Abstract:
TThe present paper explores the world of Indian feminism. It extracts the deep rooted Indian beliefs and myths. It highlights the difficulties that Indian women have to confront. The wide range of vistas depicts the complexities that Indian women go through. The paper focuses on the variety of attempts that are explored to attain their individuality. Indian women novelists acquire a prominent role in Indian English literature in many significant ways. Ever since the emergence of Indian Literature in English, women novelists have displayed a stronghold on this. Their importance is acknowledged by everyone in almost all spheres of life. These novelists have shown their power of imagination and strength of the composition. It is true that initially there were few women writers but after independence the number has increased, writers like, Sarojni Niadu, Kamla Das, Kamla Markhandaya, Nayantara Sahgal, Shashi Deshpande, Gita Hariharan, Rama Mehta, Arundhati Roy, Anita Desai, Kiran Desai, Shoba De, Bharti Mukherjee to name a few. Along with these writers, emerged a writer who shot to fame in a short period namely Manju Kapur. Hence, the present paper is a humble effort in the direction of breaking the cultural frontiers of women stereotypes to ascertain their Individuality and empowerment of women in the novel A Married Woman.
Key Words: Feminism, Cultural Frontiers, Stereotypes, Breaking Boundaries, Myths
Manju Kapur’s reputation is evident from the masterpieces she has produced. Her novels clearly show her rich teaching experience and ability. All her novels have been appreciated by the critical and literary fraternity of India as well as abroad. She is the recipient of all praise from her readers; her novels were translated into many languages. Her first novel Difficult Daughters received the prestigious Commonwealth Writer’s Prize (1999) for being the first best book in South Asia. Another novel, A Married Woman (2003) also brought a huge acclimation to the writer. Her third novel, Home is simply a personification of her understanding of woman in Indian Society. All her novels have diverse themes but mostly deal with an urban middle-class woman, their aspirations, dreams, and longings. It is evident to mention that these novels have an urban background portraying city life. The dynamic relationship between man and woman are explicitly presented in all her works. A graphic and detailed observation of these relationships is portrayed in her works. She digs deep in presenting the stories of ordinary people in their daily lives. She consciously selects the plot, milieu, characters, to ensure the interaction with ordinary people in our everyday life. In her works, we see a unique sense of universalization and a plight from personal to universal. Tradition, conventions as well as customs are associated with a distinct sense of freedom that has been linked with the essence of modernity.
Manju Kapur’s second novel, A Married Woman (2003) is the tale of the middle-class women’s plight in modern India, Apart from lesbian love between Astha and Peeplika. It also presents an account of the political and social turmoil that India witnessed in the 1990’s. It is also the story of Astha an educated, upper-middle-class woman, who is the only child of her parents and was “brought up properly as befits a woman” (Kapur 1). Her mother even tells her that when parents get their daughters married, their role is over. She says “if parents die without getting their daughters married, they will be condemned to perpetual rebirth” (Kapur 1). Astha’s first encounter of love starts with Bunty, who works in defence. However, this relationship is aborted by her mother who went to Bunty’s family and alleged them that their son was distracting her daughter from studies. Her second affair is with Rohan, who is a professor. However, she is physically exploited by Rohan. This relationship ends up with Rohan when he has to go for his higher studies to Oxford. When Astha was in the final year of her graduation, her family received a marriage proposal for her and is married to Hemant. He admits to Astha that he wanted “an innocent unspoilt and simple girl” and further added I want a girl who would “fit in with our family life” (Kapur 41). Soon after their marriage, they went to Srinagar for a honeymoon. Here they make ample love to each other, exchange their warmth and breaths. Finally, after returning, Astha settles down into her assigned role of obedient wife and a faithful daughter-in-law. But Hemant, being excessively obsessed with his business is now indifferent to Astha. This increases the boredom for Astha. She imagines herself being left alone without any love in life. In the view of tackling this monotony, she decides to work in a school in spite of the restriction from her mother-in-law as well as her husband. Astha is blessed with a daughter and a son in just two years. However, with the coming of children and playing the role of mother and teacher at a stretch increases her stress level. She is not able to concentrate because of the attention that she has to bestow on children, to household chores and her job. It was after her recovery from illness, she took the recourse of writing poems and the task of painting.
Aijaz Akther Khan is a history teacher in the same school where Astha was also working. Aijaz is a theatre actor and a social activist. He presents various plays at different locations; his plays are rich and impregnated with wisdom. They are based on various socio-political and religious issues. His sole intention is to promote communal harmony through the plays. Astha is highly impressed by the personality of this theatre actor, therefore, develops a tender feeling towards him. She justifies this tender feeling by saying that, “soon it will be over. Where was the harm, it made her happy, and that it would be ever” (Kapur 113). Later, she learns that Aijaz is linked with Peeplika. Aijaz and Peeplika got married much to the dislike of her mother, resenting her marriage with Aijaz because he was a Muslim. However, Astha is disappointed on hearing the news of Aijaz and his partners’ assassination. She felt it was a planned murder, for Aijaz dared to present the issue of Babri Masjid and this might have prompted some unruly elements to kill him. The demolition of Babri Masjid has fueled many communal riots and tension is prevalent in the entire country. While the Street Theatre Group organizes procession to promote communal harmony. Astha joins the Sampradayakta Mukti Manch, and it marches to Ayodhya where Astha meets Peeplika, wife of Aijaz.
Peeplika is lesbian, Astha readily falls in love with Peeplika without enduring the guilt of having it with the man rather than a woman. They develop an emotional attachment for each other. Peeplika plans to pursue her PhD on the insistence of her brother leaving Astha perturbed by her absence, as the novelist puts it “For a moment Astha felt an intense stab of envy, not just for Pipee but for everyone who had the possibility of a new life” (Kapur 289). Astha was so much obsessed with her that even in lovemaking with Hemant she could sense Peeplika, “it was her face she saw and her hands she felt. She accepted the misery of this dislocation for being a faithless wife (Kapur 287).” When she bids farewell to Peeplika, she finally returns to her role of being wife and mother and focuses on painting, “A calmness settled over her, tenuous fragile, but calmness nevertheless. She thought of her name. Faith in herself. It was all she had (Kapur 299).”
Manju Kapur sees A Married Woman through the lens of a woman’s perspective. Even after successive attempts of Hemant to marginalize Astha, he fails. She indeed did not let her identity go away and retains it from the very beginning of her life. Astha appears to be the representative of the middle-class educated women, who are loaded with the burden of cultural and moral weight all the time. Astha’s tale is a different kind of discontent. She has everything a woman could wish for a good husband, a nice house, economic stability, but she wishes for very distinct freedom, which is symbolic. It is true that her story may not be the story of every Indian woman, but this must also be noted that it defies the traditional and conventional existence of middle-class in which Astha locates herself. Her journey is symbolic of the transformation that has taken place in the outlook of a woman. A Married Woman can be studied from two different perspectives; one is to study the relationship of Hemant and Peeplika and the other, the relationship between Astha and Peeplika. Astha and Hemant relationship is offered in the manner of middle-class circumstances, however, the relationship of Astha and Peeplika has been presented in the mode of possibility, more so in the state of dissatisfaction, unhappiness and incomprehension. Physical intimacy between two women is very uncommon in the context of Indian society. However, Kapur has projected these visible changes of human relationship in the fast-developing country of India and generalized it. We see the details of Astha are given; she is the only child of her parents. Her mother is comparatively older than her father. Like every other parent, they had plans for the future of their daughter, because she is the only hope in their life. “The family counted their pennies carefully. Their late marriage, their daughter still to be settled, their lack of any security to fall back on, meant that their pleasure was planned with thrifty firmly in the forefront” (Kapur 4). Astha, as shown in the novel, develops a feeling for Bunty, though it does not last long. However, his memory does not easily fade away, his thoughts disturb her:
Day and night the thought of him kept her inside churning; she was unable to eat, sleep or study. Away from him, her eyes felt dry and empty, her ears only registered the sounds of his voice. Her mind refused to take seriously anything that was not his face, his body, his feet, his hands, his clothes, she found temporary relief in sketching him, sketches that were invariably too bad to mulled over (Kapur 8).
She has been presented as a girl of strong likes and dislikes from the very beginning of the novel. This nature of her character gets reflected in the various letters she wrote to Bunty. She lived in fantasy:
She was living in a world of her own, waiting for the holidays to come, so that she could see Bunty. It would be different now, no awkwardness or shyness. They were closer; they did share their thoughts and feelings. Hopefully, they would kiss. Where and how? She imagined the places, grew lost in their fantasies. (Kapur 12).
Soon after, Astha was sent to college in pursuit of higher education. Her parents especially her mother is curious to get her married as soon as possible. They are like every other parent and have a concern for their daughter, her mother was quite logical. She believed everything has a proper time. She wants to fix the marriage of Astha as early as possible:
Every Sunday she scanned the matrimonial page meticulously, pencil in hand, circling ads. Later on, she would show them Astha’s father. . . There is a time for everything, went on her mother. The girl is blossoming now; when the fruit is ripe it has to be picked. Later she might get into a wrong company and we will be left wringing our hands. If she marries at this age, she will have no problem in adjusting. We too are not so young that we can afford to wait. (Kapur 19)
The family receives a marriage proposal for Astha when she was in the last year of her graduation. Her mother has contended at last, she could find a suitable match for her daughter. Hemant is an MBA holder and son of a bureaucrat. In their very first meeting, they approve each other for being the life partners. However, the thoughts of her second love Rohan do trouble her when she converses with Hemant. She is in a state of dilemma whether to reveal the story of her and Rohan to Hemant or not. Their marriage was held in great fashion. All relatives were invited and the feast was served. Since Astha was the only child of her parents, she desires that her father should be secure. He is in all tears when she bids farewell to her daughter: “Today you are getting married and leaving for your new home” (Kapur 36).
Astha is happy with Hemant for he takes care of Astha all the time. The thoughts of Bunty and Rohan no longer trouble her. She would realize the importance of Hemant when he was late at home, she would feel lonely, incomplete and perhaps disappointed too. She would feel comfortable only in his presence, she enjoys in the arms of Hemant. It is here only she acknowledges the importance of lovemaking. Hemant is satisfied with her but not with his business. He fails to maintain a balance between his wife and his job. So the cracks begin to appear. Astha says:
“I want to be close to you, have a better relationship—‘faltered’ Astha, Knowing she had lost the argument before she had been able to define its parameters”.
“There is nothing wrong with our relationship.”
“Are you saying that there is something wrong with me?”
“You said it, not I.”
But I am not happy, so how can . . .” she bit back words that might seem to indicate some insensitivity on his part”
You think too much that is the trouble” (Kapur 66)
It is possible that at times a man may not be able to give attention to his wife for some reasons; it may be because he is suffering from mental stress, job security, social obligation, etc. These all may compel a man to show a little interest. Astha soon recognizes the features of marriage. She understands that marriage is the name of the sacrifice of one’s interest, emotion, self-pride, etc. If there prevails a sense of misunderstanding, then the chances of the blooming of this relationship are very meagre. This is what happens between Astha and Hemant. They are detailed in their aims and visions. They find themselves in the most infrequent situation. Therefore, there is a transformation in Astha too. She sensed the danger of distancing growing up between her and Hemant. She was looking for independence, she was all creative, sensitive, wrote poems and scripts for the play, she was desperately looking for liberty. “Between her marriage and the birth of her children, she too had changed from being a woman who only wanted love, to a woman who valued independence. Besides, there was a pleasure of interacting with minds rather than needs” (Kapur 72).
It was in the school where Astha worked as a teacher, that the concerned principal invited a theatre activist namely Aijaz Ahmad Khan., who is a member of Street Group Theatre. The principal asked Astha to assist Aijaz Ahmad Khan in carrying out the task. Aijaz was devoted to the cause of social reformation. In a short time, Astha felt close to Aijaz. She would cherish every moment of Aijaz watching him on the stage. She loved everything Aijaz did. Moreover, she loved the spirit of Aijaz towards life and his approach in dealing with issues. It was like a new life was infused in Astha with the coming of Aijaz. It was Aijaz who motivated her to work and act in the play Babri Masjid: Fact Fiction and You that was to be staged. Astha gave the best effort to ensure her presentation goes well. Hemant was clueless about the sudden change in the mood of Astha, nevertheless, he appreciated her approach and preparation. Aijaz is revolutionary, he is hostile to the communal feelings. He does not support the construction of Masjid but he does not appreciate the construction of the temple either. He is in love with a Delhi based girl namely Peeplika Trivedi, who is also revolutionary and out-of-the-way from the conservative society. She does not follow the words of her mother, who would tell her not to marry Aijaz because he is a Muslim. She does not like the indifferent attitude of her mother for Aijaz. Peeplika argues with her mother:
He is not a heap of dung, you know. Besides I am almost twenty-nine, you have always said you want to see me married, now is your chance. I am not going to find anyone else. He is intelligent, sensitive, socially committed, a history lecturer, a theatre activist, but all you can see is a Muslim who is going to be both divorced me and marry for times (Kapur 138).
Despite all the hindrances from her mother, Peeplika did not alter her thought of marrying Aijaz. Aijaz, being a social activist was always prone to threats and dangers that’s what happened to him. He was dragged along with his companion from the place where he was performing his play. It was only the next day his and other dead bodies were recovered. The news of Aijaz’s murder secured the front-page space in the newspaper. Astha could not believe her eyes, she was in a state of shock because she had developed a close connection with him. Astha did not realize and notice any feeling in Hemant for Aijaz: “Astha stared at her husband in revulsion. Ten men died in the most ghastly way possible, this was all he could say, did he have no feelings” (Kapur 140). Since Astha is herself an artist, therefore, she realized the in-depth agony and suffering because of Aijaz’s untimely death. She found herself lonely and disappointed. She was herself interested in registering the protest against the killing of these artists. This leads to the negligence of Astha in paying attention to her growing children. Himanshu and Anuradha were least attended by Astha now. She was restless and did not understand what to do; therefore, she went to Goa to change her tones of behaviour but this did not work. It was not a peaceful journey for her, instead of bringing peace it disappointed her further. It produced commotion and havoc. She found it hard to sustain in the company of her husband; even some tiny things would irritate and agitate her. She was intolerable and realized: “She thought hopelessly of all things she could have done with that money, of the beautiful box she could have possessed and admired forever. But their money spending was decided by him, not by her” (Kapur 167).
Astha understood by now that Hemant is a little possessive. He liked to control the situation and dominate his authority, something that Astha did not like. She was different in her mission and was more attached to social activities that were unacceptable to Hemant, he did not welcome this move of Astha. Hemant needed a complete housewife which he felt did not find in Astha. She got involved more and more in the programs of Mukti Munch. She intoned the same slogan as her another friend of the Munch:
Raise your voice—we are one and we will fight injustice—we will fight together.
Communalism will never succeed.
These are false weapons---- of the true god Ram.
False Ram lovers.
Temple, Church Mosque--- Gurudwara,
All the same- the same for all (Kapur 172).
Astha now heads to Ayodhya to take part in the movement intended to create Hindu- Muslim harmony. Her mother-in-law had remained silent so far on this issue but she cannot take it anymore. She finally protested her going to Ayodhya and said to Astha:
This is politics, you should not get involved. Besides have you thought about what you are going to protest? Lord Ram’s Janmsthan is in Ayodhya, is there a country in the world where the birthplace of their god is not honoured? Hindu tolerance does not mean you accept everything and anything. Is this the pride we have in ourselves? (Kapur 186).
Astha’s mother-in-law wanted to direct Astha in the proper direction; she would say to her, you have children, husband and other things to look after. As the novelist puts it:
Exposing them to what filth and crowds? Don’t you care about your children or husband? But he is too good, he will say nothing. If you were living in the condition Sangeeta is, you would better value what you have. I hope you never regret this (Kapur 187).
Astha was adamant to go Ayodhya; she is ready to risk her own life for a cause which appears to her more important than her life. She decides to join the group to mark their protest against the construction of a temple. It was here in Ayodhya, she met Peeplika, wife of Aijaz Khan, and she too had come to participate in the protest. They shared many things. It appears they are parallel in their thought on religion. Peeplika says to Astha: “It makes me sick the way Ram is being associated with Hindu—India—Nationalism” (Kapur 202). Astha could not believe that she met Aijaz’s wife, Peeplika showed her intentions in the very first meeting.
Astha-Peeplika relationship is one of the most highlighted parts of the novel. Woman-woman relationship is very uncommon in the context of Indian society. Peeplika does not even imagine of this relationship. However, the truth is that it is becoming evident now in reality. We have scores of cases where we witness the unusual relationship between the same sexes. Initially, it was a little difficult for Astha to understand Peeplika. However, they developed an intimacy over course of time. They began to meet frequently. They found peace in each other’s company. Gradually they became extreme intimate, assuming that normal interaction was enough. They in no time crossed the threshold of tradition; they defied every boundary that came their way. Peeplika was always the first to initiate the action; though Astha looked shy, she too wanted it desperately. She felt an indefinable solace in the company of Peeplika. They were one day sitting in the flat of Peepi drinking beer, Astha had decided that she would go to the office a little late that day. Peeplika pulled Astha by hand and led her to confront the bathroom mirror.
Are we going to do mirror on the wall/ Who is the fairest one of all? Laughed Astha nervously. She always felt an underlying tension when talking to Peepi, as they swooped and dived among their lives, offering to others to share. “A modern version of it”, Said Pipee putting on the light and pushing Astha’s head gently forwards. “Look” (Kapur 221).
Peeplika is completely a different woman. She is courageous, eccentric and unconventional. In the veil of a widow, she wants to be close to Astha in whatever way. She defies the restrictions without any hesitation. She does not feel the need of man to gratify her physical instinct. She does find this satisfaction in the union of Astha.
According to Mishra “Manju Kapur is the first Indian feminist to introduce lesbian love as an important question to be discussed by the advocates of women rights.” (213). The writer is aware that in one of her interviews, she states about the introduction of the lesbian subplot:
This relationship suggested itself to me as an interesting means of making Astha mature and change. An affair with a man would have been the classical cliché and so I ruled it out and tried out the same sex affair. I don’t know how successful I have been not is this based on any real relationship. It is as I said a writer’s experiment with the plot (The Hindu: January 5, 2003).
A Married Woman, on the other hand, is the account of middle-class girl Astha; it is an account of how she was brought as per the standard tradition. It explores her thirst and quest for love and individual freedom. Astha’s father is modern in his views; therefore, wishes that Astha should sit in an IAS exam and after that, the chances for a bright prospect are evident. He believes that his daughter would get a match of her choice. He desires that her daughter should be independent and adequate for future challenges. Manju Kapur presents a variety of rituals of marriage differently and symbolically, “Father waiting to do the kanyadaan, the feel of her hand in hand” (Kapur 37). It is as if a girl is a thing and now it is handed over to the man to use it as he likes to. Manju Kapur has beautifully presented the traditions as the cause of the downtrodden and depressed condition of the woman. The other symbolic images employed by Manju Kapur are the “hot air” and “smoke” at the time of Havan. These indicate that marriage is the beginning of a harsh journey. This all gets evident when after some months of marriage she has to wait long hours for Hemant’s arrival. Though Astha is emancipated and modern yet she loves and enjoys serving her husband. She would take off his socks, his boots, sitting close to his feet and feel pleased.
Kapur has tried to point out the submission of women through this medium. When will women stop this attitude of being so submissive? If we hold men responsible for all the deplorable condition of women but when will she makes a breakthrough, a point of departure from all these shackles? When will she negotiate herself from all these conditioned mental slavery? Will she ever be in a position to trace out the difference between love and slavery? The following points will help us to understand it further. Hemant did not pay any heed to the creative writing of Astha, therefore, shattering all dreams of creative writing of Astha. Their life becomes cloudy and void of any pleasure. Astha being blessed with children gets preoccupied with her job mostly. She asked Hemant to take care of the children when she left for some programme, Hemant’s instant reply was, this is your job as if they are not his children. They are equally his children too. Hemant went to the extent of asking Astha to leave the job. Astha requests Hemant to give her some time because cracks had begun to appear in their relationship. Hemant would argue there is nothing wrong in their relationship “Astha had lost the argument before she had been able to define its parameters” (Kapur 66).
It is in school she gets acknowledgement, while at home she is least heeded to. However, they have many aspirations from Astha. At home, her work is not valued but in school, her paintings and writings are recognized. Nobody asks about her needs while everybody at home thinks that their needs can be fulfilled by Astha. She feels trapped, in an attempt to outlet her emotions, she starts painting and writing. This was of great help to her. Indeed it “alleviated the heaviness within her, a heaviness she found hard to deal with” (Kapur 79).
Astha now during the auction of her painting earned twenty thousand rupees. She feels rich and overjoyed. While they were on a trip to Goa, Astha was pleased with a silver box and wanted to purchase it, the box cost five thousand only but refused to buy it for her saying it is too much costly. “You must be out of your mind; said Hemant. The tone and the refusal both hurt her” (Kapur 165).
Through the character of Astha, the novelist wants to depict the need of a modern woman to break through the dependency syndrome of women. She presents beautifully the negotiation of Astha with this male-oriented society. Astha in the novel is prone to fatherly indoctrination. Her father’s disinterest in her paintings, her mother’s continuous persistence on marriage, her lack of faith in her credentials to handle money, Hemant’s perception of wife, his lack of conviction regarding the pursuit of her career, all these things echo the effacement of Astha and bonding to the idea of dutifulness. Jasbir Jain remarks Carolyn Heilbrum, in Reinventing Womanhood, “wifehood calls for the abandonment of self” (48). Astha’s is representative of those women, who are sound materially and socially but are in search of their space. They are looking for their room. It was only through her job that she realised that she has changed “from being a woman who only valued love, to a woman who valued independence” (Kapur 72). It is from this, she understands, that she will have not to ask Hemant for money. She had no idea where Hemant has invested the money of her mother. Even Hemant did not approve when Astha asked for money after the auction of the house. She realizes: “what kind of fool she had been to expect Hemant to understand? She had a good life, but it was good because nothing was questioned” (Kapur 99).
Kupar makes use of imagery of the joint family to display how it suppresses a woman’s liberty. Astha’s association with job meant that she had to take the assistance of her in-laws to look after her children. Her participation in the theatre workshop was looked as a displeasing act. She was not encouraged by her in-laws for her creative write-ups. She wrote on one of the burning issues, it was a substantial script. However, the irony is that it fails to evoke any response from the family members more so from her husband. Hemant was indifferent to her and this further angered and infuriated her. But unlike the other protagonist of Manju Kapur Virmiti, in Difficult Daughters (1998) Astha is instigated by social issues. She went to attend the funeral of Aijaz but her family was indifferent to her. Since there was no sufficient support of her family this multitasking job badly affected her health. Hemant cautioned and directed her to leave the job, despite working so hard, Astha could not be at a “place where she could be herself” (Kapur 154).
Astha is sandwiched between her wish to fulfil her space and to oblige by traditional duties. “A willing body at night, a willing pair of hands and feet in the day and an obedient mouth were prerequisites of Hemant’s wife” (Kapur 231). If Aijaz helped her in tracing out creative talent, it was in Peeplika she found an emotional impulse. The intimacy with Peeplika has also affected the relationship with Hemant. Astha is in a fix, she assumes whether she enjoys the same liberty as Peeplika. Astha is all rolled in one, a wife, mother, a daughter and a daughter in law. However, all this does not stop her from meeting Peeplika. She is probing for her identity. Astha is chained in cobweb between her responsibility of wife and mother. Manju Kapur writes: “She was a wife too, but not much of her was required there” (Kapur 231). Astha is even aware of her involvement in social activities. She now initiates to contemplate about her prospects in life. She thinks that Peeplika has a secure future since she is going abroad for a PhD and will settle there. What has she to rely upon, on the other hand, the thought of ignoring her responsibilities pinches her. The indifferent attitude of her husband, children, her mother-in-law all eat her inside. But then passion has no limits, it knows no boundaries. When desire takes the shape of ambition, it is bound to produce dangers. When someone becomes a self -centred entity then others don’t matter for that person. Mother, father, the family become of no use, they are treated as use and throw like things. Independence should not be replaced at the cost of family detachment. Astha’s jumps into her decisions by herself without any consultation from her family or husband. She goes to Kanyakumari to initiate her journey of Ekta Munch. After returning from the Ekta Yatra, Astha realizes the absurdity of the journey. She soon is conscious of the importance of family and children in a woman’s life.
Manju Kapur’s fiction continuously searches for freedom from the bondage of society and morality. They in addition to it, cast a look at the women’s quest to attain their identity. Through A Married Woman, the author has attempted to unbutton this socially constructed distorted image of women. Her appeals go unheard, she cries for equality but is not heeded in the patriarchal society. As a result of this women remain entirely within the field of their vision, merely an illusion to be dreamed and cherished owing to denial of freedom to choose and act.
It may be concluded to say that A Married Woman is an account of observations that women demand liberty from the patriarchal structure of society and thinking. They are adamant to register their protest against discrimination and cruelty on them done in the name of religion or morality. They have been docile over the centuries and it’s time to retaliate by demanding human rights and dignity for women, she deserves it. Sarah Grimke in her book The Feminist Thought has aptly produced and portrayed the pitiable condition of women, who have endured a lot, mentally, physically and are even devoid of living a dignified life. She says: “Man has subjugated woman to his will, used her as a means to promote his selfish gratification, to minister his sensual pleasure, to be instrumental in promoting his comfort but never has he desired to elevate her to that rank she was created to fill. He has done all he could do to debase and enslave her mind” (48).
References:
- Kapur, Manju. (2003). A Married Woman. New Delhi: India Link.
- Beavuior, Simmon de. (1986). The Second Sex. Middlesex: Penguin.
- Grimeke, Sarah. (1998). The Feminist Thought. USA: Oxford University Press.
- Helibrum Carolyn, Gold. (1799). Reinventing Womanhood. Norton, Print.
- Jain, Jasbir. (2002). Women Writing Across Cultures. New Dehli: Rawat Publication. Print.