LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 12 : 10 October 2012
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.
Assistant Managing Editor: Swarna Thirumalai, M.A.

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M. S. Thirumalai
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Women’s Search for Identity in Marriage
Special Reference to Shashi Deshpande’s Fiction

Usha Sharma, M.A.
Sushila Chaudhary, M.A.

Abstract

Feminists regard marriage as a subtle expression of patriarchal control and the most powerful weapon for female subjugation. With the shift from feudal patriarchy to capitalist bourgeois patriarchy, the nature of social relations has altered and strong individualism, self-interest and self-determination have evolved as the essential human factors in the social relations. Woman too though comparatively in a restricted way, has begun to grow as an individual and the primary center of collision for her becomes the institution of marriage which has, so far, constituted the limits of her space. The self-subsuming, suffering and self-sacrificing woman, with her gender typical traits has begun to thwart the compulsions of endorsing patriarchal gender ideology. The woman who has moved to the center and become an important entity in the social setup is keen to explore new avenues for self-improvement and intellectual gratification and establish her individuality in marriage.

This article addresses marriage issues as seen in the work of women writers. The creative women writers re-define the husband-wife equation in their novels. They reveal woman’s capacity to assert her own rights and individuality in marriage and become fully aware of her potential as a human being.

Key words: marriage, patriarchy, individuality.

The Quest for Identity

The quest for identity which involves self-definition and self-development is a central theme of contemporary women’s fiction. This process is both environmental and psychological, and it entails coming to terms with multiple social and cultural forces, external as well as internal, that infringe upon the path toward female individuation and an understanding of the individual self. Rites of passage are depicted as the woman’s awakening to the reality of her social and cultural role as a woman and her subsequent attempts to re-examine her life and shape it in accordance with her new feminist consciousness. It is significant that it is not solely a search for identity per se that engages women writers in general, but rather an exploration and articulation of the process leading to a purposeful awakening of the female protagonist.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

Usha Sharma, M.A.
Associate Professor in English
Government College for Women
Rohtak 124001
Haryana
luckyila@gmail.com

Sushila Chaudhary, M.A.
Associate Professor in English
Government PG College
Hisar 125001
Haryana
deepak.verma1394@gmail.com
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