anthony p o l i c y

of a d i r e c t a s s a u l t a t t h e f e d e r a l l e v e l .

Admit t ing women t o t h e medjcal p r o f e s s i o n was one o f t h e

major aims o f moderate feminism everywhere. The l e a d i n

opening t h e p r o f e s s i o n was t a k e n , c h a r a c t e r i s t i c a l l y , by

v o l u n t a r y a s s o c i a t i o n s , above a l l t h e Female Medical

Educat ion S o c i e t y . American women were a l s o e n t e r i n g o t h e r

p r o f e s s i o n s a s w e l l i n t h e 1870s and 1880s. I n 1870, Myra

Bradwell a p p l i e d t o t h e Supreme Court of I l l i n o i s f o r a

l i c e n s e t o p r a c t i s e l a w . Only by 1880 it became a

p o s s i b i l i t y .

< The growi.ng numbers o f p r o f e s s i o n a l w o m e n were matched by

t h e p r o l i f e r a t i o n o f s o c i e t i e s t o c a t e r t o t h e i r needs .

The as t ronomer Maria M i t x h e l l , who was e l e c t e d to t h e

Arnerican Acaderny o f A r t s and S c i e n c e s , founded a n

a s s o c i a t i o n f o r t h e advancement o f women. I n 1882 women

13

graduates led by Marion Talbot founded the Association of

Collegiate Alumnae laten to become the Amerjcan Association

of University Women. In 1868, the first professional women's

club was founded.

The significance of these developments was twofold. First, C

they drew an increasing number of women into the wider orbit

of the feminist movement; and second, they constituted for

the feminists themselves evidence of progress and success.

The entrance of women into certain of the professions was L

only one of the social changes underlying the growth of the

America.n feminist movement in the two decades after the

Civil War. Another was the increasing involvement of married

women in movements of moral and social reform, above all in

the rapidly developing and newly colonised areas of the West

and Mid-west .

In 1873-74 a 'women's crusade against alcohol' swept across 4

the Arnerj can Mid-west. Iiundreds of bars were closed but

most of them opened again later, and the women soon realised

the need for a more sustained campaign. The result was the

Woman's Christian Temperance Union. All these developments

l a i d t h e s o c i a l and o r g a n i s a t i o n a l foundat ions f o r t h e

development of feminism i n t o a mass movement.

Although t h e major p a r t i n b r ing ing f e m i n i s t o r g a n i s a t i o n s

i n t o e x i s t e n c e i n many c o u n t r i e s was played by t h e

Americans, B r i t i s h feminism a l s o had an i n f l u e n t i a l r o l e .

B r i t i s h feminism was chrono log ica l ly t h e second a f t e r t h e

American movement t o emerge i n an organised form. I t was o u t

of t h e invol venleni; of middl e-cl a s s female phi 1 arl thropi sts

t h a t organised feminism emerged.

The d i s a s t e r s of t h e Crimean War (1854-56) i n s p i r e d a P

growing concern with a b i l i t y and p ro fess iona l i sm a s t h e

c r i t e r i a of adrninis t rat . ion, expressed among o t h e r ways i n

widespread demands f o r t h e a b o l i t i o n of t h e purchase of

o f f i c e . This n o t on ly had t h e p a r t i c u l a r impl ica t ion f o r

women of demanding h igher p r o f e s s i o n a l q u a l i f i c a t i o n s , but

a l s o i n a more g e n e r a l way spawned a whole s e r i e s of

a s s o c i a t i o n s ded ica ted t o s o c i a l reform, of which t h e

National Associa t ion f o r t h e Promotion of Socia l Sc ience ,

t h e pa ren t body of t h e e a r l y f e m i n i s t movement, was perhaps

t h e most impor tant . In 1867 National Soc ie ty f o r Women's

Suff rage was formed.

15 O r i y i n a t i n g i n t h e 1850s, r a d i c a l i s i n g prematurely i n t h e

1860s, then more thoroughly i n t h e 1890s, B r i t i s h femi-nism

followed a course n o t d i s s i m i l a r t o t h a t of f e m i n i s t

movements elsewhere. Viewed i n a European p e r s p e c t i v e , t h e

B r i t i s h f e m i n i s t movement was by t h e 1900s n o t on ly l a r g e

and vigorous but a l s o r-adical and success fu l . By 1910 its

Suffrage Movement had become one of t h e b i g g e s t i n t h e

world. Its t a c t i c s , which inc luded f requen t marches through

t h e s t r e e t s and mass demonstrat ions i n t h e open a i r , were

more da r ing than those o f any o t h e r f e m i n i s t o r g a n i s a t i o n

o u t s i d e t h e United S t a t e s .

A s f a r as Ind ia is concerned, i n t h e e a r l y n ine teen th

c e n t u r y , women occupied a ve ry low s t a t u s . Customs such a s

s a t i , c h i l d marr iage and polygamy were widely p reva len t .

Widows were prevented from re-marrying and t h e i r cond i t ion

was p i t i a b l e . Denied educa t ion , voca t ion , and s o c i a l ,

economic and p o l i t i c a l r i g h t s , t h e widows were wholly

confined t o t h e f o u r w a l l s of t h e house. T h e f o r c e s working

a g a i n s t them were s o s t r o n g t h a t they seemed reconc i l ed t o

t h i s s t a t e of a f f a i r s and s i l e n t l y accepted t h e i r ' f a t e ' .

The f i r s t man t o speak o u t p u b l i c l y a g a i n s t t h e i n j u s t i c e

p e r p e t r a t e d on women i n t h e name of r e l i g i o n and t r a d i t i o n

was Raja Ram Mohan Roy who in 1818 wrote a tract condemning

sati. He vividly described the degenerate state of Indian

society and held the deplorable condition of women as one of

the causes responsible for this.

Taking the lead from Roy, social reformers embarked upon the

task of improving the condition of women, particularly those

from the urban, upper caste fami lies belonging to the middle

strata of society.

Roy's mobilisation of Hindu reformist opinion against - saki

created a climate that made it possible for Lord William

Rentink to pass a law banning it in 1829. Ishwar Chandra

Vidyasagar took up the cause of widows, which led to the

passing of Widow Remarriage Act of 1856. The issue of child

marriage was taken up by a number of reformers. Behramji

Malabari, a Parsi reformer from Bombay, launched an all

India campaign to raise the age of consent of marriage from

10 years to 12 years, and in the process created a

nationwide controver-sy between the orthodoxy and the

reformers. Despite the storm of protest, the Age of Consent

of Marriage Act as proposed by Malabari was passed.

kducation was considered the most important means of

improving the status of women. Christian n~issior~aries

were t h e p ioneers i n t h i s f i e l d and t h e y s e t up severa l

schools . Robert May opened t h e f i r s t g i r l s ' school a t

Chinsura i n Bengal . Vidyasagar s e t u p schoo l s f o r g i r l s i n

I l c r ~ y n J . Sl r r i i 1 ,trs sc11ool s were opened a t v a r l ous p laces :

Jyo t iba Phule i n Poona, t h e S tuden t s ' L i t e r a r y and

S c i e n t i f i c Soc ie ty i n Bombay and t h e Arya Sama j i n Pun jab

and Ut ta r Pradesh.

R y t h e end of t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , women were ga the r ing

courage t o cha l l enge t h e s o c i e t y . Many h a i l e d from r e f o r m i s t

f a m i l i e s and t h e y formed t h e i r own o r g a n i s a t i o r ~ s ar~cl, i n

f a c t , t h e emergence o f a rudimentary women's movement i n

Ind ia can be t r a c e d from t h i s t ime. The Tagores of Bengal

played a p ioneer ing r o l e a t t h e t ime. Swarnakumari Devi,

s i s t e r of Rabindranath Tagore, an au thor i n h e r own r i g h t

and a n o v e l i s t of d i s t i n c t i o n , organised t h e Sakhi Samit i

i n 1882. I t was l a t e r converted 5nto a c r a f t c e n t r e f o r

widows . The same y e a r , Pand i t Ramabai Sa raswat i , a

remarkable woman from Poona, founded t h e Arya Mahila Samaj

and went on t o s e t up a s e r i e s of women's a s s o c i a t i o n s i n

va r ious towns of Bombay presidency. Ramabai Ranade

e s t a b l i s h e d t h e Seva Sadan. The year 1908 saw t h e beginning

of a ~ u j a r a t i S t r e e Mandal i n Ahmedabad and a Mahila SeWa

Samaj was founded i n Mysore and Poona. Women ' s

o r g a n i s a t i o n s were s t a r t e d i n Madras also.

I n i t i a l l y , t h e s e a s s o c i a t i o n s were confined t o a l o c a l i t y o r

a c i t y . T h e c r e d i t f o r s t a r t i n g t h e f i rs t a31 Ind ia women's

o r g a n i s a t i o n , t h e Bharat Stree Mahamandal (1901) must go t o

S a r l adevi Chaudhrani , t h e daughter of Swarnakumari Devi . However, t h e ven tu re proved shor t - l ived . I t was i n 1917 t h a t

t h e Women's Indian Associa t ion was s t a r t e d i n Madras c i t y by

Annie Besant , Dorothy J i n a r a j a d a s a and Margaret Cousins,

t o g e t h e r wi th a group of Indian women.

Conscious of t h e i r p o l i t i c a l r i g h t s and inf luenced by

western democrat ic v a l u e s , t h e s e women worked a c t i v e l y t o

genera te pol l t i c a l consc iousness among women during t h e

e a r l y decades of t h i s cen tu ry . They took up t h e i s s u e of

vo t ing r i g h t s f o r women wi th t h e S e c r e t a r y of t h e S t a t e f o r

I n d i a , L,ord Edwin Montagu, who was i n Ind ia t o d i s c u s s t h e

demands f o r pol i t i c a l reforms. The Southborough Franchise

C o m m i t t e e w a s i r l i t i a l l y r e luc tan t ; t o g i v e women t h e r i g h t t o

v o t e but because of t h e s u s t a i n e d campaign launched by

women's o r g a n i s a t i o n s and t h e suppor t given t o them by t h e

Indian National Congress and o t h e r p o l i t i c a l p a r t i e s , it was

f - i r l a l l y l e f t t o t h e p r o v i n c i a l l e g i s l a t u r e s t o d e c i d e t h e

m a t t e r . Madras was t h e f i r s t p rov ince t o g r a n t t h e f r a n c h i s e

i n 1920 fo l lowed by Bombay i n 1921.

T h e f i r s t A l l I n d i a Women's Conference on Educat ional

Reform was h e l d a t Poona i n 1927. I t was a h i s t o r i c even t .

I t brought t o g e t h e r women from d i f f e r e n t p a r t s of I n d i a

and from a l l c a s t e s and communities. The Conference began a

new e r a i n t h e e v o l u t i o n of women's educa t ion i n I n d i a and

l a i d t h e f o u n d a t i o n o f t h e A l l I n d i a Women's Conference

which h e n c e f o r t h m e t a n n u a l l y and became a l e a d e r among

o r g a n i s a t i o n s f i g h t i n g f o r women's r i g h t s and e q u a l i t y . T h e

Movement of t h e I n d i a n women is unique i n more than one

s e n s e . I t had t h e s u p p o r t o f men s o c i a l r e f o r m e r s l i k e

Gandhi and Nehru. The Movement was above p a r t y and communal

p o l i t i c s .

I n t h e h i s t o r i c a l c o n t e x t , t h e AIWC is o f g r e a t s i g n i f i c a n c e .

I t symbol i ses t h e t r a n s f e r of l e a d e r s h i p of t h e women's

movement from men t o women. I t h a s r e v e a l e d women's e a r l y

awareness t h a t t h e r e s p o n s i b i 1 i t , y f o r women ' s r e g e n e r a t i o n

be longs t o women. I n t h e n i n e t e e n t h c e n t u r y , as women became

more educa t ed , t h e y came t o form t h e i r own a s s o c i a t i o n s and

occupy l e a d e r s h i p p o s i t i o n s . I t h a s been a pa th-breaker .

The organisation has provided women with opportunities to

come out into the world outside the parameters of the home,

in order to contribute something to society at large.

On the whole, aided by the expansion of female education and

female professions, feminism became a mass movement. Various

organisations like the National Councils of Women and the

International Woman Suffrage Alliance were formed to bring

about unity in the feminist movement.

Female emancipation became a major political issue:

At every stage in its development, organised

femi.nism was closely interwoven with the

political changes and the shifting balance of

social forces that came with economi-c growth.

The acl;ions and be1 iefs of feminists were not

the outcome of a simple passion for female

equality; they were a complex mixture of many

political and i.deologica1 elements, of which

the desire for 1i.beration as women was only

one. (Richard J. Evans The Feminists: Women's

Emar~cipati on Movement in Europe, America and

Australia 1840-1920 38)

J-

As the feminists established themselves as an organised

union,. they turned their attention towards more intrinsic

problems such as love, marriage and sex. They were opposed

to

... marriage laws that denied women legal

rights, just as they were opposed to an

economic system that forced women into

loveless marriages and kept them tied to cruel

and perhaps dissolute men. (Banks Olive Faces

of Feminism 229-30) J The radical feminists went further, alleging that

... marriage is at the very root of woman's

subjection to the man because through it man

controls both her reproduction and her

person. (230)

Even romantic love did not escape their attention, as it was

seen as a way of trapping women into accepting their own

subjugation.

They c r i t i c i z e d t h e way i n which women had been made v i c t i m s

of male l u s t , tmth witliirl and o u t s i d e mar r i age . They were

deep ly concerned w i t h male v i o l e n c e towards women, exp res sed

i n such forms a s r a p e , and saw sexua l v i o l e n c e i n

p a r t i c u l a r a s a s i g n i f i c a n t consequence o f male domination

and female o p p r e s s i o n .

r Women a r e t r e a t e d a s t h e v i r t u e - h o l d e r s of s o c i e t y , l i v i n g a

,/ L

l i f e o f r o l e s and do ing t h e i r d u t y a s daught .ers , wives

and mothers . Rut t h e f u l l n e s s o f t h e i r pe r sons h a s never

been a l lowed t o break th rough t h e s e ta i lo r -made r o l e s . They

have t o s a c r i f i c e t h e i r pe r sona l a s p i r a t i o n s and s u r r e n d e r

t h e i r i n d i v i d u a l i t y t o t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n c a l l e d f a m i l y . But

t o d a y , t h i s a s p e c t o f women's l i v e s h a s a c q u i r e d a new

dimension. Educated, armed wi th knowledge and s k i l l s , women

e n t e r formal work s e t t i n g , d e l i n k i n g themse lves from t h e i r

s o c i a l s t r u c t u r e s and network o f r e l a t i o n s h i p s . But t h e y

undergo s e v e r e mental s t r a i n and s t r e s s bo th o u t s i d e and

i n s i d e f a m i l y due t o t h e i r dua l r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s . Women i n

such c r i t i c a l s t a t e s a r e p o r t r a y e d by An i t a Desai and

Shashi Deshpande i n t h e i r r ~ o v e l s . They r e p r e s e n t t h e g radua l

growth o f f e m i n i s t w r i t i n g and i n t h e i r n o v e l s one can t r a c e

o u t t h e p r o g r e s s of t h i s gen re . They p o r t r a y t h e psyche of

women, which is c o n d i t i o n e d by t h e r i g i d s o c i a l sys tem; and

thereby the plight of women, especially educated and working

women, since liberation does not solely rely on education or

economi c independence 3

A n i t a Desai was born in Mussouri on 24 June 1937. Having

a Bengali father and a German mother, she was subject to

diverse influences. At the age of seven, she began to write,

and some of her writings got published in children's

magazines. She graduated from Miranda House, Delhi

University. She worked for a year in Max Muller Bhavan,

Calcutta. She has been living in various cities - Calcutta,

Bombay, Chandigarh, Delhi and Poona. Some of these places

k~ilvc becor[~c l;11e sc L t , i r ~ y s f o r s her. r~ovels.

Her first novel, Cry, the Peacock (1963) deals with the

psyche of Maya, a hypersensitive young woman. She suffers

from father-obsession and looks for the typical father image

i r ~ her husband. She is obsessed by the fear of death due to

the foretelling of an albino astrologer that either she or

her husband will die four years after her marriage. As an

afterthought, she realizes that one of the two doomed to a

premature death could be her husband Gautama and therefore

she kills him by pushing him off from the balcony.

Voices in the City (1965), her second novel, depicts the . failures of PJirode, the troubled and isolated life of

Moniskia, the commercial art of Arnla and the detached

attitude of their mother.

Published in 1971, her third novel Bye-Bye, Blackbird

portrays the plight of Indian immigrants in London. The

three main characters - Dev, Adit and Sarah - are portrayed

effectively with their existentialist problems of

loneliness.

.- Her next novel Where Shall We Go This Summer? (1975)

realistically pictures the tension between a sensitive wife

Sita and her rational husband Raman. Sita, mother of four

children, is reluctant to deliver or to abort the fifth one,

due to her fear of violence in the world. According to

Madhusudan Prasad,

This novel is certainly a study of the marital

discord resulting from the conflict between

two irreconcilable temperaments and two

diametrically different viewpoints represented

by S i La a r ~ d her husband Raman. (Anita Desai: The

Novelist 64)

Fire on the Mountain, published in 1977, won Anita Desai the

Sahitya Akademi Award of 1978. In this novel, she skilfully

explores the inner ernoti orla3 wor1.d of a great-grandmother,

Nanda Kaul, wife of the one time Vice-Chancellor. Again, the

estrangement between the husband and wife forms the thematic

nucleus of this novel.

Games at Twilight, her col lcctior~ of short stories, appeared

in 1978. They deal with the world of children, domestic

life, human relationships, tradition and individualism and

problems of women.

Clear Liqht of Day "is set in Old Delhi and records the

tremendous changes that a Hindu family goes through since

1947" (Sunil Sethi, "Interview with Anita Desai" India Today

In her next novel The Village by the Sea (1982), she

compares and contrasts the rural life with the mechanical

life in Bombay.

In Custody (1984) is about Deven, a lecturer, who is carried

away by lofty idealism.

Her latest novel Baumqartner's Bombay (1988) is the story of

a German Jew, and his sense of isolation in an alien land.

While Anita Desaits novels are a documentation of the

"radical female resistance against a patriarchally defined

concept of nol-mali.tyn, (~hantha Krishnaswamy The Woman in

Indian Fiction in English 163) Shashi Deshpande's novels 4 s

deal with "the Indian middle-class women's ' turmoils,

convulsions and frustrations and their silence as a means of -'

communication" (~arabjit Sandhu The Image of Women in the

Novels of Shashi Deshpande 17).

Shashi Deshpande, born and brought up in Dharwar, graduated < in Economics from Elphinstone College, Bombay. Later she

graduated in Law from the Mysore University, winning two

gold medals. She has been writing since 1969. She started

with short stories and then began to write novels. She has

brought out some stories for children also. > I-ler f i r s t collection of short stories The Legacy was

published in 1972. Following that three other collections

were published - It was Dark, The Miracle and It Was the

Nightingale. She has written six novels so far.

,/Her f i r s t n o v e l , The Dark Holds No T e r r o r s (1980) i s t h e

s t o r y of S a r i t a , who is always igno red i n f avour o f h e r

b r o t h e r . Educated a g a i n s t h e r m o t h e r ' s w i l l , s h e deve lops

h e r s e n s e of r ea son ing and q u e s t i o n i n g . She chooses Manu, a

c o l l e g e l e c t u r e r as h e r l i f e - p a r t n e r , b u t h e r mar r iage

beg ins t o crumble under t h e burden o f s u c c e s s i n h e r

p r o f e s s i o n . Her r e a l i z a t i o n o f h e r t i r e s o m e mar r i ed l i f e and

h e r w i l l i n g n e s s t o c o n f r o n t r e a l i t y mark t h e end o f t h e

nove l :\

Her n e x t novel Come U p and B e Dead (1983) i s a s o r t o f

d e t e c t i v e f i c t i - o n , which d e a l s w i t h a s e r i e s o f murders

t a k i n g p l a c e i n s i d e a r e p u t e d g i r l s ' h igh school campus.

Desp i t e t h e cr ime theme, t h e pr imary female c h a r a c t e r s of

t h e novel r e p r e s e n t modern women w i t h t h e i r s e n s e of

l i b e r a t i o n t o t h i n k and a c t .

Roots and Shadows (1983) which won h e r t h e p r i z e f o r t h e

b e s t Ind i an novel o f 1982-1983, e x p l o r e s t h e i n n e r s t r u g g l e s

of Indu , who r e p r e s e n t s a s e t o f modern women who a r e

g r a p p l i n g w i t h t h e c r i t i c a l problems o f l o v e , s e x , mar r i age ,

s e t t l e m e n t and i n d i v i d u a l i t y . The novel b r i n g s t o l i g h t how

a woman's a t t e m p t t o a s s e r t h e r i n d i v i d u a l i t y b r i n g s h e r

i n t o c o n f l i c t with h e r f ami ly and with t h e male chauv i .n i s t i c

s o c i e t y .

If I Die Today ( 1 9 8 4 ) , y e t another novel dea l ing with t h e

t h e m e of crime, i s a s t o r y of men and women charged with

f e a r and with a sense of v io lence around them. The dea th of

Guru, t h e c e n t r a l c h a r a c t e r of t h e novel , rocks t h e medical

c o l l e g e campus, and h i s dea th g e n e r a t e s va r ious susp ic ions .

In t h e course of t h e i r e f f o r t s t o i - d e n t i f y t h e v i l l a i n ,

Shashi Deshpande very r e a l i s t i c a l l y p o r t r a y s c e r t a i n

es t ranged p a i r s i n marr iage , who apparen t ly have a

s o p h i s t i c a t e d and contented l i f e .

That Long Si l .ence, which was publ ished i n 1988, p o r t r a y s

an i n t e l l e c t u a l , Jaya , who f i n d s h e r s e l f o u t of p lace i n t h e

s o c i e t y meant on ly f o r men. Her i n n e r t u r m o i l s a r e s o b i t t e r

t h a t she i s unable t o speak them o u t . Very c l e a r l y t h e novel

i n d i c a t e s t h a t t h e t r a d i t i o n a l r o l e s of women s t i l l have

primacy over a l l t h e newly acqui red p r o f e s s i o n a l r o l e s .

Her l a t e s t novel Binding Vine (1993) exp lo res t h e

glimmerings of hope i n t h e l i f e of t h e c e n t r a l c h a r a c t e r s

amidst l o s s and d e s p a i r .

So far both Anita Desai's and Shashi Deshpande's novels have

only been individually viewed in the light of feminism and

psycho-analysis. R.S.Sharma considers Anita Desai's first

novel Cry, the Peacock "the first step In the direction of

psychological fiction in English" (Anita Desai 24). She

has been praised by critics for her adroit handling of

themes like withdrawal, alienation, loneliness, isolation

and lack of communication. According to Ramesh K.Srivastava,

In Desai's novels most protagonists are

alienated from the world, from society, from

families, from parents and even from their own

selves because they are not average people but

individuals . . . (Perspectives on Anita Desai /-

xxviii)

Considering her involvement in exploring the hidden voices

of women, Irma Maini says,

... she is able to project the Modernist

consci.ousness of the twentieth century woman.

The question of what Kate Millet calls "sexual

politics," is not dramatized in an open

manner... Her femi-nine sensibi-lity becomes in

the process, a fine instrument of perception

and protest; ( "Ani ta Desai And The Fenlir~ine

Sensibility" Commonwealth Quarterly 9 28 11)

The inner voices of her heroines are often interpreted as

the outcome of their mental stress. The reason behind their

psychological disturbance has never been dealt wi-th

systematically. Incompatibility between husband and wife has

escaped the cri ti ci sm of reviewers. Likewise, Shashi C_ Deshpande ' s fictions are a1 so glaringly focussed as

explorations of the interior monologues of suppressed women.

She has been discussed as feminist and psychoanalyst, but

not as an interpreter of the myth and reality that exists in

married 1 ife'? Commenting on her first novel Roots and #

Shadows, P.Bhatnagar says,

The novel deals with a woman's attempt to

assert her individuality and realize her

freedom. It depicts how it brings her into /-

confrontation with the family, with the male

world and the society in general. ("Indian J

Womanhood: Fight for Freedom in Roots and

Shadows" i.n Indian Women Novelists 118)

Shashi D e s k ~ p a r ~ d e ' s her-oi r l e s a r e viewed a s t h e

r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s o f t h i s e r a o f r ea son ing and advoca te s o f

i n d i v i d u a l i t y . Sa ru , t h e h e r o i n e o f The Dark Holds N o

T e r r o r s , i s i n t e r p r e t e d a s a r e p r e s e n t a t i v e o f t h e middle

c l a s s working women i n modern I n d i a . The cause behind h e r

s o j o u r n i n h e r p a r e n t a l home h a s n o t been gi.ven due

importance by r ev i ewer s .

The c h a r a c t e r s o f bo th A n i t a Desai and Shash i Deshpande

cannot be stamped a s t h e r e f l e c t o r s o f t h i s modern era

a l o n e . They p o r t r a y t h e complex human psyche, c o n d i t i o n e d by

t h e r i g i d s o c i a l sys tems which compel t h e l i v i n g o f man and

woman t o g e t h e r i r r e s p e c t i v e o f t h e i r d i f f e r i n g a t t i t u d e s .

Taking i n t o account t h e mental t o r t u r e expe r i enced by t h e

women c h a r a c t e r s one cannot deny t h e impact o f t h e i r

inharmoni.ous m a r i t a l r e l a t i o n s h i p . Marr iage l e a d s them t o

t h e p o i n t o f be ing n e u r o t i - c , a s t h e r e is no b e t t e r

a1 t e r n a t i v e a v a i l a b l e .

Conviriced t h a t m i s a l l i a n c e is t h e r o o t cause f o r t h e

p a t h e t i c c o n d i t i o n o f t h e h e r o i n e s , t h e r e s e a r c h e r i n t e n d s

t o a n a l y s e t h e n o v e l s of A n i t a Desai and Shash i Deshpande

a c c o r d i n g l y .